{"id":2767,"date":"2026-03-06T19:56:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T19:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/03\/sza-taylor-swift-label-doubts\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T19:56:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T19:56:50","slug":"sza-taylor-swift-label-doubts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/03\/sza-taylor-swift-label-doubts\/","title":{"rendered":"SZA Remembers Label Telling Her \u2018SOS\u2019 Wouldn\u2019t Beat Taylor Swift On The Charts In 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SZA\u2019s sophomore album, SOS<\/em>, was hugely successful both critically and commercially\u2013but not everyone expected that to happen.<\/p>\n

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Source: Julian Hamilton \/ Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a new cover story for i-D\u2019s<\/a><\/em> The Lore Issue, the singer claimed that her record label told her SOS<\/em> wouldn\u2019t reach No. 1. In the interview, released on Friday, March 6, SZA went on to say that her label was sure that Taylor Swift\u2019s album would top her numbers, beating her out on the charts.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy label told me that it was likely that I wouldn\u2019t beat Taylor Swift, and I should prepare for that,\u201d the TDE artist told the mag. \u201cI was laughing by week three. It was just like, \u2018What is this? I never even imagined I could be on the radio.’\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In reality, SOS<\/em> ended up spending 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Two years later, when SZA released the deluxe version, LANA<\/em>, the album returned to the top the charts for three more weeks.<\/p>\n

Now, as she reflects on her unexpected success on the charts, SZA<\/em> says she\u2019s realized that \u201canything is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI feel like I\u2019m adulting kind of hard right now, and I might be eating. I feel like I might be alright when it\u2019s all said and done,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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In January 2023, following the release of her sophomore project, the New Jersey native thanked fans for their support on the record as it made its way to No. 1. Unsurprisingly, her happiness over the runaway success of the album caused Swifties to flood her comments section with allegations that the singer was specifically looking to outperform Midnights<\/em>.<\/p>\n

SZA hopped back online to clarify things quickly, posting less than 30 minutes later that she had nothing against Swift or her music.<\/p>\n

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\u201cUhh I feel silly that I even have to say this but i see supporters arguing and I hate that,\u201d she wrote on X. \u201cI don\u2019t have beef w ANYONE especially not Taylor lmao.\u201d she wrote at the time. \u201cI genuinely loved her album and the writing!Everyone\u2019s jus tryna do their BEST as we all should . LOVE TO EVERYONE. Gn \"\ud83e\udd0d\"\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Swift\u2019s song, \u201cAnti-Hero\u201d topped Billboard\u2019s Hot 100 list for eight weeks a few weeks later, making it her longest-running No. 1. She reacted to the achievement on Instagram and made sure to include a shoutout to SZA following the fan-fueled drama.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat on earth. I love you guys,\u201d she wrote. She ended with a note that saluted SOS, revealing that she\u2019s \u201cbeen listening to it nonstop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely adore her music,\u201d Swift added. \u201cSo much love and respect for her!!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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SZA replied on her Instagram Stories: \u201cCongratulations to tay tay! And thank you so much your album and writing is phenomenal .. as ALWAYS.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

During her new interview with i-D, the TDE star said that before the album\u2019s release she \u201cdidn\u2019t have a ceiling\u201d but \u201cdefinitely didn\u2019t see this at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI thought that what I was doing was special,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause it made me feel smart and special when I made it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The post SZA Remembers Label Telling Her \u2018SOS\u2019 Wouldn\u2019t Beat Taylor Swift On The Charts In 2023<\/a> appeared first on Bossip<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SZA\u2019s sophomore album, SOS, was hugely successful both critically and commercially\u2013but not everyone expected that to happen. Source: Julian Hamilton…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14044,"featured_media":2840,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[10,9],"class_list":["post-2767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-rss","tag-culture","tag-hip-hop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14044"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}