SZA Details How High School Bullying Led To Who She Is Today

SZA’s grown her fanbase to soaring heights during her last decade in the music scene, but now the Grammy-winning singer is revealing the deep past that led her to the woman she is today.

Speaking with People, the “Child’s Play” singer opened up about experiencing bullying during high school for her unique personality, saying, “I was bullied because I wasn’t quiet and I was awkward at the same time.”

“I wasn’t this tiny sad victim, but I was more so attacked just because it was giving ‘What is wrong with you?’ energy,” she also shared about the experience, adding, “I always thought, ‘Oh my God.’ I’ll never have the approval of anyone in life, this must be my defining factor, this must be the bottom line.”

On how her current fame compares to her high school days, SZA also told the outlet, “I realized that all the things that made me feel so lame were actually what made me into who I am. It’s like, I didn’t go to prom because I didn’t have any friends and I had no one to go to prom with … [and now] it’s so weird that my life turned into [having] a bodyguard while traveling to parties.”

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The singer-songwriter has been having a busy past year. After winning a Grammy award alongside Doja Cat for their “Kiss Me More” collab, SZA released her second studio album SOS last December.

It contains a tracklist of 23 songs and includes a number of featured artists, including Travis Scott and Ol’ Dirty Bastard.

Following up on the success of her hit 2016 album Ctrl, SZA’s latest project has taken the number one spot on Billboard’s Hot 200 chart for three straight weeks and counting. Popular singles from the album are also continuing to go viral on Instagram and TikTok.