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SZA bugs out while eating spicy wings
On the most recent episode of thefiery wing-slinging Hot Ones, SZA joined host Sean Evans to take on the gauntlet of chicken wings while dressed up like a bug, and it’s giving A Bug’s Life.
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“I’m wondering if we should even acknowledge the prosthetics,” Sean expressed to SZA, who said she was serving big bug eyes and antennas “for no other reason than I’m just tired of not being a bug.” However, something tells us there is another reason for SZA's buggy prothesis -- perhaps something to do with her new album promo.
SZA has been teasing Lana all year, especially since announcingin March the project would shift from being a deluxe version of the highly acclaimed SOS, to a highly anticipated follow-up instead. From floating "Saturn" as a potential lead single in February, posting behind-the-scenes pics of some insect cosplay in May, followed by a full-on 44-second visual posted in June soundtracked by the unreleased track “Storytime,” featuring the lyrics, “I know you told stories about me, most of them awful. All of them true. Here’s some for u,” which is what SZA captioned the post.
As per usual, with every other guest in the Hot Ones hot seat, SZA chowed down on some super spicy chicken wings while answering some questions. For the first wing, Evans brought up how SZA shared how she sometimes approaches songwriting by freestyling, asking her how she goes about creating cohesive albums without a concept in mind.
"I actually feel like a compliant is that my s*** is not cohesive. But I feel like I consider myself to be the glue… to myself… and to my sound, because I don’t have an idea. Like when I go into s*** I’m just like, ‘What does this beat make me wanna say?' And I just kinda say it.’” Noting that when she hears it back is when she comes to the realization of, “Oh I had no idea that that’s what that meant… or, I don’t know what she means to me until I say it, as I do it… I usually ask I’ll ask my engineer, I’ll be like, ‘Well that was crazy?’ And he’ll be like, ‘Kill your ex. Let it happen.’”
Bringing up her quote to Billboardabout how the success of "Kill Bill" almost pissed her off because it was so easy to write, Sean asked SZA if she’s the type of artist who has to suffer for her art to fully enjoy it. “I have a harder time enjoying anything if I don’t suffer for it,” SZA answered. “Which is why I have this mask on,” she quipped.
“I feel like ‘nobody gets me’ is my goal of like — I can make a ballad, I can do X, Y, and Z — but they’re like… no but this other song that took you three seconds to write, as like a joke to your engineer… I don’t know, I guess I just need suffering as value."
Segueing onto the topic of under-appreciation, with Evans noting he feels certain episodes of Hot Ones are underrated. He went on to ask SZA if there’s “ a project or a song that maybe deep down feel like was under-appreciated for what you put into it.
Getting a bit choked up, not by the wings, but by the question, SZA said, “You know, people say a lot, like about Ctrl, they’re like ‘surely you know.’ But I think people forget, people really weren’t f***ing with it so crazy when it first dropped… Maybe if anything I’m just more surprised by how all of it played out. Not the way I thought it would, but more than I ever expected at the same time.”
SZA went on to discuss work being your significant other, and wishing the music industry would be more of an honest relationship, the complexities and difficulties of touring, and creating a spectacle.
From there the wings got spicier, and the questions kept coming — about everything from her past as a competitive gymnast and her love for trampoline parks, as well as her struggles with fame and distaste for the limelight, plus what she sees as the value of disguise.
“This one brings me so much peace of mind,” SZA said cradling her prosthesis-covered face. “In the realm of like being a person is so daunting, and being in your own skin… just the freedom… and for no other reason of just tired of being, not a bug.” Suggesting Sean try out the bug prosthetic life “before this is all said and done.” It didn’t happen — just FYI.
SZA also listed off which songs suck her back into the state of when she wrote them while performing them — which includes, “Nobody Gets Me,” “20 Something,” “Drew Barrymore,” “Normal Girl,” and “Broken Clocks.” She also revealed if she actually makes those recipes she asks for on TikTok, while sweating from the “hottest hot sauce in the world,” wing #8 doused in "Da Bomb Beyond Insanity," and chatted about what it takes to secure a posthumous verse from somebody like Ol' Dirty Bastard.
To catch it all, watch SZA’s entire Hot Ones episode below.