SZA has spoken to Drew Barrymore about the song she named after her, as well as her venture into writing children’s music.
The singer-songwriter and 2024 Glastonbury headliner made the comments during a new interview on The Drew Barrymore Show yesterday (January 13), and explained how the ‘Ctrl’ track reflected the admiration she feels for the actor.
“It was inspired by you, it wasn’t just the title,” SZA began when asked about the 2017 song. “[It was about] the energy that you carry… Even my outfit is inspired by the way you made me feel my entire life.”
She continued, explaining how she has looked up to Barrymore since her childhood: “I wrote you this letter that I never sent you, but it talked about how, when you’re younger, and you’re a Black woman, there’s not a lot of examples all the time. One of the few lovely white women that I looked up to so much on television was you, because you were so yourself.”
“You were quirky. Your smile wasn’t perfect,” she added. “I have a slight speech impediment, and people laugh all the time, ‘What is SZA saying?’ And it’s a running joke. But I love the way you talk and all the you-ness of you.”
Barrymore then went on to explain what the comments meant to her, adding that she wasn’t aware of how much the song was inspired by her when she went to feature on the music video.
“Maybe it’s humble insecurity or whatever [but] I always convinced myself: ‘It was just words that she used for the song, and the words were my name’. I had not really heard you explain it like this,” she said.
“Maybe what you picked up when you were young – because it’s no different now – is this lack of assumption. We are looking for permission to be ourselves,” the 50 First Dates actor continued. “We are looking for someone to tell us it will be OK to be exactly who we are, because I experience it almost every day, and I think everybody does.”
Later on in the interview, SZA also went on to discuss the changes she is putting in place for 2025. These, she recalled included having faith in herself to make the right decisions and pursuing new routes.
The comments come just days after she shared that she was contemplating taking a whole new direction in her music career, and thinking of releasing two albums of “peaceful children’s music” to complete her current music contract.
“To fulfill my last 2 album requirements I think I just wanna make peaceful children’s music n get outta here,” she said at the time. “Then go be a farmer n donate the produce to underserved communities.”
She touched on this again with Barrymore, sharing how she thinks yoga has “changed her life” and is about to embark on a “vow of silence” in India. “I’ve been training for it for about a year. I’m unprepared and I love that I’m unprepared,” she said. “I love that I’m thrusting myself into something that will force me to trust and pursue. That’s the theme of this year”.
The singer and rapper released ‘Lana’ last month after almost a year of speculating about its release. Rather than a standalone album, it exists as a deluxe version of her 2022 LP ‘SOS’, her second studio record.
‘Lana’ included a Kendrick Lamar feature on ‘30 For 30’, as well as production from Lil Yachty and Benny Blanco on one track each. Lamar’s feature comes after SZA appeared on his surprise album ‘GNX’, and the pair and labelmates have also announced a joint North American tour for this year.
‘SOS‘ has gone on to secure nine Grammy nominations. It has also hit Number One on the Billboard 200 and Number Two on the UK singles chart, as well as being certified 3x Platinum in the US.
In a five-star review, NME described it as “a comeback album well worth the wait”.
“’I’m making the best album of my life for this next album,’” SZA told Flaunt in 2020 and ‘SOS’ is just that – a phenomenal record that barely puts a foot wrong and raises the bar even higher than she set it before,” it read. “That quote, though, came with a caveat: ‘Because it’s going to be my last album.’ Here’s hoping SZA reneges on that declaration but, if this is the last we hear from here, at least she’s going out on the highest of highs.”
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