SZA Admits She Was 'Frustrated' When Her Label Gave Rihanna "Consideration"

In an interview with Variety, SZA admitted that she was initially "frustrated" when her label Top Dawg Entertainment gave Rihanna her song "Consideration."

"I cared so much. I was so, like, just frustrated and I felt like, 'I’ll never have anything this cool again. I’ll never make anything this cool again,'" she shared in an interview focused on lyrics from her biggest songs, as seen above. Originally, the song was what she considered to be "the centerpiece" of what became her debut album Ctrl, while for Rihanna, "it was just, like, part of her album."

The song is the opening track of Rihanna's 2016 album Anti. Ultimately, SZA still appeared on "Consideration" as a featured artist. Looking back, however, she thinks she was "so crazy and so wrong" to feel that way.

"I was like, ‘Please no!'” she continued. “I had just shot a video for it and, like, I was about to drop it, like, in a couple of days.' It was already done, like, whatever conversation label-wise, whatever. So it was just a matter of accepting and, in hindsight, it was so hard to go and accept. But now it's, like, I'm so glad that that happened. It didn’t cost me anything. If anything, I just, like, gained a bunch from it. And I thank God that I made cool music outside of that. I don’t know why I just really thought my creativity would just, like, stop and, like, this was the pinnacle of what I could make. If she has it, then I’ll just never be anything."

Earlier this month, SZA openly criticized fans who would share leaks of her unreleased material. “When people leak my songs, they ruin them,” SZA told Variety. “Then it’s not mine anymore; it’s actually yours. It’s something unfinished that you decided was ready to be shared." When leaks like that happen, she says she feels obligated to not release the material officially. "Play your leak, but you’re not gonna bully me into dropping music. I’m now embarrassed by this less-than-correct version that you put out," she shared.

Check out the full interview with Variety above.