Chaka Khan is entering a new era with the release of “Chakzilla,” a dance-pop single co-written with Sia that arrives as the centerpiece of her first studio album in seven years. The new track, released alongside an elaborate music video, presents Khan as a larger-than-life force attempting to bring order to a chaotic world.
Speaking about the concept behind the song, Khan said the title immediately connected with her because of her childhood love for Godzilla films. “When we came up with [‘Chakzilla’] as a title, lots of things just ran through my head and made a lot of sense,” she explained to People.
In the video, Khan towers over a miniature cityscape as a benevolent version of the iconic monster. “Instead of becoming a monster and just tearing up things, I became sort of a monster of a person who does good things,” she said.
The record was produced by Greg Kurstin, with Sia contributing backing vocals and helping write the song. Khan credited Sia for coming up with the title itself. “I would've never thought of that,” she said. “She's clever. She comes up with lots of ideas.”
Sia later described the music legend as “the Godzilla of chanteuses alive.”
“Chakzilla” also expands on a creative partnership the two artists have been building for years. The pair previously collaborated on “Immortal Queen” from Sia’s 2024 Reasonable Woman album, and Khan had already hinted earlier this year that they were deep into recording sessions together.
At the time, she said the project kept growing because they “kept coming up with more great music to do.”
The single lands during one of the busiest stretches of Khan’s recent career. Alongside work on the new album, she has been promoting I’m Every Woman: The Chaka Khan Musical, an autobiographical stage production starring Alexandra Burke that revisits both her rise with Rufus and the personal struggles she endured behind the scenes.
In interviews surrounding the musical, Khan reflected on battling addiction and surviving difficult periods in her life. “There were times when I thought, will I make it? Will I live through this?” she admitted.
Chakzilla drops September 18 through BMG.
