I did giggle at Cosmo’s “It’s SZA Szn (Sorry, We Had To),” because as you may know, I cannot resist a pun or a piece of wordplay. The goofier the better. Do not apologize, Cosmo. OWN the fromage. There’s a reason people love cheese plates.
SZA’s face is just so lovely. No, I don’t love the top, but I do love the COLOR, and the relaxed, easy warmth she exudes in this photo is wonderful. It’s the feeling of walking outside on the first real spring day and turning your face to the sky, letting the sun and the breeze lick your skin. Also, not for nothing, I DO want to read a story involving psychics and celeb drama. Do we think that’s the SAME story, or two pieces sharing the same page?
The story is a quick read, too, with my favorite bite coming from SZA’s best friend:
Before logging off, I ask her about the thing I think about most often: legacy. What is the body of work you’re leaving? What do you want people to say about you? (FWIW, here’s what her Ctrl creative director Sage [Adams] —who got the gig when she was just 19—is already saying: “As a younger Black person, giving yourself the permission to be an artist is one of the hardest things. To break from the generational cycle of having to be a doctor or a lawyer or do better or assimilate to whiteness. And SZA gave me that permission—tenfold. She was like, ‘Dude, more than permission, I believe in you.’”)
For her part, SZA is thinking big—massive, really. World-changing. “Right now, more than ever, I’m just figuring it out—who I am and what I want that to be,” she says. “Before, it was more about letting people know that I was a good writer and that I shouldn’t be counted out. And now it’s more, You have power; you can shape the world based on the things you genuinely care about.”
