By: Emily P.
The Billboard Women in Music awards were held Wednesday night (March 1st) at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, California. Hosted by Abbott Elementary star Quinta Brunson, the Women in Music awards served to recognize, uplift, and celebrate women artists, creatives, producers, and executives in the music industry, as well as inspire the millions of women and girls looking to enter the industry. The ceremony featured a variety of musical performances from rising stars, including TWICE, Becky G, Kim Petras, Doechii, Latto, and Lainey Wilson. It also honored multiple influential women with various awards such as the “Rising Star Award,” the “Icon Award,” and the “Impact Award.” However, the most coveted award of the night was the “Woman of the Year Award,” which, according to Billboard magazine, is set to recognize “women in the music industry who have made significant contributions to the business and who, through their work and continued success, inspire generations of women to take on increasing responsibilities within the field.”
The recipient of that award was none other than Solána Imani Rowe, known professionally as SZA. This honor comes after the singer achieved immense commercial success and critical acclaim from her recent album, SOS, which has now completed ten weeks at the number one spot atop the Billboard 200 chart since its debut at the top, making it only the eighth album since 2010 to hit double digits in the number of weeks spent topping the chart. From that album is one of SZA’s biggest solo hits to date, “Kill Bill,” which peaked at the number two spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Upon accepting her award, SZA gave a heartfelt, unscripted speech in which she thanked her family, friends, team, and supporters, as well as shouted out her fellow musicians, including Lana Del Rey, Olivia Rodrigo, and Doechii. In her speech, SZA also discussed the misconceptions of confidence and certain attitudes amongst artists, as she stated:
“I think sometimes there’s a misconception where everybody always feels like that girl, like, oh, I know I’m that b***h and I have a lot of confidence. It’s okay to not be that person all the time. I used to feel like I didn’t belong because I don’t always feel like that. But I realized that the key is to stay open and available for whatever the universe or God wants to do with your life.”
In short, SZA places emphasis on prioritizing openness and the acceptance of possibilities and opportunities, over constantly exhibiting confidence. SZA concluded her speech by encouraging audiences to face challenges head-on, and not fear accepting things that might seem insurmountable or intimidating, as by accepting those things is how they progress. Her final remarks convey this compelling message:
“I encourage everybody to continue to be inspired and just stay available. You don’t have to be confident or even know that you are the one, or anything like that, you just have to say yes to the possibility. I’m grateful and thank you all for saying yes to me.”