American singer, rapper, songwriter, and flutist Lizzo is a modern sensation. Her genre-blending style, dance-worthy beats, and relentlessly positive message has made her has become far more than a musician for millions of people worldwide: She is an inspiration and a leader.
Lizzo — real name Melissa Viviane Jefferson—was born in Detroit, Michigan. She relocated to Houston, Texas, at age 10, and graduated high school with eight years of classical flute training and nearly as many years of rapping under her belt. Her talent for the flute took her to the University of Houston to study classical music. At age 21, her father died, and she began earnest attempts to break into the music industry, dropping out of college and living out of her car for a year.
In 2011, Lizzo moved to the Twin Cities and formed several groups including the electro-soul band Lizzo & the Larva Ink, which became popular in the Minneapolis area. However, it was her debut hip-hop album that showcased her unique style. Called Lizzobangers, this album received immediate critical acclaim and was heralded for its “joyfully nonsensical” “stream-of-consciousness rhymes.”
In 2013, just two years after moving to Minneapolis, Lizzo toured the UK and the US opening for Har Mar Superstar and was selected for the “Picked to Click” award for Best New Artist in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul). Her debut album was re-released by Virgin Records, and Lizzo rounded the year off by performing with St. Paul and the Broken Bones.
Lizzo made quick work in taking over Minneapolis, but a more global audience was awaiting her. She took part in StyleLikeU’s “What’s Underneath” project in 2014, taking off articles of clothing and discussing body image. That experience partly inspired her forthcoming second album Big Grrrl Small World, and was the subject of her song “My Skin.”
Big Grrrl Small World came out December 11, 2015, and was named one of the 50 best hip-hop albums of the year by Spin magazine. Coconut Oil, Lizzo’s first major-label EP, came out October 2016. Led by the chart-topping single “Good as Hell,” this EP focused on self-love and body positivity how-to’s. It was a huge critical success, called “essential for healthy living” by Nylon. It even made Rolling Stone’s “20 Best Pop Albums of 2016” list and was her first release to reach the charts.
Lizzo rode the wave into 2017 with the Good as Hell tour, and in early 2018, she toured with Florence and the Machine and Haim. Though she was quickly becoming the face of body positivity in music, she made a point of promoting diverse body types, races, sexuality, and more. The Big Grrrls backup dancers were all plus-size.
Lizzo’s third studio album, Cuz I Love You, was preceded by the release of her single “Juice.” The album dropped on April 19, 2019, and marked a breakthrough moment in her career. She performed at Coachella and reached number four on the Billboard 200 chart. Her single “Truth Hurts” was a sleeper hit, slowly rising to #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. This made her the first Black solo female R&B singer to hit the number-one spot since 2012.
In the time since, Lizzo has live-performed flute at the BET Awards, at pride festivals in Sacramento and Indianapolis, at the Glastonbury Festival, in Somerset, UK, on Saturday Night Live, at the Australian FOMO Festival, and in other big spots around the world. She’s won three Grammys and has been nominated numerous times at the BET Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and more.
2021 saw the release of the song “Rumors,” followed by the 2022 release of “About Damn Time.” Lizzo said her fourth album, Special, was going to be “one of the most musically badass, daring, and sophisticated bodies of work I’ve done to date.” It came out on July 15, 2022, and was everything she promised it to be: diverse, genre-bending, and inspirational, just like her.
Dante Elephante
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