SZA and Lizzo joined relaxation forces on Thursday (April 23) to host a virtual meditation session for fans on Instagram Live. Throughout the 45-minute Live, the two artists played calming music and talked about the struggles they’ve both faced during social distancing.
SZA kicked off the self-care conversation to warn her followers of the immune system-lowering effects of alcohol and other substances.
“All these drugs… like liquor, weed, all these things, they lower your immune system,” she said. “It fu*ks with your ability to fight things off. Tobacco—I used to smoke spliffs all the time, I used to smoke Backwoods all the time. I stopped that sh*t. Why? It was bodying my ability to heal and, like, correct myself, and taking me 10 steps back every time I would make five steps forward.”
Later on, Lizzo spoke about how her social media usage has changed amidst social distancing.
“For me, this is a whole dimension — social media, the internet — it’s a whole other world,” she said. “And for me, it’s not the healthiest world to be in, especially as of late. But since we’ve been in our houses, this is my destination. This is where I go, this is where I go on vacation [for] mind breaks.”
“And when I go to this place and I overindulge in it, it’s made me really sick,” she continued. “It’s made my perception of myself sick, it’s made my joy sick. And I don’t think I was putting myself first. So now I’m just doing little things.”
Elsewhere in the Live, the pair talked about maintaining gratitude, exercising for mental and physical health and more. Lizzo also played her flue while SZA played notes on a Tibetan singing bowl.
Earlier this year, SZA confirmed that she’s gearing up to release her next album — the follow-up to 2017’s Ctrl. So far this year, she’s dropped off her collaborated single with Justin Timberlake for the Trolls World Tour soundtrack, “The Other Side.”
Catch SZA and Lizzo’s joint Live below.