SZA dedicates her Woman of the Year prize to other female artists she 'deeply respects'
SZA spoke from the heart, opting not to write an acceptance speech for the Billboard Women In Music event.
SZA dedicated her Woman of the Year prize to all the other female artists she respects "so deeply".
The 'Kill Bill' hitmaker was presented with the top honour at the 2023 Billboard Women In Music event at Los Angeles' YouTube Theater on Wednesday (01.03.23), following in the footsteps of the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Cardi B, Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande.
And in an empowering, unscripted speech, she admitted any of the other artists in the room could have won the accolade, including Latto and Lana Del Rey.
SZA - who won the Rulebreaker Award in 2018 - began: “I didn’t write anything, but that’s also not who I am.
“I’m a very off-the-dome kind of person, and I guess what I wanted to say is like, there’s so many women in this room right now that I respect so deeply. This could have been any of us in this room.”
The 33-year-old star - whose real name is Solána Imani Rowe - went on to admit that she wants her life to be "more than music" as she vowed to "serve others".
She said: “I used to feel like I didn’t belong.
“but I realised that the key is to stay open and available for whatever the universe or God wants to do with your life.
“I really just want my life to be more than music, to be more than an artist. I want to serve others, I want to serve people, I want to be open and available for whatever God wants for me, and saying yes to everything that’s scary, to everything that feels like it’s not for you or where you don’t belong, is really the only way where we walk through those doors.”
She wrapped her speech with the poignant message: “You just have to say yes to the possibility.
“And thank y’all for saying yes to me.”
