Lizzo (2019) [UPDATE]

One Liner:  Boss queen rapper, singer, twerker, and flautist extraordinaire

Wikipedia Genre: R&B, hip hop, pop
Home: Minneapolis (by way of Detroit and Houston)

Poster Position: 2

Both Weekends

Thoughts: Y'all.  I know, by now I'm sounding like a broken record, but if you are sleeping on the experience that is Lizzo then you are missing out on the most fun thing you can do in music right now.  I mean, you could be a joyless prick who hates to find pleasure in objectively wonderful things, but so long as you enjoy music and pleasure and the happiness that springs directly from watching someone just give it their all, then this is the right thing to support.  Before I get into the reviews, you need to watch her appearance on Ellen.

Dancing her ass off.  Playing the damn flute, live.  Twerking in the face of all those whitebread ass Ellen-loving ladies in the crowd.  AND A FLUTE SOLO!  I mean, if that doesn't make you grin a little bit, then get the hell off my rock.

She came to ACL a few years ago, and the first weekend show was so damn amazing that I took my wife and friend back the next weekend to spread the gospel of Lizzo.  Here is my preview from 2016:

"I have been genuinely grinning by myself in my office all morning jamming this fantastically unexpected, bad-ass woman.  Totally out of left field here, I expected "Lizzo" to be another gentle indie girl group singing plain but harmonic tunes about getting high and being bored, and instead, I get this genuinely funny, hella cool, big mama spitting rhymes. You just have to start with her new single, which is also her most popular track right now, but lives up to the name easily. This is "Good as Hell," and has 2.2 million streams [BTW, up to 43 million streams now, and still a killer track].

I'm going to be singing that all day.  That song, that beat, those lyrics, it all is a great package.  It makes me think of the Mark Ronson and Mystikal track "Feel Right," in that I want to sing it and strut around.  And then the next one that got an out loud chuckle from me was "En Love," from her 2015 album Big Grrrl Small World.

But she's got so many that I think are awesome.  I really don't think I can do it justice by just adding links here.  "Let 'Em Say," "Batches and Cookies," "Ain't I," "Bus Passes and Happy Meals," I mean, this is just lighting me up.  You should at least go check her top ten on Spotify.  It's a little bit Missy Elliott, a little bit Nicki Minaj, but its all fun as far as I'm concerned.  I bring you "Batches and Cookies" now.

That is from 2014's Lizzobangers.  Also in 2014, she did a remake/remix of Blondie's "Rapture" that is pretty tight.  What is it?  Why am I so tired of most other rappers I'm hearing right now but this just clicks right and is making me bob my head and grin?  What is the deal?  The male rappers right now who get all sing-songy in their raps (Drake, Torey Lanez, etc.) annoy the crap out of me right now, but I don't mind Lizzo doing it at all.  Am I sexist?  I don't know.  A few ideas: (1) her cadence and pronunciation is clear, so I can hear the jokes and the entendre; and (2) her beats are pretty dang good, brawny and swaggerfied.  Whatever it is, I'm lovin' it.  "Faded" is reminiscent of Outkast's "Bombs Over Bagdad," "W.E.R.K. Pt. II" is that Missy/Nicki sound, and the out of control flow and badass sample on "Pants vs. Dress" are unhinged and fun.

Who is this bad mamajamma?  She is apparently originally from Houston, but moved up to Minneapolis a few years ago.  She had a few other bands she sang with, but this solo stuff is the real deal.  Good as Hell indeed.  I want to go see her live.  Like, now."

And then I'll give you a taste of what I wrote after seeing her do it all live, which was amazing:

• Lizzo.  Dude.  Lizzo was freaking hilarious and amazing.  She is a big girl, and just doesn't give a damn, wearing a skin tight leotard and some sort of see-through thing over the top that ended about hip level.  And he backup dancers were big girls too, but they could dance like freaking champions.  Lizzo spent the show twerking and bouncing and dancing and slapping her ass, she couldn't be more comfortable in that body.  And then the rapping and singing (her voice is great) was top notch as well. Loved this show.

So, needless to say, I was already on board with her sauce before she even put out the very good new album Cuz I Love You.  "Juice" is greatness.  "Tempo," with Missy Elliott, is also badass - great beat, top notch verses.  So many of these songs make me look up from what I'm doing to note them - "Like a Girl," the beat on "Soulmate," and the whole package of "Truth Hurts."  That last one is her currently most popular track, so I'll give it to you (even though you should definitely go listen to the rest of the album).

"I just took a DNA test, turns out, I'm a 100% that bitch."  And then that beat kicks in as she throws down on shitty men.  And some of the songs on this album leave the true rap behind and go with a more soul/R&B thing - "Crybaby," "Jerome," or "Lingerie."  And I am fine with those - even though I would normally bag on a rapper for leaving the rap behind, but something about her voice makes these tracks just as welcome to me as the bangers.  I'm all in.

Lizzo is Melissa Viviane Jefferson.  Which is a freaking amazing name - like Megan Thee Stallion, just rocking a generic ass 70's girl name with that Melissa shit.  She was born in Detroit, raised in Houston, and then moved to Minneapolis.  She apparently appeared on a 2014 Prince track called "BOYTROUBLE," but when I just went and listened to it, there are so many effects on the voices its sometimes hard to tell who is doing the rapping.

Wikipedia mentions something very obvious, that Lizzo has become an advocate for body positivity and self-love, employing plus-sized dancers and singing/rapping about her size with frequency.  I think its all great - she keeps posing for photos (and her album cover) either nude or in sexy negligee-type things, and more power to her.

Oh, and also, you should find her social media - shit is funny.  She attended the Met Gala in this ginormously fluffy pink and white chinchilla ass looking coat that she wore with pride and pleasure.  It is awesome.

GO SEE THIS SHOW.  I promise she puts on a damn fun concert and you'll enjoy it.

[EDIT]  HOLD UP!  TINY ASS DESK, BIATCH!!!
(I don't know what the deal is with this video, can't find it on YouTube, so just click on this link: https://jwp.io/s/hxcCxP7X  Just go watch the damn thing and see what the whole internet is freaking out about.  (She literally just made me laugh out loud watching this.)  Only bummer is that "Truth Hurts" misses the bass line in the studio version - its still fun to watch her crush it, but I want that bang.