Singer-songwriter SZA tries to guess lyrics from some of her most popular songs. She shares with us how she's come from humble beginnings, what it was like being a part of a Grammy award winning record with Doja Cat, and what it takes to make hits.
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00:00 I don't know, as long as you put your heart,
00:02 and that's so corny.
00:03 If you put your heart in it, that's how you make hits.
00:06 I don't know if that's what I'm trying to say.
00:09 Hi, my name is SZA,
00:10 and I'm gonna talk about some of my lyrics.
00:12 (upbeat music)
00:15 ♪ Car dippin' with your friend ♪
00:20 ♪ You ain't even half man lyin' on your ♪
00:22 ♪ Ding, you know that ♪
00:23 ♪ Got me a bag full of brick, you know that ♪
00:25 For "Kiss Me More."
00:27 ♪ Car dippin' with your friend ♪
00:28 ♪ You ain't even half man lyin' on your ♪
00:30 ♪ Ding, you know that ♪
00:31 ♪ Got me a bag full of brick, you know that ♪
00:33 Now at concerts, I don't even sing the ding.
00:35 I just go like this.
00:37 And then we all do it together,
00:38 and it's my favorite part of the song.
00:40 Thank y'all for turning that up.
00:42 Thank you.
00:42 Thank you, Doja.
00:43 Thank you to my mama.
00:44 Thank you to God, and just thank all of y'all.
00:46 I really didn't have anything to say
00:50 because it's really her accomplishment,
00:53 and I really wanted her to just do her thing
00:56 and have whatever moment she wanted.
00:58 I'm a part of it, and I'm grateful to be a part of it,
01:00 but when it's my turn, then it'll be my turn.
01:02 But I want her to have her full moment to say anything.
01:04 So I really didn't even say much.
01:06 I just thanked my mom and got off of there
01:08 before I put my foot in my mouth.
01:09 I still wanna be with you.
01:10 Trust me, I know that's insane.
01:12 "I'd rather fuck on you than fuck on Lame's."
01:13 "I did some shit in Berlin, I'm OD."
01:15 "We both ain't shit, and it's working for me."
01:18 Yes, from "Telekinesis."
01:19 ♪ I'd rather fuck on you than fuck on Lame's ♪
01:22 ♪ I did some shit in Berlin, I'm OD ♪
01:24 I feel like we all grew up on Drake
01:26 in some obvious way.
01:29 So somewhere in my subconscious,
01:31 he just skips around sprinkling breadcrumbs.
01:34 I saw something that said we were secretly singing
01:37 to each other through song, and I was like, "What?"
01:39 None of that is true.
01:40 ♪ Are you down to listen to me? ♪
01:43 ♪ Too many drinks have been given to me ♪
01:45 I had been up for three days, genuinely,
01:48 and we got that threatening text where it's like,
01:50 "If you don't sign up right now, it's too late."
01:52 And so I was like, "Okay."
01:54 We had just landed on a ferry
01:55 from somewhere really far,
01:57 and then I don't know what I said.
01:59 Like, I have no idea what I said.
02:01 I have no idea why I was awake or how,
02:04 and I panicked right before I came out
02:06 'cause I was like, "Damn, I haven't heard this."
02:07 And it's such an airtight project.
02:09 Like, no one's sending files.
02:10 Even when they sent me the file to hear,
02:12 like, the day of, it was distorted.
02:14 Like, it was like, "Blah, blah," over it.
02:15 So it was very much like,
02:17 "Damn, this might sound absolutely crazy,"
02:18 or, "It might be cool."
02:20 It turned out pretty cool,
02:22 and I guess, like, in my sleepy subconscious,
02:24 after someone said that, I heard it,
02:26 and I was like, "That's crazy."
02:27 That wasn't what I was thinking at all.
02:28 I like the lower, though. It's funny.
02:30 "Gotta get right, tryna free my mind
02:32 before the end of the world, this good days."
02:35 ♪ Gotta get right, tryna free my mind ♪
02:37 ♪ Before the end of the world ♪
02:39 I don't know, just, like, being left alone.
02:41 Just, like, do whatever I wanna do,
02:42 and, like, just being able to just, like,
02:45 let the day take shape on its own.
02:47 Sometimes, I don't know, I'm, like,
02:48 a more physical person,
02:49 and then it just kinda takes shape.
02:50 Like, I'll get up,
02:51 and I may be in a bad mood in my mind,
02:53 but, like, I'll just, I don't know,
02:54 just start doing shit.
02:55 Like, just drive towards the beach,
02:56 or drive towards a certain direction,
02:57 and things just kinda reveal themselves.
03:00 I'm gonna look outside my window,
03:03 I can get no peace of mind.
03:04 That is from consideration.
03:06 ♪ When I look outside my window ♪
03:10 ♪ I can't get no peace of mind ♪
03:13 I cared so much, and I was so, like,
03:15 just frustrated, and I felt like
03:17 I'll never have anything this cool again.
03:19 I'll never make anything this cool again,
03:21 and that was so crazy and so wrong.
03:23 'Cause it was, like, the centerpiece
03:24 to my album at the time.
03:25 And for her, it was just, like,
03:27 part of her album.
03:28 And I was like, "Please, no."
03:30 I had just shot a video for it,
03:31 and, like, I was about to drop it, like,
03:33 in a couple of days.
03:34 It was already done, like,
03:35 whatever, like, conversation, like,
03:37 label-wise, whatever was already done.
03:38 So, it was just a matter of, like,
03:40 accepting, and, like, in hindsight,
03:42 it was so hard to, like, go and accept,
03:44 but now it's, like,
03:45 I'm so glad that that happened,
03:47 and that it didn't cost me anything,
03:48 if anything, I just, like,
03:49 gained a bunch from it.
03:50 And I thank God that I made cool music
03:53 outside of that.
03:54 Again, and I don't know why,
03:55 I just really thought my creativity
03:56 would just, like, stop.
03:57 I'm like, this is, like, the pinnacle
03:58 of what I could make.
03:59 If she has it, then I'll just
04:01 never be anything.
04:02 I'm so mature.
04:06 I got me a therapist to tell me,
04:07 "There's other men I don't want,
04:08 and I just want you.
04:09 If I can't have you, no one should.
04:10 Just kill Bill."
04:11 ♪ If I can't have you, no one should ♪
04:14 Not even my current music,
04:15 but my earlier.
04:16 Well, I do sometimes comedy things,
04:18 like, I'm blind.
04:20 When it's, like, raunchy,
04:21 like, Bob Saget.
04:22 But if you think about his comedy
04:24 stand-up, it's really raunchy,
04:26 which is bizarrely, like,
04:27 contrasty to, like,
04:28 Poppy Gold and the Hitmen.
04:30 So I think I'm just, like,
04:31 into film and, like, stand-up
04:32 and just, like, watching shit.
04:33 So I always try to inject some
04:35 film and television into it.
04:36 It's, like, my biggest inspiration
04:37 'cause reading makes me tired.
04:38 So TV is, like, my form of ingesting.
04:42 Somebody get the tacos.
04:43 Somebody spark the bloom.
04:44 Let's start the Knuckles off
04:45 with episode one.
04:46 It's Drew Barrymore.
04:47 ♪ Somebody get the tacos ♪
04:49 ♪ Somebody spark the bloom ♪
04:50 ♪ Let's start the Knuckles off ♪
04:52 ♪ With episode one ♪
04:53 I owe her.
04:54 And, well, I dedicated a song
04:55 to her, but I love her.
04:56 She's amazing, like, the best.
04:58 I had a really big stint
05:00 at Cactus Taco when I first
05:01 moved to L.A. on Vine Street.
05:03 I haven't been there, like,
05:04 since the pandemic, but it used
05:05 to be my favorite place.
05:06 Get the California burrito
05:08 and the steak tacos,
05:09 but it was always Steak
05:09 Restaurant.
05:10 I just cried for no reason.
05:12 I just prayed for no reason
05:13 that all the stars.
05:15 ♪ I just cried for no reason ♪
05:17 ♪ I just prayed for no reason ♪
05:19 I had no idea what it was for.
05:21 They said it was for Disney,
05:22 for this Disney thing,
05:23 and I was like, "Okay."
05:25 But they didn't even say
05:25 it was for a Disney thing.
05:26 It was just something that
05:27 originally everybody was just
05:29 at the studio working on,
05:30 like everyone in TDE.
05:31 Everybody was just working
05:32 on a bunch of songs together,
05:34 and that was one of the songs
05:34 that, like, Dot was just like,
05:35 "Come in here and work on this,"
05:36 and I was like, "Okay."
05:37 And then even when I was time
05:38 to shoot the video, they were
05:39 like, "You're shooting
05:40 a music video for Disney."
05:41 And I was like, "What?"
05:42 I still didn't know what they
05:43 were talking about,
05:43 but I was on tour,
05:44 so it was just like on my day off.
05:45 I'm so honored to be a part of that.
05:47 In hindsight, it's, like,
05:48 so fucking cool.
05:49 I've never been a part of anything
05:51 that was that gnarly
05:52 and, I don't know,
05:53 that major and impactful.
05:55 It was very cool.
05:57 "Leave Me Lonely for Prettier Women,"
05:58 you know, I need too much attention
06:00 for shit like that.
06:01 That's a super motto.
06:02 ♪ Leave me lonely for prettier women ♪
06:05 ♪ You know I need too much attention ♪
06:07 ♪ for shit like that ♪
06:09 Some stuff, there's, like, stuff
06:09 that I didn't put on control
06:11 'cause I feel like people
06:12 are just armature
06:12 and, like, can't handle it,
06:13 and they don't deserve, like,
06:15 that type of information.
06:16 And I still feel like that
06:17 now more than ever.
06:18 And I'll never put that music out.
06:20 And I'm glad that I didn't,
06:21 but it still, like,
06:22 was fun to make and beautiful.
06:24 Especially now, I find myself
06:25 wanting to share less and less
06:27 with anyone
06:27 just 'cause it's super dangerous
06:28 and weird and, like,
06:29 everyone's just so scary and mean.
06:32 It's not an enjoyable environment
06:34 for vulnerability and sharing.
06:38 "My Man Is Your Man,"
06:40 her determinant is "The Weeknd."
06:41 ♪ My man is my man is your man ♪
06:44 ♪ Her determinant, too ♪
06:46 It was actually just selfish.
06:48 It was just a personal, like,
06:50 it's so funny that you want to be
06:52 with this man so bad
06:53 and I just want to have sex
06:54 with this person.
06:54 And it's weird that you even think
06:56 enough of him to want more.
06:57 And that wasn't nice in hindsight,
07:00 but it was true.
07:01 It was like a joke,
07:02 but it was also true.
07:03 It was like people you have sex with,
07:04 but it's like,
07:05 you're not my man.
07:06 I don't even want you to be my man.
07:07 But there is a girl that's dying
07:09 for you to be her man.
07:10 It just is not me.
07:11 "Took me out to the ballet,
07:12 you proposed, I went on the road,
07:13 you was feeling empty, so you left me."
07:15 That is "Nobody Gets Me."
07:17 ♪ Took me out to the ballet,
07:19 you proposed, I went on the road,
07:21 you was feeling empty,
07:22 so you left me ♪
07:23 It is a love song, for sure.
07:25 Like, it encompasses, like,
07:26 the grief of very serious situations.
07:30 Yeah, it was like a relationship
07:31 that I was in for, like,
07:32 more than a decade.
07:33 So it was just, like,
07:34 heavy vibes regardless.
07:35 And I guess that song is kind of,
07:36 like, remarks over the grief
07:38 of kind of, like, moving past that
07:40 and, like, I don't know,
07:41 it's like a closure anthem of sorts.
07:43 Right now, I'm not looking for anything.
07:45 I just need to find, like,
07:46 peace of mind within myself.
07:47 I just want to be left alone
07:49 and, like, safe to my own devices,
07:52 which isn't so safe,
07:53 but safer than being left
07:55 in mystery devices.
07:56 So that is where I'm at.
07:58 ♪ All alone, still not a thing in my name ♪
08:01 ♪ Ain't got nothing running from love ♪
08:02 ♪ Only no fear, 20-something ♪
08:04 ♪ Ain't got nothing running from love ♪
08:07 ♪ Only no fear ♪
08:09 I saw something today
08:10 where it's like,
08:11 why do people keep asking me
08:12 to act my age when I just got here?
08:15 Like, is my first time being this age?
08:17 I don't know.
08:18 [laughs]
08:19 So it's like, I don't know.
08:20 I'm really still looking back
08:21 at everything I'm in it.
08:22 Maybe when I'm 40,
08:24 and then I'll be like,
08:24 "Damn, that was crazy."
08:26 But I do look back and I'll be like,
08:27 I was ashy and, like, a little dirty
08:29 and I was weird.
08:30 And I'm glad that I'm not in my 20s anymore.
08:32 Show me the way to your hiding place.
08:34 I think I want to go, go, go there.
08:36 Ice Moon.
08:37 Show me the way to your hiding place.
08:40 At that time, like, a million streams
08:44 was like a really big deal.
08:46 And like, that was such a strange, crazy time.
08:49 Remember when SoundCloud was like everything?
08:52 That was it.
08:52 If you were like, bussing on SoundCloud,
08:54 that was just like,
08:55 you had the world in your actual hands.
08:58 But so yeah, I just had a bunch of listens on SoundCloud.
09:00 I was just happy.
09:02 I couldn't even,
09:03 I ain't have no money to get,
09:04 I didn't have a bank account to cash my check.
09:06 I didn't have no money to get back to the crib
09:09 to get to the bank.
09:09 I was in LA.
09:10 So when someone hands you, like,
09:11 a check for however much money,
09:13 you still got to like,
09:14 get back home and get to the bank
09:15 and check in and open the account.
09:17 So I was just more so like,
09:18 I didn't grasp any of that.
09:20 That was so weird.
09:20 I actually didn't celebrate at all.
09:22 That was strange.
09:23 I should have.
09:24 I be celebrating now a little bit.
09:26 People think I'm just like a sad girl,
09:28 like, or something all the time.
09:29 And I'm not.
09:30 It's just like, that's the part that I be writing about
09:32 so I can like not be a sad girl.
09:33 So I can process my emotions and move forward.
09:36 Depression.
09:37 No, I'm joking.
09:38 I'm not.
09:39 But I think it's just life experiences.
09:41 It's not depression.
09:42 Some of it has been.
09:45 I think it's just like processing emotions
09:46 and I'm excited about the new music I have coming out.
09:49 'Cause it's like, it's not sad,
09:50 but it is a lot of like also processing.
09:53 And like, I'm happy to like move past
09:55 the places where I am or where I've been.
09:58 But I think that's, I don't know,
09:59 as long as you put your like, your heart
10:01 and like, that's so corny.
10:02 If you put your heart in it, that's how you make hits.
10:05 I don't know if that's what I'm trying to say.
10:08 If you keep it a bean, you're more than likely,
10:10 I feel like, to be in good standing.
10:12 (upbeat music)
10:15 (upbeat music)
10:17 (upbeat music)
10:20 (upbeat music)
10:22 (siren blaring)