Fans have been clamoring for news — any news — about SZA’s new album for a while now but the singer has been cagey with details regarding the project. She’s given announcements that went nowhere, she’s released singles that failed to materialize into a full-length collection, and in the introduction of a new cover feature for Complex, she even says she doesn’t want to talk about her new album. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t talk about it. After all, if there’s one thing SZA loves to do, it’s contradicting herself.
For instance, one detail she reveals is that she’s been working with R&B hitmaker Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins — which dedicated fans already knew thanks to her long-awaited single “Shirt” — and that the duo turned out to be incredibly prolific. She explains that her desire to collaborate with Jerkins stemmed from his already legendary list of works with turn-of-the-millennium icons like Amerie and Brandy and boasts that they completed a week’s worth of work in just one day.
“That was always my dream,” she said. “To work with him based on his work with Brandy and Amerie. We did like seven records in one day.” Jerkins praised SZA’s songwriting, saying, “Her pen game is arguably one of the best pen games in the game right now. It’s almost like she’s a rapper tied up in a vocalist… There’s no fear in her writing. She’s gonna say whatever she wants to say, and that’s what it is. And to me, that’s the X factor.”
Unfortunately, the one thing the feature doesn’t reveal is the release date of SZA’s long-awaited album. It looks like we’ll have to keep waiting.