SZA Recruits Vivica A. Fox for Tarantino-Inspired ‘Kill Bill’ Music Video
Vivica A. Fox is giving fans more “Kill Bill” — but this time, in SZA’s new music video. The actor appears as SZA’s driver in the new Christian Breslauer-directed visual for the second track off of her chart-topping album “SOS.”
The nearly five-minute video pulls inspiration from Quentin Tarantino’s martial arts movies, which debuted across two volumes in 2003 and 2004. Fox starred in “Kill Bill: Volume 1” and “2” as Vernita Green/Jeanie Bell/Copperhead, and channels her character for a brief cameo in the new video, which includes several action-packed nods to the films.
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The opening scene references Budd’s trailer and the video continues with replicas of some of the film’s most recognizable moments, including O-Ren’s anime compilation and the film’s fight at the House of the Blue Leaves with the Crazy 88. As the video closes, the music switches to another “SOS” favorite, the sultry “Seek & Destroy.” (There is also a short clip of “Nobody Gets Me” that plays at the start.)
The “Kill Bill” video was initially released early Tuesday afternoon — only to be pulled a few moments later — and was re-uploaded again in the following hour. “Lmao it’s going back up shortly,” SZA tweeted. “Just everyone act surprised when it does please.”
Lmao it’s going back up shortly . Just everyone act surprised when it does please 😭🫡🆘 #KILLBILL
— SZA (@sza) January 11, 2023
SZA first released a teaser for the video on Dec. 29, which showed the R&B singer zipping up a red biker jacket and sheathing a samurai sword.
“Kill Bill” is a violent confessional told from the point of view of a jealous former partner. “If I can’t have you no one will,” SZA sings over an uptempo, slightly eerie beat. The song wraps up, “I just killed my ex, not the best idea / Killed his girlfriend next, how’d I get here?”
Released on Dec. 9, “SOS” has spent a month atop the Billboard 200 and as of Jan. 9, “Kill Bill” sits at No. 3 on the Hot 100. In its opening week, the set logged 318,000 album units in the United States (as the fifth biggest debut week of 2022), with 405 million on-demand streams, earning the second-largest streaming week ever for an album by a female artist. Reviewing the album, Variety wrote, “‘SOS’ isn’t simply a statement piece: It’s practically a new bible of abstract contemporary soul,” praising SZA’s ability to make “danger, sex and joy so daringly breezy and buoyant.”
In February, the R&B singer will embark on her first arena tour, with support from Omar Apollo. The tour will open on Feb. 21 in Columbus, Ohio, and wrap up on March 22 in Los Angeles. SZA will also hit arenas including Chicago’s United Center and New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
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