A Total Breakdown of SZA's Dating History

If there’s one thing we know about SZA (born Solána Imani Rowe), it’s that the Grammy nominee is very candid in her songs—but that’s the only place you’ll hear about her romantic relationships.

The “Kill Bill” singer has always been hush-hush when it comes to talking about her partners, even though she has no problem joking that she’s going to kill them in her lyrics. However, there are a few things we know about SZA’s dating history, like that she dated rapper Drake and that she dedicated herself to the music industry to prove a point to one of her ex-boyfriends. (Now that’s commitment.)

Read ahead to see everything we know about SZA’s complete dating history.

Travis Scott (2023)

Rumors flew about a dalliance between SZA and Travis Scott when the “Sicko Mode” rapper made a surprise appearance at her show in Manchester, England, in June 2023. (The two have collaborated on a number of songs, including “Love Galore,” “Open Arms,” and “Telekinesis.”)

By then, social media users were already theorizing the musicians had been in a secret relationship ever since Scott had called it quits with Kylie Jenner (who at this point was already dating Timothée Chalamet). The rumor mill continued churning out theories when SZA made a surprise cameo in Scott’s video for “K-pop,” featuring the Weeknd and Bad Bunny, in July.

Neither SZA nor Scott, however, has said anything publicly about their rumored relationship.

Kehlani (2021)

Gossip swirled in 2021 that SZA and Kehlani were maybe romantically linked, when the pair were seen holding hands as they walked into Rihanna’s Met Gala after-party in September. That night, Kehlani also shared an Instagram Story in which the singers were seen riding in a car together; the caption read: “Don’t speak to me or my girlfriend ever again.” SZA had also thrown a surprise birthday party for Kehlani earlier in the year.

Despite all of that, SZA has never publicly discussed her sexuality or whether she was in a relationship with the other R&B singer. Kehlani, on the other hand, came out as a lesbian in April 2021, through a TikTok video.

The two appear to have remained friends through the years. However, when SZA released her second studio album, SOS, in December 2022, and fans were theorizing online that Kehlani had likely been asked to appear on it, but couldn’t get a verse to SZA in time, Kehlani responded on TikTok. “I WISH I GOT ASKED WTF 😂,” they said.

Unnamed ex-fiancé (2008—2019)

Although she’s never revealed his name, SZA was engaged to a fashion designer (rumored to be Scott Sasso), whom she met when she was right out of high school.

The “Drew Barrymore” singer first alluded to the relationship in a 2023 Rolling Stone cover story. “When we talk, she doesn’t divulge her ex-fiancé’s identity, though she describes him as a fashion designer who doesn’t post on social media,” writer Mankaprr Conteh repoted. “They became unengaged five or six years ago, [SZA] says, having been together for a total of 11 years and engaged for five. I do some quick maths and conclude that they must have started dating around the time she was in high school. ‘I was fresh from high school,’ she concurs.”

SZA let a tad more information slip in an interview a couple of months later with Zane Lowe for Apple Music. During this chat, she revealed that her ex was the reason she’d started seriously pursuing music in the first place. “[I] really only did music to prove a point,” she said. “When I started making music, it was to my ex-fiancé, because he was paying for everything. My food, my clothes, where I lived—and he was eight years my senior, so I was so codependent.”

Things don’t seem to have ended super amicably between the pair, because this is the same ex SZA shaded during a concert at London’s O2 Arena in London in 2023. As she opened her song “Nobody Gets Me,” the St. Louis native told a story about a cheating ex before calling out her former fiancé: “I never told anybody, but like, my boyfriend cheated on me in this city before. It was terrible. That’s why I was really sad to come here, but you guys made it so much better. Thank you! This song is about my other trash ex-boyfriend.”

During an interview with Hot 97 in December 2022, SZA discussed the difficulty of breaking things off with her ex, and how it inspired “Nobody Gets Me.” “This particular song in entirety is a story about my ex-fiancé and how we went through all these arguments, and we broke up,” she said. “And when we first broke up, it was like terrible, and I just felt like I was gonna be doomed to be in hell for the rest of my life, because nobody understood me the way he did, and nobody motivated me the way he did.”

Drake (2009)

Almost a decade and a half before she appeared on his 2023 track “Slime You Out,” SZA and Drake had a fling, in 2009.

SZA first addressed the brief relationship in 2020, after Drake’s lyrics on his guest appearance on 21 Savage and Metro Boomin’s “Mr. Right Now” raised some eyebrows: “Yeah, said she wanna fuck to some SZA, wait / ’Cause I used to date SZA back in ’08 / If you cool with it, baby, she can still play.”

She set the record straight on Twitter, writing, “So It was actually 2009 lol 🙃.. in this case a year of poetic rap license mattered 🥴 lol I think he jus innocently rhymed 08 w wait . Anybody who really knows me and was around during this time can confirm.. it’s all love all peace 🤝💎💫.”

In a tweet in the same thread, SZA added, “I just didn’t want anybody thinking anything underage or creepy was happening . Completely innocent . Lifetimes ago .” (For context, SZA would’ve been 18 for most of 2008, whereas Drake would’ve been 21.)

Apparently, SZA did unfollow Drake on Instagram following the release of “Mr. Right Now,” at least according to a report at the time from People, which suggested she wasn’t pleased by the reference.

A couple of years later, though, she commented on her present-day relationship with Drake during an interview with Audacy. “We’re cool, we’ve always been cool,” she said. “It’s never been weird. It’s never come completely out of the blue.” She also briefly spoke about the romance to Rolling Stone, saying, “[We] were really young. It wasn’t hot and heavy or anything. It was like youth vibes. It was so childish.”

Joel is the editorial and social media assistant for HarpersBAZAAR.com, where he covers all things celebrity news. When he steps away from the keyboard, you can likely find him singing off-key at concerts, scavenging thrift stores for loud wardrobe staples, or perusing bookstores for the next great gay romance novel.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qa3RqZyrq5KWx6Kt0WeaqKVfmLKtscGroK2xX6GutbHSrWaabGZqfXZ9lXBmrLKRYrCwuc%2BlnK2dXZmutbXNoGShoaOpvLPFjg%3D%3D