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SZA has gone public with a major personal revelation, announcing via Instagram that she has been formally diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and high-functioning autism at age 36.
"Finally took the time and got formally diagnosed," the Grammy-winning singer, whose full name is Solána Imani Rowe, wrote on her private account Sunday. She posted a photo of her medical paperwork alongside the announcement, which noted that she presents with behaviors and patterns "quite consistent with Autism Spectrum Disorder" and a "qualitative impairment in reciprocal social interaction."↳
True to form, SZA kept the tone sharp and self-aware. "Smarter than u n****s so stop playing in my face cause pattern recognition told me and I WILL get to the bottom of it," she wrote, adding in a follow-up comment that the diagnosis likely explains her fierce, personal reaction to artificial intelligence. "Pretty sure this is why I'm taking AI so personally BTW. And also why I'm in every comment section."↳
The AI connection is no throwaway line for SZA. Weeks before the diagnosis reveal, she posted a blistering attack on musicians using AI music generators, arguing that Black artists are uniquely vulnerable to having their creative output stolen and replicated without protection or compensation. She also claimed that a search of her name revealed AI models had been trained on 238 of her songs. "DO NOT GIVE AWAY YOUR VIBRANIUM," she urged fellow artists. Suno, one of the platforms she targeted, denied its training metadata includes artist names or replicates protected material.
The announcement arrives during a creatively charged period for the singer. SZA recently collaborated with Steve Lacy on his single "Is It Cool?", and she credited the experience with reigniting her artistry after a prolonged dry spell following her SOS album, the Lana project, and the Grand National Tour. "Being near Steve, feeling the deep and raw resonance of his voice, his laugh, his spicy Venus in Aries energy: it literally revived me," she wrote.
Fans responded to the diagnosis news with an outpouring of support and gratitude for her candor.
