As the age old adage goes, most “overnight successes” take years.
Such is the case for rising star Lizzo, who is now reaping the rewards of a decade of grinding.
The singer made a viral splash with the single ‘Juice’ and has earned praise aplenty for major label debut ‘Cuz I Love You’ – which premiered in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 last month.
Now, as the song ‘Truth Hurts’ rockets up the charts, the 31-year-old stuns in the latest digital issue of Essence Magazine.
Within her accompanying feature, she opens up about embracing her body, her broader purpose, being inspired by Missy Elliott, and much more.
Head below for more…
On Her Career Goals:
“There’s so much I wanna do. I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of making it or being it. It, for me, is a long journey.”
On Being Herself:
“I made a decision to be myself because I knew I had no choice,” she says while sipping white wine. “Sometimes the label ‘unapologetic’ bothers me because it can be loaded, because it means we have to apologize for something in the first place. I’m not ignorant to the fact that we had to have a demeanor of lowering ourselves culturally just to exist. But I’m trying to shake up the narrative about how we’re supposed to act.”
On Flaunting Her Body:
“I’m doing this for myself,” she says firmly. “I love creating shapes with my body, and I love normalizing the dimples in my butt or the lumps in my thighs or my back fat or my stretch marks. I love normalizing my Black-ass elbows. I think it’s beautiful. I think that people love authenticity.”
On Her Celebrating Body Positivity & Her Broader Purpose:
“There’s no term for body negativity, because that’s the norm.
These songs [I’m making] are for my big Black girls. Everyone can enjoy them, but I want to help us,” Lizzo muses. “This music is medicine and I’m trying to get it to my sisters. It’s so exciting to me to finally be at a level where I have exposure to my Black sisters, my big sisters, my Black trans sisters. It’s not about being poppin’. It’s not about being famous or fashion. It’s about being better and making sure that this world can hear us and respect us.”
On Being Inspired By Missy Elliott:
“Seeing Missy exist in her truth was like, Oh, I can exist in my truth. She didn’t try to hide anything, lie or cover anything up. She was as weird and freaky as she wanted to be. And I thought that was special,” says Lizzo, who grew up in Houston embarrassed of her own nerdy ways. “I want girls who look like me to feel that way [about my music].”
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More power to her!
There are way more big girls of color that can actually sing (live) who we can be celebrating
And yet none of them comin’ up and you have a chance to do them justice and open the door for them by supporting THIS ONE who is here NOW and you wanna talk about the people who ain’t here yet SMH ??♂️
Jill Scott always been here n|gga. U sleeping. Opera. R&B. Jazz. Spoken Words. Poetry. Jill Scott is the real deal! Lizzo who? She all gimmick. No substance.
The only one who comes to mind is Jazmine Sullivan. Besides that, who else
Jill Scott, Ledisi, SWV (they big girls now), Toni Braxton (she got little a fupa now), Faith Evans, Mariah (She still got a fupa after gastric sleeve), Adele, Erykah Badu (she got a fupa underneath the clothes), Tamia (she got a little fupa now), etc.
I will celebrate Lizzo because she obviously has worked hard for this & she continues to shine & be graceful while she does. I’m a fan. Like most artist, you will not be for everyone, but those are not the ones you are working hard for. Just continue to delight your fans!
I disagree. She seems complacent. She struggles with real talent. How do u get 15 minutes of fame and not enroll in singing classes to improve your stage presence? The stage is where the money is made for ‘singers’. If she don’t improve then she will be lost in dust. This, she should be better at what she does and strive to improve.
I like her but all she talks about is being fat and confident being fat she plays off herself being fat
It’s called CONFIDENCE and CHALLENGE of the stereotypes that have been forced down our necks for years. Why shouldn’t she talk about it? Who else is talking about it who is a black female singer right now? Or the past 10 years? Oh wait – would y’all be happy if Adele was talking about punishing her scales every morning instead ? SMH ??♂️
But every interview though it’s getting old we know we know she confident being fat but she can also talk about something else sometime smh
@Haterz you are blinded by your fandom. Think bigger. You know Lizzo ain’t the only big woman in the game. Jill Scott – Golden. Jill Scott – Haterz Gonna Hate. Mariah – A No No. Jazmine – Let it Burn. Making statements like Lizzo only big chick in the game the past decade is idiotic. Hell, most of the big divas been big at some point, including Britney Spears and it ain’t like Lizzo offering anything extraordinary. She might look like diabetes while other thick celebs just look thick but big is big.
i wish they didn’t cover her up as much. it feels contrary to her message about body positivity and whatnot.
I’m glad she is killing it right now. The album is surprisingly weak by Lizzo standards though, even the Missy collabo. Coconut Oil was fire, but here’s hoping she’ll keep the momentum and give us more next time.
Can’t stand this heffa
I really don’t get where so many people on this site get off trying to come for Lizzo’s voice. What have you been listening to/watching?
Clearly none of y’all h*es have checked out her track “Jerome”, cuz if you did you’d be singing a different tune.
Matter of fact, enlighten yourself and check it out before you keep sounding stupid with your attacks on her pipes.
“Jerome” Live and Awesome:
https://youtu.be/qqEx74QYong
She’s coming for Beyonce (real hard)!!! Go gurl! She’s a future star
Lizzo is a one woman revolution. She will be. Remembered as an icon much in the same way we look at Grace Jones.