If you want to feel like a queen, without needing a crown, go ahead and blast Lizzo’s music.
Nobody represents or advocates for the modern woman quite like Lizzo. Lizzo’s unapologetic anthems of female and Black empowerment have enough heart and soul to overpower the most negative people. An inspirational activist and musician, Lizzo lifts her audiences up and encourages them to empower others in their lives.
Lizzo (Melissa Vivianne Jefferson) is a revolutionary, vibrant musician hailing from Detroit, Michigan. She has released explosive pop songs promoting feminism, body positivity, women’s empowerment and self-love. Using her commanding voice and impressive flute skills, Lizzo highlights intersectional feminism by embracing her identity as a Black woman.
Relatively new to the music scene, Lizzo released her iconic debut album “Cuz I Love You” in April 2019 and has since become an international success. Featuring some of my favorite songs — “Soulmate,” “Truth Hurts,” “Tempo” and “Better in Color” — this album radiates joy. It interweaves R&B and soul throughout Lizzo’s pop anthems to create an infectious sound that is unapologetically hers.
In her efforts to promote feminist values, Lizzo has also collaborated with other pop and hip-hop artists, including singer Ariana Grande in the “Good As Hell” remix and rapper Missy Elliot in “Tempo.”
I was fortunate enough to see Lizzo in concert in November 2019. It was one of the most moving, uplifting and thrilling nights of my life. At the O2 Academy Brixton, Lizzo united audience members in a spectacular concert that had everyone singing, dancing and laughing the entire night.
Although each of Lizzo’s songs individually highlight different themes, they all promote girl power and encourage women to be confident in themselves. In her song “Soulmate,” Lizzo champions the idea of self-love.
“Cause I’m my own soulmate / I know how to love me, I know that I’m always gonna hold me down, Lizzo sings, “Yeah, I’m my own soulmate / No, I’m never lonely / I know I’m a queen but I don’t need no crown.”
Later in the song, she raps that money can’t buy true love and happiness, but rather, “True love finally happens when you by yourself.”
She also reclaims the meaning of the typically misogynistic saying “fight like a girl” in her song “Like A Girl,” where she sings, “So if you fight like a girl, cry like a girl, Do your thing, run the whole damn world. If you feel like a girl then you real like a girl.”
Lizzo also advocates for intersectional feminism and racial equality in her song “Better in Color.”
“Black, white, ebony all sound good to me … love looks better in color.”
I love Lizzo. Preaching girl power, she has become the voice for an entirely new generation of feminists. Lizzo has taught me to love myself and support other women in similar endeavors, and I can’t wait to hear what she releases next.
Email Maya Mehrara at [email protected].
