"It’s almost a little reductive" — SZA says she is defined as an R&B artist because she is Black

Good Days singer SZA's recent interview with Dazed has garnered a lot of traction owing to the singer's statement that she is restricted to the R&B genre because she is a black artist.

On being asked how she would define her sound, given that she doesn't confine herself to one genre despite being called an R&B artist, SZA told the publication:

"The only reason I’m defined as an R&B artist is because I’m black. It’s almost a little reductive because it doesn’t allow space to be anything else or try anything else."

The focus of the interview was news of the Love Galore singer becoming the brand ambassador for Quay's latest spring collection, apart from which SZA talked about protecting her energy, her belief in karma, and following her heart.

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SZA shares her desire to create music without a label: Details from the Dazed interview explored

SZA is one of the most celebrated artists in the R&B arena, with her second studio album SOS shattering the record for the biggest streaming week in 2022 for an R&B album by a woman, as per Luminate. The Love Galore singer has won four Grammy awards and earned her first number-one single on Billboard's Hot 100 with the song Kill Bill in 2023.

In her interview with Dazed, supporting her statement regarding being called an R&B artist because of her ethnicity, SZA gave an instance quoting Justin Bieber. The Go Gina singer stated that Justin Bieber is not considered an R&B artist and is a pop artist who creates whatever he wants. She told the publication:

"I simply just want to be allowed the same opportunity to make whatever I want without a label, [without it being] based on the color of my skin, or the crew that I run with, or the beats that I choose."

Mentioning her songs like Kill Bill, F2F, and Nobody Gets Me, the singer expressed the desire for her songs to be seen as they are.

Shifting her statement to a lighter note, SZA mentioned that it is nothing to be agitated about as it is about how people process others, and as long as she doesn’t process herself the same way, she won’t confine herself to anything. She told Dazed that she’s trying to enjoy the experience and vibe out by making music.

Expanding on the previous question, the interviewer asked SZA if up-and-coming black female musicians being labeled as R&B artists early on takes place only for the sake of giving them a label.

Answering the same, the Blind singer mentioned:

"It’s so strange! Once we’re dead and gone, there will still be work to do in terms of how we’re seen in the world as black women, and who we are allowed to be seen as – the multifacetedness and all our spectrums of expression."

She stated that with humanity constantly unfolding itself, the artists will be showing everyone that they are beyond the reductive labels given to them, especially from what is shown on the internet or learned in college.

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This is not the first time the Saturn singer has expressed her opinion on being called an R&B artist owing to her ethnicity. In a 2014 interview with Refinery 29, the Snooze singer mentioned that artists like Amy Winehouse or Adele won’t be called R&B as they aren’t black and that it won’t make sense to give them the label of a particular genre.