SZA owes Beyoncé a payment.
The title track of SZA’s 2022 blockbuster SOS album incorporates a couple lyrics and the melody of Queen Bey’s song “Listen” from 2006’s Dreamgirls. In a recent Instagram comment, however, the “Kill Bill” singer, 35, revealed she still owes money to Beyoncé, 43, for the interpolation — and the superstar hasn’t nudged her to pay up.
The revelation came about in the comments section of an Instagram reel posted by influencer Zuhaila Jama on April 28. In the video, she talks about the high number of writers listed on many of Beyoncé’s songs, joking that the Destiny’s Child alum generously offers credit to basically anyone who stepped foot in the studio throughout the music-making process.
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SZA then chimed into the conversation. “I literally owe her half my publishing off interpolation alone on SOS and she never pressed me lmao,” she wrote, referring to Beyoncé as “a generous QUEEN.”
“SOS” serves as an introduction for the album of the same name, and she references “Listen” at the end of the track, singing, “And I cried and cried / Said what’s on my mind.”
In Beyoncé’s original song, the 32-time Grammy winner sings, “And I’ve tried and tried / To say what’s on my mind.”
According to Genius, “SOS” was written by SZA, Gabriel Samuel Hardeman, Rob Bisel and Jay Versace, who also produced the track. The publication clearly lists “Listen” as an interpolation on the song, which also samples “Until I Found the Lord (My Soul Couldn’t Rest” by the Gabriel Hardeman Delegation, hence why Hardeman is credited as a writer.
“Listen,” meanwhile, was written by Beyoncé, Scott Cutler, Henry Krieger and Anne Preven.
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In the past, SZA has spoken openly about being a major Beyoncé fan. In a February 2024 interview with E! News, she admitted to feeling too “scared to go over to Beyoncé” and introduce herself.
“I can’t speak unless she wants to speak, in my brain, because I don’t want to bother her. She looked so peaceful and beautiful,” she said at the time. “I just admire her. She’s a masterclass on poise, grace, artistry, beauty and kindness.”
However, SZA revealed, “Jay-Z did speak to me. I was so grateful. Those are literally my favorite people, and it’s so crazy that I be seeing them in real life.”
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