Overview
- In a new i-D interview, SZA says the rise of AI in music makes her feel “at war,” escalating a critique she first voiced on SOS.
- She argues AI is hitting Black music hardest, citing unauthorized AI covers of newer artists like Olivia Dean and calling much of the output “weird, stereotypical struggle music.”
- As a response, she is back in the studio on a follow-up to SOS, experimenting widely with a live band that builds beats from scratch as she freestyles.
- SZA says Steve Lacy dropped into sessions and that they “made a random little project together,” though fans online are skeptical it will ever be released.
- Her stance extends to environmental justice concerns she raised last summer about AI data centers, as AI-made acts reach charts and platforms move to label, demonetize or ban AI-generated tracks.