SZA used to date Drake back in ’08, and now she’s revisiting their once-secret romance.
While promoting her new album SOS, the singer spoke with Big Tigger for “Audacy Check In” where she was asked about their relationship, which Drake first made public on 21 Savage’s 2020 hit “Mr. Right Now.”
“Said she wanna f**k to some SZA–wait, ’cause I used to date SZA back in ’08,” he raps on the Savage Mode II song.
Tigger asked if it was “awkward” for her to be on set of “SNL” when they aired a “PSA” about Drake’s exes joining together to form a support group.
“In a strange way, I was like, did they know?” said SZA, who was surprised they didn’t ask her to participate given their past. She was backstage when she heard them announcing the Drake skit. “When I saw it, I was like, this is insane.”
She went on to compare Drake to Regina George, Rachel McAdams’ character from Mean Girls. “I feel like Drake has a Regina George quality to him,” she said. “He’s like a cool kid. When you’re the popular kid in school, it’s entertaining, but you sometimes are taking losses in the midst of that entertainment.”
SZA admits that she “definitely laughed real hard” after watching the “SNL” skit about her ex, but was also nervous. “I was like, are they going to call me on stage?”
It’s been 14 years since she and Drake dated, and SZA says they remain friendly to this day. “We’re cool, we’ve always been cool. It’s never been weird. It’s never come completely out of the blue,” said SZA, who was given a heads up by Drake before “Mr. Right Now” dropped.
“Anytime he’s ever mentioned me, it’s always been positive. He’s never said anything negative about me,” she added. “I’m grateful for that and I think highly of him, and I think it’s really weird that as all these years went past, I am an artist now and I wasn’t then and he’s King Drake.”
SZA opens up about her past relationships on songs like “Kill Bill” and “Smoking on My Ex Pack” from her acclaimed new album SOS, which features appearances from Travis Scott, Don Toliver, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard.