SZA stunned fans after claiming she was formally diagnosed with what she described as “Asperger’s/high functioning autism” on social media.
Asperger’s? I did not know that was a thing still.
SZA may have just answered a question that we have wondered about for years. Or maybe she opened up a whole new conversation.
Out of nowhere she broke out with a candid social media post claiming she was “formally diagnosed” with what she described as “asbergers / high functioning autism.” In true SZA fashion, there was humor, confidence and she gave a bit of chaos.
“Finally took the time n got formally diagnosed .. asbergers / high functioning autism / smarter than u n##### so stop playing in my face cause pattern recognition told me and I WILL get to the bottom if it thanks . pretty sure this is why I’m taking Ai so personally btw lol. And also why I’m in every comment section.”
By the way, @notmusicatalliswear is the Instagram burner account operated by SZA and she used that account to make this announcement.
It marks the first time SZA has publicly shared receiving such a “formal” diagnosis, even though it has been mentioned in the past. Folks are trying to separate this revelation from the singer’s oft-weird sense of humor. Those two things can co-exist when SZA is talking. We do not know, and yet there is another side to it.
The timing is also interesting, because it deals with AI. Artificial intelligence has a serious debate in music. SZA has been going off in the chat over AI and now she seems to have a different perspective. She joked her her diagnosis may explain why she has taken the AI conversation so personally. Hmph.
All of this could add another how we see her perspective. We need to remember autism spectrum disorder is a medical diagnosis and Asperger syndrome an older term that is now called autism spectrum.
It may be time for a larger conversation about neurodiversity in Hip-Hop and R&B. I dunno – we’ll see.
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