When I think of Afropunk, I think of the best of the best. I think of, like, D'Angelo.
— SZA
My parents are really conservative. My dad is Muslim, and my mom is the most conservative woman you've ever met. They're very aristocratic in the most quaint suburban way.
Wearing a hijab never made me feel any more conservative - it made me feel safe. Then, after 9/11, I became the butt of a joke on the playground, so I stopped wearing it. Kids can be really cruel when you're the only black girl in your Girl Scout troop.
I don't like to shop. It creates so much anxiety.
I used to be offended when people would compare me to Erykah Badu. Because I'm black, thick, and have large lips? There's nothing similar about us whatsoever, and I felt very disrespected by the fact that people needed to pigeonhole me. I wasn't even raised on Erykah Badu!
You can take care of your body, and it will low-key show you respect in turn.
I did some work on Beyonce and Nick Minaj's 'Feeling Myself.'
I feel like every outfit I have ever planned ahead is trash.
I always used to be like, 'I don't need to meditate.' And it's not true.
When I just decided to be myself, that's when you get questions like, 'How do you feel about feminism?' And I have no idea; this is just when I decide what I'm not tolerating and what I genuinely think and a little bit in between.
I don't enjoy being interviewed. I feel like it exhausts a lot of my energy. I feel empty after.
I'm a visual learner, so film is a huge inspiration to me.
I was a gymnast for 13 years, so I was heavy into sports.
I do a lot of strange things.
I've fried my hair off. I've shaved my hair off. I've done it all.
My mom didn't let me eat sugar or candy until I was older.
I don't think I'm inherently feminist. I think the universe wants me to be feminist, and I think I resonate with that. I think it just chose me to be this female energy... thing. And I'm very drawn to female energy, but I don't really have any prerequisites in feminism. I just roll with it.
I don't listen to my own music, so to me, it's awesome that people really like it. I was afraid that it wouldn't connect with everyone. I'm more appreciative than anything.
When your parents regulate everything you hear and everything you intake, it forces you to get creative in other ways. It sparked the writing bug and the very overactive imagination. Because I've had a lot of time by myself and a lot of time isolated from regular culture, I created my own.
I've always loved playing with hair. I used to want dreads like Lauryn Hill, but my mom wouldn't let me.
It's so hard for me to focus on things for a long time that I'm not incredibly passionate about.
I used to be very revenge-motivated, but that's just because I'm a Scorpio. Now I'm more so, like, practice honesty just because it makes you feel better.
Music, or the type of music that I'm writing, is very personal.
I always wanted to be a Klingon princess. They were so pretty, and their hair was fire. My hair is Klingon, I feel like.
I used to be very figurative and also just kind of scared to talk about the way I felt in a literal way.
Every day I grapple between 'I'm going to get married' and 'I'm going to spend the rest of my life alone with a poodle.'
I love Obama, and I just want to reiterate it again to everyone from every hilltop and every mountain: I love him!
I live in my imagination, so sometimes movies help me get lost. I feel like I'm in it.
I was quiet in high school and relatively unpopular, so being noticed is not something that I'm used to.
My mom was an executive at AT&T, a global account lady. I have no idea what she did. I just know she was never home and speaks several languages.
I use Ecoco EcoStyler gel, but the alcohol-free protein one. That's the key.
I love the comparison with Aaliyah and Timbaland, because Aaliyah is a legend, and there is a large cinematic feel to Timbaland's sound, but what I do is different.
I was a funky kid.
I love empowering women. I think it's crazy: if you ever try to belittle women, you're playing yourself - I ride with whoever rides with me.
The album that defined my childhood was probably Ella Fitzgerald's 'Greatest Hits,' whereas my half-sister, who didn't have the same conservative upbringing, was listening to Cash Money and crunk.
Don't get discouraged with your skin when it doesn't do what you want it to do... Give it some time. That's the only way to get to know yourself.
I went through this phase of Spandex, high heels, and fur coats when I was my late teens and early twenties; before then, I lived in overalls and baggy T-shirts.
I just make music however I feel and pray that it connects, and if it does, I'm super thankful. I think genres are more for other people, not for yourself.
Oh, Instagram stresses me out on a very deep level!
Music is my form of cleansing and introspection, so I have to grow in order to accomplish it.
Reading makes me so sleepy. Honestly, I'm a visual learner.
I have an abundant amount of love in my life, and I'm grateful for that.
I feel like when you say 'activist,' you have to have so much clarity, and I don't always necessarily have so much clarity on how I want to help others, I just have this weird, deep urge to help other people. I'm trying to let God guide my body and use it as whatever kind of vehicle or vessel it needs to be.
I definitely get inspiration from the 'gram. I mean, Instagram is Google, essentially. I love looking at pictures of beautiful women.
I'm very into details, so I watch movies just for the details.
I was raised orthodox Muslim. Very sheltered, very conservative.
I was born in St. Louis, but I'm from Maplewood, New Jersey. Maplewood is completely different than the rest of New Jersey. It's very small. It's quietly affluent but more low-key. Lauryn Hill is from my town, though.
I love cuffing season. It's a very inspiring season for those who want to be inspired.
My mom is a Pan-Africanist. My dad is still Orthodox Sunni Muslim, but he's super fun. He worked in television for years. He was a Black Panther.
As long as you're being honest and there's intention in what you're doing, then I think that energy permeates your field and becomes like a homing signal for other people with like energies.
