Wow! Roommates, SZA didn’t hold back when recently discussing being labeled an “R&B artist.” The singer opened up about being fixated on that description because she is black.
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What SZA wants for her music
Other artists, however, move in and out of genres – and SZA is hoping for the same opportunity! The ‘Snooze’ singer told DAZED that being called an R&B artist seems “reductive.”
“…doesn’t allow the space to be something else or try something else,” SZA shared. Justin Bieber is not considered an R&B artist; he’s a pop artist who makes R&B, folk music or whatever his heart desires. I just want to have the same opportunity to do whatever I want without a label, (without it being) based on the color of my skin, or the team I work with, or the beats I pick.”
Born Solána Imani Rowe, the singer added that she wants her songs to live within the genre they offer rather than an umbrella label.
“I want ‘F2F’ to be seen as it is, I want ‘Nobody Gets Me’ to be seen as it is. I want ‘Kill Bill’ to be seen for what it is,” she said. “At the same time, there’s nothing to get out of shape because that’s how people are processing you. As long as I don’t sue myself like that. I don’t necessarily fit into anything. I’m just trying to make music, trying to vibe and enjoy the experience.”
What else did the singer say?
After these comments, the interviewer and DAZED singer continued the conversation about SZA’s Blackness, anchoring her in the R&B genre.
The artist shared that “there is still work to do” on how the world views and positions Black women.
“I think humanity will be constantly developing and we will show each other who we are, beyond the reductive labels that our brains regurgitate, from everything we saw on the Internet or learned in college or at home through socialization. We will go beyond that, and that is part of being human. I’m ready to be human,” SZA said.
His comments slightly echo Beyoncé’s comments following the release of ‘Cowboy Carter’. Amid debates over where to place her album, Bey clarified that although it was country-inspired, it was not a country album. It was, in her words, “a Beyoncé album.”
“My hope is that in a few years the mention of an artist’s race, when it comes to releasing music genres, will be irrelevant,” Beyoncé shared on Instagram.
Speaking of detours, SZA is also getting into other forms of entertainment. Earlier this week, Deadline reported that the artist will star in a new Issa Rae film. Solána will co-star alongside Keke Palmer.
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