SZA was not expecting to be mentioned amid Drake and Kendrick Lamar‘s escalating feud, though she did have the perfect reaction to the situation.
On his leaked diss record aimed at K.Dot and his team last week, Drizzy raps that the SOS superstar deserves a spot in the ‘Big 3’ more than her former Top Dawg Entertainment labelmate.
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“Pipsqueak, pipe down/You ain’t in no Big 3, SZA got you wiped down/Travis [Scott] got you wiped down/[21] Savage got you wiped down/Like your label, boy, you in the scope right now!”
On Saturday (April 13), soon after the track began making the rounds online, she took to her Instagram Story with a clip of NeNe Leakes during a Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion, during which she asked: “Now why am I in this? You see how I get thrown into it? I ain’t even did nothing.”
SZA and Drake recently collaborated on the 2023 songs “Rich Baby Daddy” and “Slime You Out,” with the latter debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon its release. However, the singer initially thought the Canadian superstar was trying to sabotage her on the song.
During an interview with The Wall Street Journal in October, the 34-year-old explained that she initially sent the 6 God a demo recording of her part on the track with the intention of re-record it for the finished product. After sending him a more polished version, however, Drake still used her earlier version on the final release.
“I just handed in the first draft to Drake, and he’s putting it on his album,” she recalled. “I’m scared because I handed in second vocals and he didn’t use that. And now I’m like, ‘Are you trying to sabotage me?’
“I know that’s not true. I literally know that’s not true, but that’s how bad I feel about my first draft. When things come from an effortless space, I almost can’t enjoy it.”
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The pair’s first official collaboration came with all sorts of chatter in the media space, including a roast from Charlamagne Tha God and talk about them working together after being romantically linked more than a decade prior.
The two briefly dated back when the singer was spending a lot of time in New York during the late 2000s, but nothing ever came of it. In a Rolling Stone profile over the fall, she clarified that they “were really young” and that “it wasn’t hot and heavy or anything. It was like youth vibes. It was so childish.”
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While some thought it was a diss, others felt she was simply saying that they were both young and having a casual fling. The topic of the pair dating was all over social media when Drake first dropped the bombshell, partially due to the fact that she could have been underage based on the timeline he provided.
“Yeah, said she wanna fuck to some SZA, wait/Cause I used to date SZA back in ’08/If you cool with it, baby, she can still play,” the Toronto native rhymes on “Mr. Right Now.”
The “Kill Bill” hitmaker then took to Twitter and confirmed their relationship, clarifying that she was over the age of 18 t the time.
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“So it was actually 2009 lol,” she wrote. “In this case a year of poetic rap license mattered. Lol I think he jus innocently rhymed 08 w wait. Anybody who really knows me and was around during this time can confirm.. it’s all love all peace.
“I just didn’t want anybody thinking anything underage or creepy was happening. Completely innocent. Lifetimes ago.”