The Grammy-winning artist previously said in an interview that the label 'is almost a little reductive because it doesn't allow space to be anything else or try anything else.'
- May 4, 2024
AceShowbiz - SZA has set the record straight on why she doesn't want to be labeled as an "R&B" artist. The "Kill Bill" hitmaker offered her two cents after one Instagram user asked what other category she would be assigned to.
Catching wind of the comment, the 34-year-old replied, "I just wanna be free to create anything!" She then explained, "you can look at songs like : Julia ,f2f,drew Barrymore ,prom nobody gets me kill bill, ghost in the machine ,HII Jack, green mile, shattered ring, omega and my entire first two projects before Z, none of those are rnb."
"Whoever connects to the music connects! it's okay to be more than one thing lol," the singer, whose real name is Solana Imani Rowe, added. "It's also okay if all you know from me the weekend and snooze. I'm grateful regardless [red heart emoji]call it whatever u want."
When speaking to Dazed, SZA said, "The only reason I'm defined as an R&B artist is because I'm Black." She continued, "It's almost a little reductive because it doesn't allow space to be anything else or try anything else."
The "Snooze" singer then mentioned Justin Bieber, who "is not considered an R&B artist; he is a pop artist who makes R&B, folk music, or whatever his heart desires." She went on to note, "I simply just want to be allowed the same opportunity to make whatever I want without a label, [without it being] based on the color of my skin, or the crew that I run with, or the beats that I choose."
"I want 'F2F' to be seen as what it is. I want 'Nobody Gets Me' to be seen as what it is," the songstress further elaborated. "I want 'Kill Bill' to be seen as what it is."
SZA, however, is determined to stay focused on her music and the creative process. "At the same time, it's nothing to get bent out of shape about, because it's just how people are processing you," she shared.
