SZA Wrote Her Hit 'Kill Bill' in an Hour and Was Hesitant to Release It: 'I Was Like, Can I Say This?'

The R&B star opened up about the making of her Grammy-nominated single in Variety's Hitmaker of the Year cover story

SZA’s “Kill Bill” is one of her biggest songs to date and has become a break-up anthem for fans across the globe — but she wasn’t always sure of the track’s confessional lyrics.

The R&B superstar, 34, appears on the cover of Variety’s Hitmaker of the Year issue and opened up about the making of her SOS track that earned her first No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and three Grammy nominations. In the interview published Wednesday, the song’s co-writer and co-producer Rob Bisel revealed that she wrote the iconic, vengeful lyrics in just one hour, and the singer-songwriter herself shared that she was a bit shocked by what she wrote.

Related: SZA Wears a Sweet LBD as Honoree at WSJ. Magazine's 13th Annual Innovator Awards

Bisel, who worked on the track along with producer Carter Lang, explained that he played a handful of tracks for the “Snooze” singer one day in July 2022 and she asked him to return to the beat that became “Kill Bill.” He told Variety, “She was just sitting there quietly on her phone in the back of the studio. I didn’t really know if she was writing or just scrolling through Instagram. But after 10 minutes of silence, she was like, ‘OK, I got this idea for this song. It might be a little too crazy, but let me know what you think.’”

He continued, “And then she sang, ‘I just killed my ex…’ and the whole hook from that point on. Her lyric and melody was written from top to bottom in no more than an hour, right there on the spot.”

By the end of the day, they finished the record after just a couple of vocal takes, he explained. “It just kind of fell out of the sky,” Bisel added.

Related: SZA Says She Accidentally Went to a 'Life Coach' Thinking They Were a Therapist — and 'Didn't Get Better'

SZA (real name Solána Imani Rowe), meanwhile, wasn’t quite as certain about the hyperbolic words about getting back at an ex that poured out of her. “I hated it,” she told the outlet, before reportedly clarifying, “Well, I didn’t hate it. But I was like, ‘Can I say this? Is it silly?’  Rob was like, ‘You have to say it!’”

The Grammy winner shared that she was initially hesitant because of how some listeners might have reacted. “So I sent it to my homegirl, and she was like, ‘I don’t know. I think you should maybe say something to clarify,’” she said. “I was really scared that people would harm each other, ’cause some people are f---ing strange. But it was a joke.”

Fans ended up hugely connecting to the pop-soul song with heartbroken lyrics like, “I might kill my ex, I still love him though / Rather be in jail than alone.” Not only did it spend 50 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 1, it’s up for the coveted song of the year and record of the year categories at the 66th annual Grammy Awards, as well as best R&B performance.

The nods for “Kill Bill,” along with other tracks off her late 2022 record SOS and the album itself, make the star the most-nominated artist at the upcoming Grammys. She leads the pack with nine total nominations — her most recognitions in a single year from the Recording Academy ever.

Related: SZA Reflects on 'Young' and Casual Fling with Drake in 2009: 'It Wasn't Hot and Heavy or Anything'

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Ahead of the release of her second studio album in December 2022, the “Good Days” singer spoke to PEOPLE about never wanting to be “boxed into anything” and her growth as an artist.

"The sound is a little bit of literally everything. It's a little angry as an overview, but some of it is really beautiful and soft and heartfelt. It's about heartbreak, it's about being lost, it's about being pissed," she said.

"It's my first album in five years, so I'm ready to be a different person and step into this new part of my life," she added. "Really exemplify who this character is and get to know myself better while everyone else gets to know me live at the same time."

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