SZA Reveals How Drew Barrymore Inspired Her to Write Song About Her

SZA appeared as a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show and explained to the actress why she chose to name track four from her debut CTRL album in her honor. The full-circle moment reunites the pair, while filming the music video directed by Dave Meyers in 2017. “I was so excited when I heard the song with my name in the title,” exclaimed the talk show host. “It was inspired by you. It wasn’t just titled after you,” responded the Grammy-winning singer. “The energy that you carry, even my outfit, is inspired by the way you’ve made me feel my entire life.”S he continued, “You don’t understand.  I wrote you this letter that I never sent you. But it talked about how, I guess when you’re a younger Black woman, there’s not a lot of examples all the time, and one of the few lovely white women that I looked up to so much on television was you because you were so yourself. “You were quirky. Your smile wasn’t perfect… I have a slight speech impediment, and people laugh all the time. They’re like, ‘What is SZA saying?’ And it’s like a running joke. I love the way you talk and like, just all the you-ness of you, your laugh, even in the movies and in real life. It just reminds me of all the things about myself that make me nervous, but on you, it shines so brightly. ”SZA continued to elaborate, “You gave me permission to be myself and feel like, this is so cool… All your old photo shoots, I look them up. You’ve always been pinnacle to me. I love you… You’re so special. Barrymore flashed back to the 2017 video shoot sharing, “Maybe it’s humble insecurity or whatever even though we had that talk in the trailer that night, I think I always still convinced myself, ‘It was just words that she used for the song, and the words were my name,’ and I had not really heard you explain it like this.” The 49-year-old added, “I think maybe what you picked up when you were young, ’cause it’s no different now, is this lack of assumption. We are looking for permission to be ourselves. We are looking for someone to tell us it will be okay to be exactly who we are, because I experience it almost every day, and I think everybody does. “Drew Barrymore” was initially released ahead of CTRL and finds SZA at her most vulnerable, opening up about her insecurities and desire to be loved despite not feeling worthy of romance. Take a listen and watch the music video above.

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