SZA doesn’t want to be boxed in.
The Ctrl artist recently covered Wonderland Magazine and the topic of being confined to a specific genre came up. Highlighting that she grew up on numerous artists from the likes of Björk to Hanson and Jamiroquai, she noticed that white acts don’t get pigeonholed as Black artists do.
“Nobody does that to white people at all, ever,” SZA said. “No one ever does that to Adele or Justin Bieber when they’re wholeheartedly singing R&B. Or Björk, where nobody’s sure what the fuck she’s singing, but it’s energy and nobody’s concerned.”
She added, “It’s like the only genre that we’re allowed to own is R&B and soul, and even then you might get bumped outta that category by somebody with fairer skin and a better marketing team. But I can’t pretend it’s not exciting to see someone who isn’t black execute so exceptionally well. It’s mystifying; the soul is an energy. … R&B is too fickle. I spent too much time growing up on just as much Imogen Heap, and listening to Comfort Eagle by Cake and vibing for people to call me a ‘queen of R&B’. Why can’t I just be a queen, period?”
Fans were quick to jump and comment about who exactly refers to SZA as an R&B queen and on Instagram, SZA made sure she clarified what she meant.
“uhh I was talking about a public Rolling Stones cover click bait title?” SZA wrote. “Never self proclaimed . Lol Jus didn’t like the title….. For this exact reason.”
She finished the comment by once more suggesting that the cops who killed Breonna Taylor be arrested and that Elijah McClain’s killers are brought to justice as well.
The issue dates back to SZA’s issues surrounding her March Rolling Stone cover with Normani and Megan Thee Stallion. According to SZA, she had the magazine change the title of proclaiming her as a “Queen of R&B.”
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Fans are still waiting for SZA’s follow-up to her 2017 album Ctrl. The album has spent more than 150 weeks in the Billboard 200 chart and netted the TDE singer five Grammy nominations including Best New Artist. However, she says she’s still working on her new album and doesn’t let the success of her lauded debut define her.
“I wasn’t moved by the success of Ctrl,” she told Wonderland. “It felt the same way it felt when I made anything else of mine. I was more just grateful and blown away that people were touched by it. But in terms of why it was successful and what sells albums, and what sells singles, I didn’t learn anything there. Especially not enough to scare me.”
It’s not about your damn skin color. I’m so sick of ignorant people talking about their race. It has nothing to do with anything! People are people. No one is treated the way they want to be treated 100 percent of the time. Stop saying it’s about your skin color anytime u don’t like something.
That comment in itself lacking. People are people and no one is treated the way they ought or want to be treated 100% of the time. Wouldn’t that include bias, discrimination, etc? While I do feel like some things are exaggerated, to say the color of your skin doesn’t play a role in certain aspects of your life which includes your profession is not only incorrect but foolish.
Not to mention everyone doesn’t have the same experiences in life. White males refuse to listen to the privilege aspect and this conversation keeps going in circles ?
They listen to it, it just doesn’t make any sense and is refuted by FACTS. I’m a latino, please explain to me what opportunities I would have in life, that I don’t now, if I were white. Does this white privilege only affect black people, or does it affect us too? I’m not being sarcastic. I actually would like for someone to ONCE have a conversation with me about this. I just don’t see it.
Of course the color of your skin plays a role in your life, if that’s all that you ever talk about and that’s your self imposed limitation. This delusional lady is being called the queen of a genre which, as far as I can see, is the only genre she has ever worked in. She has been featured on hip-hop and EDM tracks, I’ve never seen her rap or DJ though. And as far as all this great racial inequality and systematic racism that she’s dealing with, how come she’s a multimillionaire? Doesn’t she have a couple Grammys? She says she grew up on Björk and different styles of music, and they don’t get pigeonholed into one genre. Why doesn’t she make different music for different genres like they do? I don’t see her promoting any of it here, I just checked her Spotify, and there’s none on there. Strange right? So I’m guessing the music she puts out herself is somehow holding her back and racist, or is it Spotify? All of you race baiting, delusional morons have no idea how much you are taking away from black communities. Shit is sad.
Another trashy black ‘queen’, GTFOH.
Fuck off…..Dumb ass Bitch!
Hey, you sound like… Another trashy “queen.” I’m not going to throw black in there because you’re probably some hot-topic employee looking ass colored haired white guy who’s pronouns are “they” and “water sprinkler.”
Never heard Mary J Blige complaining about being called the queen of hiphop soul.
Never heard Michael Jackson complaining about being called the king of pop.
Never heard Madonna complaining about being called the queen of pop.
Never heard Elvis complaining about being called the king of rock n roll.
Why can’t this whining chick just take the compliment??
Nobody would call her queen of R&B if she made hardrock or classical music.
This isn’t about race.
*Complaining about race
Let’s start a new rule, if you have over $5 million and your own home, you’re no longer allowed to talk about racism or systematic racism anywhere, because YOU obviously made it past that. SMH. I bet the old SZA who was just a talented lady with an amazing voice that would do whatever she could to make it into the music industry would be embarrassed about who she is now. SMH
no that’s dumb, she can talk about whatever she wants. Plus just cause one person made it past something doesn’t mean it disappears for other people.
Yes, anyone can talk about whatever they want, it’s called the first amendment, you’re extremely intelligent for pointing that out jack ass. What we’re talking about here, is a millionaire Grammy winning R&B singer complaining that she was being called the queen of R&B, she somehow brought racism into being called that, insinuating that there isn’t a level playing field, when she’s a millionaire and has won 9 Grammys (amongst many other awards) in the very industry she is claiming to be racist. It’s actually one of the industries that most creates wealth for black Americans nowadays. Other than the racist ass NFL of course. We know how awful they pay all of those Multi millionaires to play a ball game. LOL. Oh and she is signed to TDE, it’s a black owned and black run record label, that has many other Grammy award winning millionaire artists, all black. This is beginning to sound racist, actually. Let’s start a campaign to force racist ass TDE to sign a white person. The industry is SO racist that Kendrick, her label mate, won a Nobel prize. Let THAT soak in. So to sum it all up for your simpleton ass, she CAN obviously say whatever she wants. Anyone with a brain is going to look at her and laugh, like we laugh at your white, simple Simon ass co-signing some shit without putting an intelligent original thought into it, when she’s talking about some make believe shit that YOU’VE never dealt with, which in this case, doesn’t even exist according to the above FACTS. Please hold this bag of dicks. Don’t eat them all at once dummy.
imagine still thinking the cops killed that lady. yo hey boyfriend was shooting at the cops u fuckin retards.
Whoa. No facts, please! This is 2020. Her boyfriend was a secret racist that perpetrated all of this. He was secretly a white cop. Didn’t you know? LOL. It’s ok to be standing next to a convicted drug dealer that’s shooting at the cops, if you’re black. It’s also a good idea to date one and have him sleeping at your home! Don’t you know anything?
She got talent
She has accumulated a net worth of 3 million dollars at age 29. She gets 20-30K a show. That sounds CRAZY racist. Oh, she is signed to TDE, a black owned and run label. The only person who isn’t black on the label is a producer from Sweden. Sounds a bit racist. HERE ARE SOME OF THE AWARDS SHE HAS WON: Throughout her career, SZA has earned nine Grammy nominations, a Golden Globe nomination, and an Academy Award nomination. She has earned one Billboard Music Award and received the “Rulebreaker Award” at the Billboard Women in Music event in 2018. SZA also won the BET Award for Best New Artist in 2018. SOUNDS LIKE ANOTHER CLEAN CUT CASE OF RACISM TO ME!