SZA scorched the scene by blazing her own trail. But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the first lady of TDE.
This evening sees her honored with the Rule Breaker award at the Billboard Women Of The Year ceremony in New York City.
Ahead of the event, the 28-year-old sat down for a candid interview with industry publication to discuss her journey.
Waxing all sorts of honest, she shared her learned lessons from “that” Coachella performance and revealed how she was initially being honed to be the next Jennifer Hudson. She also relayed her take on Beyonce.
Peep excerpts below…
Via Billboard:
You were on your own for years before getting signed. Was that difficult?
The first [label] said, “She’s too green. I don’t know why she’s here. Maybe she could be Jennifer Hudson.” That was weird and painful. Nobody saw me the way I saw myself, but I was OK with that. I’m like, “This makes sense to me.”What was it like playing the main stage at Coachella?
Terrifying! But it was a learning experience: You need to drink more water, you need to stop smoking Backwoods [blunts], you need to hit the treadmill for 30 minutes before every show. That was probably the first time my voice and my nerves slapped me at the same time, like, “B*tch, you need to move and learn something!”You performed on the same stage as Beyoncé. Did you see her set?
I did. That sh*t looked televised, and I was there in person! I was crying by the time I saw her. She was the first person to ever take a real chance on me, letting me just write and waste her time for a month. [SZA co-wrote the 2014 Nicki Minaj – Beyoncé collaboration “Feeling Myself.”] I’ve said some weird sh*t around Beyoncé, and she never judged me.
As reported, SZA is hard at work on the follow-up to her Grammy nominated debut ‘CTRL.’
![Tyla Turns Up the Heat with 'Push 2 Start' & 'Shake Ah' Live at the Billboard Music Awards 2024' [Performance]](https://thatgrapejuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/tyla-bbma-tgj-1-464x260.jpg "Tyla Turns Up the Heat with 'Push 2 Start' & 'Shake Ah' Live at the Billboard Music Awards 2024' [Performance].")
Is she a powerhouse vocalist or not???♂️
I don’t think so, her tone is different
Next Jennifer Hudson? Chiiiiiiile ???
Jennifer Hudson is barely Jennifer Hudson. She not slaying no charts. My girl no I’m glad SZA didn’t fall into that industry fly trap.
Don’t come for Jennifer Hudson. She can out sing most artist today…she just hasn’t had the best writers or promotion.
Didn’t she retire? Didn’t she hate that album that did so well? I am over this ungrateful lazy woman. Many MORE talented Black women would kill for her spot and she’s so apathetic like she isn’t lucky. She also jokes about s******..so she’s been canceled. Weekend is still my jam, though.
She’s not cancelled cuz some nobody, aka you got offended. Lol f*ck off. You’ve never been a thing to be cancelled ?
Even tho i stan black female singers
Think u got it wrong here
U cannot cancel her shes the only black female singer selling coz she dont give a f u c k
Which is a mucj more endearing relatable marketing perception and narrative thaan the desperate hard done by black girl desperate for a chance….. thats how white artists act and it works the less u seem to give af the more people gravitate towards u they assume u got the juice thats y u dont care reverse marketing
Nobody makes it if they dont care
Jennifer Hudson not even JenniferHudson, when the last time Jennifer had a tour
Lies! Oh so now a tour & being chart-topping is what makes an artist an artist. gtfoh
that whole Lp JH wrote was great! what was the name again?