Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty; Amy Sussman/FilmMagic
All musical partnerships start somewhere. ForSZAandPhoebe Bridgers, that was over DMs!
SZA, 33, opened up toConsequencefor the publication’s latest cover story, detailing how she and Bridgers, 28, linked up for her new albumS.O.S. The two swap verses on track “Ghost in the Machine” on SZA’s sophomore album, which was released on Dec. 9.
“We had been playing festivals together recently, but [our sets were] at the same time so we never got to meet,” SZA said, continuing that it was “just a DM” that introduced them.
Anna Webber/Getty for Spotify
SZA also added that thePunishersinger was “so funny” and that they had the “best conversations” together. “It was interesting to bring us both together,” she explained.
Upon the album’s track list announcement last week and before its official release,SZA shared a voice messageshe got from a friend, who kept repeatedly screaming the name “Phoebe Bridgers” in excitement. Phoebe, too, interacted with fans who were excited about her involvement on the LP. One Twitter user, who wrote “you aight white girl” even got a response out of her.
“no,” Phoebe, 28, wrote in a now-viral tweet.
The album — including the first collab between Phoebe and SZA — is already seeing a positive reaction from fans and critics alike. SZA opened up to PEOPLE about the LP shortly before its release last week, in a conversation surrounding herlatest Crocs collection.
“The sound is a little bit ofliterallyeverything,” SZA told PEOPLE of her new album during the discussion. “It’s a little angry as an overview, but some of it is really beautiful and soft and heartfelt. It’s about heartbreak, it’s about being lost, it’s about being pissed.”
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SZA (Solána Imani Rowe) added that she doesn’t want to be “boxed into anything” when it comes to describing the sounds included on her new project, which she said would include a “wordy” track list with “definitely a lot of yelling.” She was right on both fronts.
“It’s my first album in five years, so I’m ready to be a different person and step into this new part of my life,” she explained. “Really exemplify who this character is and get to know myself better while everyone else gets to know me live at the same time.”
Of course, Bridgers isn’t the only artist featured on the album. Without assistance from her fellow Top Dawg Entertainment friends inDoechiior Isaiah Rashad this time around, others like Don Toliver,Travis Scott, and the late legend Ol' Dirty Bastard make appearances. Her link-up with Scott comes five years after he appeared onCtrlsingle “Love Galore.”
“I thought it was so crazy because I tried to find a feature for that song and no one responded in time,” SZA said of using a verse from ODB on track “Forgiveless.” “It turns out ODB just sounded the coolest before I could even think about anything else.”
source: people.com
