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<\/p>\nSZA On How She Plans To Follow ‘Ctrl’ And Using Her New-Found ‘Loud Voice’ To Create Cultural ‘Ripples’<\/b>
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SZA\u2019s debut album, \u2018Ctrl\u2019, was one of 2017\u2032s most critically acclaimed releases, and she\u2019s showing no signs of slowing down. Ahead of her performance at this year\u2019s Grammys, the singer spoke to us about what she plans to do differently second time around, and her new collaboration with Gap<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n If you\u2019re not up to speed with SZA<\/a>, now would be the ideal time to catch up.<\/p>\n Having previously penned tracks for artists including Beyonc\u00e9, Travis Scott and Rihanna, last year saw the singer\/songwriter release her much-awaited debut album \u2018Ctrl\u2019<\/a> which was met with universal critical acclaim, followed by an impressive five Grammy nominations (for perspective,\u00a0that\u2019s more than Ed Sheeran, Coldplay or any other female artist managed this year<\/a>).<\/p>\n SZA\u2019s 2018 is already off to an exciting start, with Gap<\/a> having invited her to take part in their star-studded \u2018Logo remix\u2019 campaign, naming her as someone who is \u201cremixing culture\u201d with her musical contributions.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think that I alone am remixing culture,\u201d\u00a0the singer – full name Sol\u00e1na Imani Rowe – says, when asked about the campaign, \u201cI<\/span>t\u2019s more like our culture is undergoing a transformation of its own.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what the hell\u2019s going on with our culture. It\u2019s something bizarre. It\u2019s weird it\u2019s, like, digitising and becoming analogue at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd I think people are a part of that change, and that shift and that feel… I\u2019m just honoured to be considered anything, like, at all!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n I never imagined people would relate to my random thoughts… I’m just grateful to not be alone.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Though the woman<\/a> herself is clearly reluctant to play up to the impact she\u2019s already having on culture so early in her career, \u2018Ctrl\u2019 was one of 2017\u2019s most celebrated debuts, largely thanks to SZA\u2019s frank and confessional songwriting.<\/p>\n But while the honesty of her lyrics is something that has made her one of the most endearing new voices in music in recent years, SZA (pronounced like \u201csizza\u201d, if you\u2019re wondering) has admitted she \u201cnever imagined\u201d people would relate to what she describes as her \u201crandom thoughts\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I didn\u2019t think this album would be well-received at all\u2026 I\u2019m honestly just grateful to not be alone,\u201d she reveals, \u201cI\u2019m just grateful that people don\u2019t think I suck, or that my thoughts don\u2019t make any sense.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI thought I was being way more haphazard than I ended up being t<\/span>o other people. Which is wild.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Still at an early stage in what looks to be a promising career, SZA\u2019s so-called \u201crandom thoughts\u201d have meant a<\/span>\u00a0legion of devoted fans are now looking to her as an influential voice, something she\u2019s clearly not taking for granted.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Because of her newfound popularity,\u00a0SZA says she now finds herself thinking more before she speaks, rather than giving \u201ca hyper-emotional response to topics… which doesn\u2019t really push anything forward\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n She explains: \u201cBecause I have a loud voice right now, it\u2019s like, damn I have to be careful what kind of waves I create, or even my own thoughts. Because it\u2019s selfish, you know, to be impulsive. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd even though it\u2019s also important to have carte blanche and be yourself, I just feel super-connected to to the people that\u2026 respect me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When we speak, SZA is gearing up for the Grammys<\/a>, where she\u2019s scheduled to perform for the first time (\u201cI\u2019m actually getting my hair and nails done for Grammys evening as I talk to you, and it\u2019s just bizarre to even think about that happening at all\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n She\u2019s reluctant to spill any gossip about what we should expect from her performance, other than she\u2019s \u201ctrying something that I\u2019ve always wanted to try, technologically\u201d, but it\u2019s apparent that this signifies a milestone moment in her career, and it\u2019s something she\u2019s determined not to take for granted.<\/span><\/p>\n And that\u2019s without even factoring in that she has five chances to bag an award on the night<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI would be deeply, deeply honoured,\u201d she says, on the subject of winning, \u201cIt would mean that I was on the right track.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI really think that my whole life I\u2019ve always been checking for a sign that I was on the right track.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut I feel like even being considered is that sign. So I\u2019m happy already! Man, I\u2019m so grateful. I\u2019m so grateful.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI feel like everything I\u2019ve done until now has prepared me for this moment, this day, this performance, the experience. So\u2026 I don\u2019t know what to tell people, because I don\u2019t even know what to expect. I just… expect for it to be a culmination of all my experiences and everything I\u2019ve learned.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Still riding the wave of \u2018Ctrl\u2019, SZA is already looking ahead to her follow-up release, and outright dismisses the notion that the success of her debut has piled on the pressure over what comes next. In fact, the opposite seems to be true.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n Because I have a loud voice right now… I have to be careful what kind of waves I create.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n While SZA has spoken candidly in the past about how difficult she found the process of making \u2018Ctrl\u2019 thanks to her own insecurities and struggles with anxiety, it sounds as though she\u2019s way more fired up this time around.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m committed to making this album the best album of my life,\u201d she says, \u201cI know exactly what I did wrong on [\u2018Ctrl\u2019] and… nobody knows <\/span>exactly <\/span><\/em>what they did wrong, but I know what I could have done better and I know exactly what I want to do [now].<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not afraid of the kind of things that I was before, I\u2019m way more excited to make an album than I could have ever been.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And although it\u2019s the personal nature of her lyrics that have helped launch her success, SZA says she\u2019s taking a more outward approach with her follow-up music and writing from a \u201cdifferent perspective and stream of consciousness\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely feel like it\u2019s less [about] how I see what\u2019s happened to me and more how I see what\u2019s happening to the world,\u201d she explains, \u201cI\u2019ve read so many crazy ass<\/a> stories this year that just broke my heart, like things I just couldn\u2019t believe were happening to people in the world. Kids in the world turning up dead with no addresses\u2026 just bizarre things.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019m, like, writing from a perspective of\u2026 in and out of it. I have a lot of thoughts that I have to get out.\u201d<\/p>\n But while SZA says that she\u2019s definitely up for \u201ctaking more risks\u201d with her music as she moves forward, she balks at the idea that this will be her chance to try and \u201cchange minds\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t change anyone\u2019s mind about anything,\u201d she insists, \u201cYou just have to, like, magnify yourself so you can at least create a ripple.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then your ripple does what it\u2019s supposed to do, it affects who it\u2019s meant to affect, it connects, and then spreads to other people. But the idea is not to change anyone\u2019s minds, that\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ve done the whole yell at other people to make them feel the way I feel about certain things… and it didn’t really get me anywhere.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n She continues: \u201cI\u2019ve done the whole yell at other people to make them feel the way I feel about certain things, and make them feel stupid about believing what they believe. And it didn\u2019t really get me anywhere.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI feel like the things that I feel passionately about, I\u2019m down to feel passionately about, publicly, I\u2019m down to be a face, or whatever it calls<\/a> for, but I don\u2019t feel like I need to <\/span>design<\/span><\/em> a purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI feel like everybody has a purpose designed already\u2026 you, me, everyone. You just have to really magnify yourself and have that confidence in yourself to really unlock your purpose. And I feel like I just figured out that\u2019s what you\u2019re even supposed to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo, I don\u2019t even know where I\u2019m supposed to go from here,\u201d she concludes, \u201cBut we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Watch the GAP Logo Remix film below:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \nwww.huffingtonpost.co.uk\/entry\/sza-ctrl-gap-new-album-grammys_uk_5a68c02de4b0dc592a0eb9e1<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SZA On How She Plans To Follow ‘Ctrl’ And Using Her New-Found ‘Loud Voice’ To Create Cultural ‘Ripples’ SZA\u2019s debut album, \u2018Ctrl\u2019, was one of 2017\u2032s most critically acclaimed releases, and she\u2019s showing no signs of slowing down. Ahead of her performance at this year\u2019s Grammys, the singer spoke to us about what she plans … Continue reading SZA On How She Plans To Follow ‘Ctrl’ And Using Her New-Found ‘Loud Voice’ To Create Cultural ‘Ripples’<\/span> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/5a68c0f72d00004900942b37.jpeg\")
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