Lizzo and SZA Almost Formed a Rock Band Called Pussy Lasers

Lizzo might have teased her new era during a recent Twitch stream, but she also gave fans a preview of a SZA-featuring supergroup that could have been.

The “About Damn Time” singer revealed this bit of her musical past during her Valentine’s Day Twitch stream. Alongside technical difficulties, fan interaction, and the promise of new music at the end of the month, Lizzo also focused on the song “F2F’, which she co-wrote with SZA before it appeared on the latter’s chart-topping 2022 album SOS. While “F2F” was never issued as a single, it became one of the 20 songs from the album to hit the Billboard Hot 100, ultimately peaking at No. 55. 

During her stream, Lizzo turned her attention to the song, noting how it had come about after almost a decade of friendship with SZA, and how it almost aligned with an unrealized rock trio the pair were a part of.

“We’ve just always been friends, and it’s a sacred space for me in this industry,” Lizzo recalled. “We got this little period of time where we were just linking up in the studio, and eating pasta and drinking.

“This one particular night, mind you, we were gonna start a rock band, called Pussy Lasers. Oh my gosh, she’s not gonna get mad if I say this,” she added. “We were going to start a rock band called Pussy Lasers with an incredible other artist who I don’t know if she even wants to be mentioned, so I’m not going to mention her.”

As Lizzo continued, she explained that while “F2F” wasn’t necessarily set to be a part of the Pussy Lasers project, it was “jokingly” considered so due to the track’s “‘90s grunge kind of rock feel”.

“I was like, ‘This shit is hard, though’, so I was in the studio and I was like, ‘Man, pull that Pussy Lasers shit up,’” she continued. “And let me tell you something: I sat and watched this girl freestyle the whole fucking song, everything except for the chorus.” 

Finalizing the song together in a later session, Lizzo also noted that she recorded a “mumble verse” which never made it into the track, though some of her harmonized vocals did make it into the finished product. “After that, I thought about that song all the time,” she added. “I was just like, ‘I hope, I hope she puts it on the album. And then one day out of the blue she just texted me the finished version and I was just like, ‘And this is why you’re the GOAT’.”

“She writes the craziest, most insane shit that you’re thinking and feeling, but she just finds a way to say it, and she sings it so beautifully out the gate, out of her mouth the first time.”

Currently, it’s been almost three years since the release of Lizzo’s last studio album, with fourth album Special becoming her second released via a major label, and second to hit the top ten of the Billboard 200 – peaking at No. 2. Earlier in her Twitch stream, Lizzo confirmed that Feb. 28 will see her waving farewell to her Special era at long last.

“I’ve been working on music for the last two years, and took my time and I did it right. The new era begins today,” she told fans. “I truly am coming to gag throats.”