I don't think it mattered tho. If she had hits people would listen. I think this is one of those major label records where the label tries and tries to reason with a difficult artist before saying "ok fine, we'll do it your way." No features, limited pop appeal...it was obvious it was gonna struggle. From here she gets to decide what she wants. Do you want to do the songs the label wants you to do, or do you want to bomb out and go back to being a troll artist who can't afford the best coke in LA. I'm always gonna respect artists who go against the grain but I'm not sure I can here because this seems more about self destruction than artistic principle. This isn't Kendrick dropping TPAB instead of a commercial followup. Or Solange doing what she did instead of the thot anthems fans wanted. Instead this is...well, what I thought might happen to SZA. A frustrated, mentally shot major label artist just setting herself on fire because she's not getting her way enough.
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