A Paramore and SZA collaboration has been a long time coming, especially for fans of SZA’s more rock-leaning tracks.
It all traces back to December 2022, when SZA revealed to People that she had enlisted Hayley Williams’ help on her sophomore album, SOS.
When it came to experimenting with new sounds on the LP, “for each of those genres I would text people like Hayley Williams and be like, “Does it sound like I’m trying to do something that I shouldn’t be doing, or does it sound organic?,”” SZA shared. “Because it felt really natural to me, but you’re the queen of this, how does it sound to you?’ And she’d be like, “This is perfect.””
Flash forward to last August, when Williams appeared on the Black People Love Paramore podcast. Asked what Black artist she wanted to make music with, she told hosts she’s dreamed of collaborating with SZA for the past six years, per People.
“I love her voice,” Williams said. “SZA for about six years now has been the one. I’m sending the texts weekly at this point.”
The Paramore singer echoed her desire in a Rolling Stone interview, telling the publication that she “would love to hear her on something that we wrote that’s more alternative-leaning, just because [she thinks] it would be interesting.”
Perhaps 2024 will be the year that the Paramore x SZA collaboration finally comes to fruition. Asked for an update on the long-awaited collab in an interview with Apple Music, SZA replied, “Soon! It’s in the works.”
While waiting for the single itself, fans can tune in to SZA’s Apple Music Live performance of her SOS tour stop at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, premiering on Wednesday, January 31.
