Key Takeaways
- Summer Walker says she no longer dates for love and has embraced a boundary-first approach to relationships.
- Her forthcoming album, Finally Over It, is seemingly closing out a trilogy that began with Over It and Still Over It, showing her personal and musical evolution.
- In a new Complex interview, she discusses how changing her standards has improved her life and inspired the themes of self-worth and independence in her new music.
Summer Walker is done wearing her heart on her sleeve. Now, any man bold enough to approach her may want to reconsider any plans of toying with her affection. The R&B princess has been penning break-up and make-up anthems since her Last Day of Summer mixtape. But that era — at least in the sense of her riding the metaphorical emotional roller coaster — is over.
In a new Complex interview with Speedy Mormon, she stood ten toes down on being a “retired lover girl.” “I don’t date for love anymore... Effective months ago. It’s been great,” the hitmaker said. As for the catalyst behind her unapologetic stance, Walker admitted that past romantic blunders have been the most invaluable lessons on matters of the heart.
The Atlanta native explained her mindset in detail: “It’s really crazy how if you just change your standards, the amount of s**t that you’ll get. [You’ll get] everything … you really have to just teach people how to treat you. And I used to just think, like, well, if I’m sweet, then you’ll be sweet to me. If I’m giving you respect, you’ll give respect to me. But that nice girl thing really doesn’t work for — not even just men — anybody,” the “Heart Of A Woman” songstress explained.
She offered a solution: “When you come in and give a little b**ch just a little bit, and you really have strong boundaries and demand what you want, the floodgates will just open. N**gas will roll out the red carpet. I was like, ‘Damn, I’m the same b**ch. Like, this is how y’all could have been treating me? That’s crazy.’” Her advice to women is equally unabashed. “Ladies, if you try to ride or die, you will in fact die. Don’t do that s**t no more. You look stupid.” But don’t confuse the “Girls Need Love” superstar for a “man-hater,” because she’s not. “I’m just going off of, realistically, what I’ve seen. I’m not going off of what might be. I’m sure there are plenty of wonderful, loving, great men out here.”
Finally Over It: Summer Walker choosing herself over new romantic relationships
The two-time Grammy nominee didn’t hold back when she confessed, “I just don’t like them anymore. Like, men, I don’t like [them] date-wise. Y’all can provide, but, like, to like them, I don’t know … I can’t get into it.” Her sentiments are not just influencing her personal life but also her new music. This month, she announced her third studio album, Finally Over It, will arrive on Nov. 14. It marks the third and likely final chapter of the story she has told across previous projects, Over It and Still Over It.
She told Mormon, “I’m moving into a little bit of a different genre as I talk about new things that I’m usually not talking about ‘cause I’m usually just like, ‘Oh, he broke my heart,' [and] put it on an 808 trap beat. And so now, we’re just trying different things. The other songs are kind of just more so like, 'Oh, I choose me’ type s**t."
One thing is for certain: Fans will be getting a lesson on rewriting the rules of love whether they are pressing play on Walker’s music for the heartbreak or the healing.