SZA Explains Why She Was Originally ‘Frustrated’ by Rihanna Using ‘Consideration’ on ‘Anti’

Once upon a time, years before she was one of Spotify’s most streamed musicians of 2023, SZA had no choice but to hand over her song “Consideration” to an artist who was a much bigger star at the time — Rihanna, who ended up using the track on her 2016 album Anti. And though it was tough to accept at first, the “Kill Bill” singer now says she’s thankful it happened.

“I cared so much,” SZA reflected in a video interview with Variety published Wednesday (Nov. 29). “I was so, just, frustrated. And I felt like, ‘I’ll never have anything this cool again.’ I’ll never make anything this cool again, and that was so crazy and so wrong.”

SZA had recorded “Consideration” for her 2017 album Ctrl and even filmed a music video for the track, she told the publication. Days before its release, however, she says Rihanna asked to have the song for Anti and negotiations were made without SZA knowing. “It was already done,” the Grammy winner recalled. “Whatever the conversation, label-wise, was already done. It was just a matter of accepting.”

“[The song] was like the centerpiece to my album at the time,” she added. “And for her, it was just, like, part of her album. And I was like, ‘Please, no.’”

“Consideration” ended up serving as the opening track on Anti, with SZA billed as a featured artist whose voice can be heard singing the song’s refrain in between Ri’s verses. The exposure she gained from the switcheroo turned out to be a blessing in disguise, though, as difficult a pill as it may have been to swallow at first.

“Now I’m so glad that that happened, and that it didn’t cost me anything,” SZA said. “If anything, I 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 stop, and this was the pinnacle of what I could make.”

Watch SZA’s Variety interview above.