Though SZA‘s SOS is all the rage right now, her debut album, Ctrl, featured a song inspired by and named after Drew Barrymore. During Monday’s episode of the actress’s self-titled talk show, SZA sang her praises while describing just how much of an inspiration she was to her.
“It was inspired by you. It wasn’t just titled after you,” SZA said of the song “Drew Barrymore.” “The energy that you carry, even my outfit, is inspired by the way you’ve made me feel my entire life, like the carefree [energy].”
“You don’t understand. I wrote you this letter that I never sent you,” she went on. “When you’re a younger Black woman, there’s not a lot of examples all the time, and one of the few lovely white women that I looked up to so much on television was you because you were so yourself.”
SZA noted that Drew’s acceptance of her own flaws inspired her to do the same.
“You were quirky. Your smile wasn’t perfect. I have a slight speech impediment, and people laugh all the time,” SZA said. “They’re like, ‘What is SZA saying?’ And it’s like a running joke.”
“I love the way you talk and, like, just all the you-ness of you, your laugh, even in the movies and in real life. It just reminds me of all the things about myself that make me nervous, but on you, it shines so brightly,” she continued. “You gave me permission to be myself. … And be like, this is so cool. … All your old photo shoots, I look them up,” she said. “I love you.”
“Drew Barrymore” captures SZA’s feelings of insecurity and low self-esteem after seeing a man she was dating at a party with another woman. Drew made a cameo in the accompanying music video.
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