When reminiscing about her 2009 fling with Drake, SZA didn’t exactly remember it as a storybook romance.
“We were really young,” the singer , 33, told Rolling Stone in this week’s cover story, which was published on Tuesday, October 3. “It wasn’t hot and heavy or anything. It was like youth vibes. It was so childish.”
Drake — who collaborated with SZA earlier this month — previously rapped about their relationship in 2020.
“Yeah, said she wanna f—k to some SZA, wait / ‘Cause I used to date SZA back in ’08,” he rapped on “Mr. Right Now,” which also features 21 Savage and Metro Boomin. “If you cool with it, baby, she can still play / While I jump inside that box and have a field day.”
Soon after the song was released, SZA took to X (formerly Twitter) to clarify Drake’s timeline of their romance.
“So it was actually 2009 lol,” she wrote. ”In this case a year of poetic rap license mattered lol I think he just innocently rhymed 08 w wait . Anybody who really knows me and was around during this time can confirm … it’s all love all peace.”
SZA followed up her initial tweet with a second message, explaining the reason she corrected the year was because she didn’t want anybody thinking anything underage or creepy was happening,” she wrote. (SZA was 18 at the time of their relationship while Drake was 21.) “Completely innocent. Lifetimes ago.”
After their 2009 split, the Grammy winners have remained on good terms.
The duo released their first collaboration, “Slime You Out,” earlier this month. The track — which Drake produced and cowrote with SZA — is the second single from his eighth studio album, For All the Dogs, which drops Friday, October 6.
While the song debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, not everyone was so happy with the tune — or rather, its artwork. One day before the song dropped, Drake and SZA teased the single with its cover art: a photo of Halle Berry covered in slime at the 2012 Kids’ Choice Awards.
The Oscar winner, 57, clapped back at the use of her image, stating via Instagram when she was asked by the rapper’s team to give him the permission to use her picture as a single cover, she refused.
While SZA and Drake continue to make headlines years after their brief romance, the “Kill Bill” artist delved even deeper into her love life in her Rolling Stone cover story, revealing she had been previously engaged to a partner she was with for 11 years. The pair called off their engagement in 2018.
As for her philosophy on dating today, SZA knows she is worth more than her appearance.
“I feel like I have more to offer than the way I look and my energy, but it’s like, I’m human, that s—t is all-encompassing,” she said.
