SZA on Feeling Frustrated Regarding Rihanna's Usage of "Consideration" on Her Album "Anti"

In a time long past, before SZA became one of the most streamed artists on Spotify in 2023, she was compelled to relinquish her song “Consideration” to a more renowned artist of that period — Rihanna. Rihanna incorporated the song into her 2016 album Anti. Initially, it was a hard pill to swallow for the “Kill Bill” vocalist, but she now expresses gratitude for the occurrence. “I cared so much,” SZA mused during a video interview with Variety released on 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 initially recorded “Consideration” for her 2017 album Ctrl and even produced a music video for the song, she informed the magazine. However, just days before its launch, she says Rihanna requested the song for Anti and arrangements were made without SZA’s knowledge. “It was already done,” the Grammy recipient remembered. “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 further explained. “And for her, it was just, like, part of her album. And I was like, ‘Please, no.’”

“Consideration” eventually became the introductory track on Anti, with SZA credited as a guest artist whose vocals can be heard echoing the song’s chorus amidst Rihanna’s verses. The publicity she received from this unexpected turn of events proved to be a hidden blessing, despite the initial difficulty in accepting it.

“Now I’m so glad that that happened, and that it didn’t cost me anything,” SZA expressed. “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.”