SZA would very much like to be excluded from at least two narratives. In a new interview with GQ, the star expressed bafflement over Nicki Minaj‘s targeting her on social media — and sidestepped Kendrick Lamar‘s beef with Drake.
This summer, after initially targeting Punch, the president of SZA’s label TDE, Minaj dissed SZA herself on X, mocking her physical appearance, questioning her level of success, and accusing her of manipulating charts with her release of Lana, the deluxe version of 2022’s SOS.
“I don’t know her,” SZA told GQ. “We have no connection to each other. There’s no backstory. Like, there was no through-line narrative… I don’t know where it came from. That’s not even my place to correct a narrative that I don’t got shit to do with. It was a little strange. It was very like, ‘Why?’”
SZA is even less eager to get involved in the long-running beef between Lamar and Drake — she previously collaborated with Drake, and more recently toured with Lamar and teamed with him on the hit single “Luther.”
“It was something between two grown-ass men,” she told GQ. “So why would I insert myself between something between two grown-ass men, you know? … I didn’t really have any stake, per se. Obviously I love Kendrick. I’m signed to TDE. That’s my family. Obviously I’ve known Drake for so long, and we have a beautiful rapport. And, obviously, it’s always unfortunate when the unfortunate occurs.” She added that no message was intended via the inclusion of her 2023 Drake collab “Rich Baby Daddy” in her tour setlist with Kendrick.
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In the interview, SZA also revealed that she’s deep into recording what she hopes will be “the best album I’ve ever made,” working extensively with Steve Lacy, though she has no intention of releasing it anytime soon — even 2026 might be too early, she suggested. She’s already finished tracks including “Passenger Princess,” “Burgers,” and “Yearner.”
Overall, she told GQ, she’s uninspired by the current musical landscape, though she’s a fan of Chappell Roan, Doechii, and Lola Young. “I just want to make great things,” she told the magazine. “And I feel like if I didn’t do something great, I can’t lie and pretend that it was great. But I think we have such a crazy onslaught of mediocrity that the bar is in hell.”
