SZA’s newest single, “I Hate U,” has broken the record for the most-streamed R&B track by a female artist on Apple Music in its first week.
According to Billboard, “I Hate U” is the TDE artist’s fifth top 10 entry and her second debut in the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10. The track debuted at No. 7 on the chart earlier this week.
“Honestly this started out as an exercise. I just wanted somewhere to dump my thoughts w out pressure,” SZA wrote on Instagram ahead of the track’s release. “Y’all made it a thing and I’m not mad lmao. Ask and u shall receive.”
In a June interview with Vogue, SZA shared her process for penning new music:
“What the hell am I going to talk about now? [is what I first thought when making the new album]. I try to give the music what it needs, not what I want it to try to be,” she said. “That’s the only way to do a good job. And it’s not something that I’ve mastered a lot of the time. It’s about trying to detach and reattach to self and to sound.”
And while she wants her fans to lap up her music, SZA insists she makes music for herself.
“I want to make music I love—that’s all I’m focused on immersing myself in right now. I’m trying to maximize my love of self because I know that’ll permeate into everything I do.”
Fans are at home playing “I Hate U” on repeat. Still, they are eager for the west coast singer to drop a new album. SZA has not dropped an album since her 2017 mega-smash, “Ctrl.”
