SZA Reflects on Losing “Consideration” to Rihanna, Originally Planned as Debut Album’s Centerpiece

In a recent interview with Variety, SZA opened up about the frustration she experienced when her collaboration with Rihanna, “Consideration,” was given to the Barbadian singer against her wishes. The TDE artist revealed that she had intended the track to be the “centerpiece” of her debut album Ctrl.

Expressing her disappointment, SZA stated, “I cared so much. I was so 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, ’cause it was like the centerpiece to my album at the time.”

Despite shooting a video for the song and being on the verge of its release, SZA recounted how her label had already made the decision to give “Consideration” to Rihanna. She described the acceptance of this decision as challenging, saying, “It was already done, that conversation. Like label-wise, it was already done. So it was just a matter of accepting, and in hindsight, it was so hard to go and accept.”

Looking back, SZA now sees the situation positively, acknowledging the success that followed the collaboration. She said, “But now, it’s like, I’m so glad that that happened, and that it didn’t cost me anything. If anything, I just gained a bunch from it. And I thank God that I made cool music outside of that.”

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Produced by Scum and Kuk Harrell, “Consideration” served as the opening track on Rihanna’s Anti album, released in January 2016. SZA previously shared that the song’s beat reminded her of the 1995 movie Dangerous Minds and 2010’s Insidious, stating, “Rihanna’s ‘Consideration’ reminded me of Dangerous Minds because that’s what that beat sounded like to me.”

Despite the initial disappointment, SZA expressed gratitude for the unexpected opportunity to collaborate with Rihanna, describing it as a “blessing” in a 2016 interview with HuffPost. She praised Rihanna’s humility and the warm connection they shared during the collaboration.