SZA definitely isn’t a normal girl (in the best way).
SZA grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey
Before there was SZA there was Solana Imani Rowe.
She was also an avid reader, and writing became an outlet for her at a young age.
“I was that kid that had super profound emotions that I couldn’t express.
It was almost laughable that I had this many existential crises at eight” she recalled.
“She had a voice from very young years,” Rowe shared.
Growing up in Maplewood influenced SZA’s music.
“We’re completely different.
But that hometown Maplewood energy is contagious.
It’s how they make us,” she explained in an interview withPeople.
“The stuff that she sings about and raps about are things that I experienced, too.
I relate more to her Jersey essence than to the queen lyricist that she is.”
Growing up, she attended both Sunday school and Muslim school.
Her parents were able to practice separate religions in one household with apparent ease and acceptance.
“My dad will come to my mom’s church on big events.
My mom will get dressed up for Jum’ah and come with my dad to the mosque.
SZA herself is a proud Muslim.
As she toldComplexin 2013, Islam is where she feels the “most comfortable.”
I like the clarity,” she continued.
“I’m Muslim and I’m Black.
So the American Dream isn’t something that was ever possible for me,” the singer-songwriter toldClash.
“I stopped covering after 9/11,” she shared in an interview withMuslim Girl.
“This was like elementary school, middle school.
“I was awkward.
I walked up to people like, ‘Can we be friends?’
I would say it,” she told The New York Times.
Not just marine biology, but the university experience altogether.
“I’m like, ‘I told you I was smart and I proved my point.
I have to leave now,'” SZA recalled inEllein 2023.
The fortuitous moment arrived when SZA and a friend crossed paths with Henderson during a work errand.
“What jumped out instantly was her voice it was so distinctive and then the words.
She approached singing as a rapper.
Instantly, I’m like, ‘I know what to do with this,'” he toldVariety.
They kept in touch afterward, and SZA sent new music his way.
“I just brought TDE clothes the day after their show.
I never intended to become one of those artists,” SZA said in her aforementioned interview with Clash.
Her first big studio album, “Ctrl,” debuted in June 2017.
The album’s release catapulted her name into the public consciousness.
It also earned her five Grammy nominations and an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist in 2018.
And the “Broken Clocks” singer was only getting started.
As she said inTime, “This is just my entry chord into even understanding how to write.”
“I think it was pretty surface level for what I could do,” she told Time.
“I think this was me being afraid to go there in a lot of ways.
Just me dipping my toe in.
One of the only relationships she’s publicly acknowledged was a brief fling withDrake.
which was probably only prompted after Drake released the song “Mr.
Right Now” in 2020.
“I just didn’t want anybody thinking anything underage or creepy was happening,” shetweeted.
The song is featured on Drake’s album “For All the Dogs.”
SZA opened up about her mental health struggles
Part of SZA’s allure is her candor.
She is open about her mental health struggles and has openly shared that she has ADHD and experiences anxiety.
It is also public knowledge that SZA has not one, but three therapists.
“There is so much perceiving going on.
These people don’t know you, they’re seeing you in a vacuum in your most high-pressure moments.
And it’s scary.”
However, that is far from the case.
“Everybody else has feelings and fears,” she countered.
“Because I’m famous, I’m not allowed to be scared?
I wasn’t born famous.”
“What helps my anxiety is preparation,” she said.
I talked to my friends.
I had a whole group chat with hair and makeup.
If it wasn’t for that, I would’ve had an attitude.”
Needless to say, she was devastated to leave the show without a single win.
“I’m just a girl from the ‘burbs.
I never had dreams of being nominated for a Grammy,” the “Snooze” singer toldCosmopolitanin 2021.
“Once you’ve been nominated and lost, you’re very much free because you’re not concerned.
I passed that threshold years agoit’s an old energy to me.
Why would I be mad?”
Not a bad haul for a shy kid.
