SZA has added “Nobody Gets Me” to the expanding collection of breathtaking visuals in support of SOS with the release of her second music video off her sophomore album.
The St. Louis native is shown in the clip standing on a rooftop with the New York City skyline as her backdrop, dressed casually in large slacks and a New York Jets letterman’s jacket.
The sorrowful, guitar-driven ballad, on which SZA tries to save her relationship, is reflected in the startling simplicity of the black and white visual.
Check out the video in full below:
The newly released video, which was directed by Bradley Calder, is a sharp contrast to the previous materials SZA released in the weeks prior to the release of SOS.
She began her promotional campaign with the extravagant video for “Shirt,” which stars Lakeith Stanfield in a criminal drama-themed clip reminiscent of films like Belly and Queen & Slim, after months of building anticipation for the release.
Following the October release, SZA released a seductive, enigmatic teaser trailer for the song named “PSA.” In it, the singer posed in what looked to be an alleyway, with the only other visual in the brief clip being a chemical fire.
When she revealed SOS will be released on December 9, just hours after appearing on Saturday Night Live, she gave fans a similar clip on December 3. Live action clips from the photo shoot that produced the album cover were used in the second trailer.
Just before the album’s release, SZA backed up a developing fan idea that Princess Diana, who posed for a similar photo in 1997 while visiting Portofino, Italy, served as inspiration for the artwork.
“Originally I was supposed to be on top of a shipping barge, but in the references that I pulled for that, I pulled the Diana reference,” SZA revealed to Hot 97. “Because I just loved how isolated she felt, and that was what I wanted to convey the most.”
The widely awaited sophomore album from SZA has uncredited vocals from Lizzo and guest appearances from Travis Scott, Don Toliver, the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and Phoebe Bridgers. It has 23 tracks in total.
However, the Top Dawg Entertainment vocalist claimed during the same Hot 97 interview with radio personality Nessa that she approached other musicians about joining on the project, but they never provided their vocals.
“[Collaborations happen] in the DMs and begging people,” she told.
“Sometimes people turn in their verses and sometimes they don’t. A lot of people just like, did not turn in their verses — but I’m grateful for who did.”
SZA admitted that she’s guilty of ignoring feature requests from many of the same artists she reached out to in the past so she “can’t be too mad,” but that doesn’t mean she isn’t still disappointed.
“A lot of these people, I didn’t turn in my verse, so I can’t be too mad,” she added. “But also, at the same token it’s like, ‘Damn, this sucks. I really needed you. I wish you showed up for me.’ But I’m sure they felt the same way for me.”
