Written by Youeal Abera, Peak Associate
Last week, SZA and Top Dog Entertainment (TDE) fans alike were informed of the sad news that R&B megastar SZA would be pulled out of a couple of dates of the TDE Championship Tour due to damaged vocal cords. As expected, many fans were upset that their favourite singer would not be able to make it to a show they had been looking forward to for months. Despite their comprehensible disappointment, fans sent SZA their well wishes and support.
However, a surprising amount weren’t so kind. Upon the revelation of the news, fans took to Twitter to unleash harsh responses. One supposed fan tweeted, “I’m in Tampa. You can lip sync. We don’t care.” Another Twitter user wrote, “A whole album about control and she still don’t get it… every tour she did something wrong with her I’m tired- get in formation sis.” A third person shaded SZA’s singing ability
On SZA’s Instagram page, loads of users accused SZA of lying, saying that she’s “perfectly fine” while attributing notions of dishonesty to her character. Reading all of these comments perplexed me.
I began to think about the nature of being a celebrity and what it must entail. Life as an artist must be vehemently exhausting. For musicians, you are expected to write songs, then record an album, then tour for months on end, away from family and friends while performing each night in front of thousands of strangers. For actors, you are expected to constantly audition for roles, memorize your lines, and then be placed on a movie set for months while burdened with the knowledge that your sole physical appearance and well-being is responsible for the payroll of hundreds of set technicians. They are in danger of disappointing fans if they have to drop out due to on set accidents.
Too often, the inevitable injuries of musicians don’t evoke sympathy from their fans — as exemplified by the above tweets — but rather expressions of outrage that a human being was injured. People don’t want to see their money lost or wasted, after all.
In SZA’s case, her injured vocal cords lead many to express their disdain towards her, since they spent money on a ticket for a show that they expected to see her perform at. He fans seem to have forgotten that the concert is still happening and amazing musicians such as Schoolboy Q and Kendrick Lamar would still be performing.
Now, I certainly understand and appreciate the feelings of the fans. I’m also a huge fan of SZA, and if I were informed that she wouldn’t be able to make a show that I was looking forward to, I’d be upset as well. However, I wouldn’t even conceive the idea of harassing her on social media due to being injured and not being able to show up. I wouldn’t accuse her of lying about her health or belittling the unfortunate experience she would be enduring. I certainly wouldn’t yearn to make SZA feel bad by accentuating her already-perceivable guilt of not being able to perform for her fans.
If you were to cut SZA, she’d bleed. If SZA saw something funny, she’d laugh. If SZA was asked about her family and friends, she’d probably state that she loves them. That’s the problem of this all. People easily forget that SZA, as well as any celebrity, is just a human.
