No wonder why SZA waited so long to put out her new album — she deals with a lot of bullsh*t. She recently had to point out how many songs on S.O.S. aren’t sad so people would stop writing off the LP as “sad girl music.” Now, she’s explaining herself again because haters are criticizing the content of her lyrics.
On Twitter, the singer wrote, “Sos is me singing about relationships from 6 years ago . Ctrl was about relationships from high school n college . Reflection is a part of growth . Reflection is good .”
Sos is me singing about relationships from 6 years ago . Ctrl was about relationships from high school n college . Reflection is a part of growth . Reflection is good .
— SZA (@sza) December 20, 2022
It’s unfortunately not a surprise that her ruminating on past relationships is receiving unwarranted criticism; female musicians are constantly attacked for writing about relationships, something men rarely or never have to deal with. Many (men) have accused her of being “toxic,” when really they should just be grateful that SZA was so vulnerable and transparent with the world on this record.
The good news is that S.O.S. is getting a loving reception from those who are actually her fans, despite her previous worry that they would hate it. “I never thought in a million years that people would like it,” she said on a recent podcast. “My dad’s visiting right now, with my mom. Everybody came down to make sure I didn’t lose my mind if the album went bad once it came out. And now we’re just hanging out, ’cause it didn’t go badly!”