SZA Didn't Expect "Snooze" To Be A Hit Song: "Wasn't My Favorite"

SZA bucked the curse of the sophomore slump and then some. The R&B superstar took a long time to follow up her debut album, Ctrl, but SOS proved to be an even bigger success on the charts. A lot of this success was due to the single "Snooze," which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy for Best R&B Song. It's become one of SZA's biggest hits, which is why she decided to share a funny anecdote about the song on X (formerly Twitter). The singer admitted that was not really a fan of "Snooze" when she first recorded it.

SZA broke the news to fans on April 24. "I’m not gon lie snooze wasn’t my favorite when I made the album," she told her followers. Fortunately, the song grew on the singer as the sessions wore on, and it's since become her favorite. "Now it’s my favorite hands down," she added. "Played it at the beach and it was noiiiiiiceeeee. I’m late but thank y’all for riding til I got some sense." It's easy to see why SZA came around on it. In addition to the Hot 100 placement and the Grammy, "Snooze" broke the record for most weeks atop the US R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart with 30 weeks. It's safe to assume she's going to be playing it for the rest of her career.

SZA Says "Snooze" Has Become Her Favorite SOS Song

Miraculously, "Snooze" almost missed the cut for SOS. During an interview with Revolt, producer Leon Thomas revealed that the song was originally intended for a Babyface album. "Snooze" came about as SZA and Babyface were riffing in the studio. "It was a collaboration for Babyface’s new album, Girls Night Out," Thomas revealed. "We were just getting creative and having Babyface walk in and out of the room and lay parts. We did the beat that same day, and she recorded the song on the same day."

This spontaneity extended to the "Snooze" music video. SZA told WSJ Magazine that Hailey Baldwin and Justin Bieber FaceTimed her when she was planning the video, and she asked if Bieber wanted to be in it. The pop star obliged, and an iconic video resulted. "[Bieber] showed up and he was down as f*ck for the whole day," SZA recalled. "[He] didn't trip about nothing." SZA is currently working on her follow up album, Lana, which was born out of unused songs from the SOS sessions.