Lizzo

Lizzo (2019)

Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988 in Detroit , Michigan ), better known by her stage name Lizzo , is an American singer , rapper and songwriter . Her musical work, which lies between pop , R&B and hip-hop , is dedicated to topics such as diversity and body positivity . In 2019 she released her first studio album with Cuz I Love You on a major label , which, in addition to her commercial breakthrough, earned her numerous nominations and prizes, including eight nominations for the Grammy Award .

Life

Melissa Viviane Jefferson was born in Detroit in 1988 and grew up in a family of musical amateurs. Until she was ten years old, she was socialized exclusively with gospel in the “Motor City” . Then she moved with her parents to Houston , where she first came into contact with other types of music, especially hip-hop. She was also passionate about classical music and began playing the flute at the age of twelve . While joining a number of R&B and rap groups, including the Crime Mob- leaning Cornrow Clique, she also played in marching bands and began studying classical flute at the University of Houston . After a period of self-discovery, she decided to pursue a singing career. In 2010 Lizzo's father died, at the same time her musical role model, which triggered a depression in her .

Career

After there was no productive collaboration in several bands in Houston, Lizzo followed a friend's call to Minneapolis in 2011 . She worked on her voice, became the front woman of the group Lizzo & The Larva Ink and joined the TLC- inspired band The Chalice. In 2013 she released her first solo album Lizzobangers on the indie label Totally Gross Domestic Product . The Time Magazine took Lizzo then in its list of 14 most promising artists for the year 2014. The following year, she gained attention as a background singer / rapper. Together with Sophia Eris, she took on the rap part on the track BoyTrouble from Prince's album PlectrumElectrum . She also worked with Clean Bandit on New Eyes and Bastille on Torn Apart .

In 2015 her second studio album, Big GRRRL Small World, was self-published. As a result, Lizzo networked with producer Ricky Reed, who had previously worked with artists such as Kesha , Pitbull and Fifth Harmony . Reed got her a recording deal with Atlantic Records , and she began shuttling between Minneapolis and Los Angeles while working on new material. Their first major EP Coconut Oil with the breakthrough single Good as Hell was released in October 2016 and reached number 44 on the Top R & B / Hip-Hop albums . Lizzo settled entirely in Los Angeles down where they moderating the MTV telecast Wonderland took over.

In the following two years she worked on her third studio album. In 2018 she toured with Haim and Florence + the Machine and released the singles Fitness and Boys , among others . At the beginning of 2019, her most successful single Juice was released , which reached the charts in several countries and was to announce the album Cuz I Love You . The use of her songs in a Netflix trailer and other commercials, an appearance at the Coachella Festival and several television appearances - including the German Neo magazine Royale - increased her popularity. In addition, a YouTube clip was created in which she parodies the well-known “jazz flute scene” from Anchorman - The Legend of Ron Burgundy with Will Ferrell . Her third studio album received excellent reviews and reached number one on the iTunes charts. The single Truth Hurts contained on the deluxe edition of the album reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 almost two years after its first release and has been awarded multiple platinum marks. These successes made her one of the favorites for the Grammy Award with eight nominations at the end of the year . It could not prevail in the four main categories, but it won three awards in the fields of R&B and Pop.

In addition to her musical breakthrough, she also began working on film productions. In 2019 she first had a speaking role in the animated film Ugly Dolls and later a supporting role alongside Jennifer Lopez in the crime comedy Hustlers .

According to her own statements, she signed a contract to produce television programs for Amazon's Prime Video streaming service in 2020 .

style

Lizzo at a concert (2018)

Lizzo moves musically between R&B , pop and hip-hop . Their catchy and self-confident songs bring pop basslines together with gospel riffs and combine their musical backgrounds from rap, flute, songwriting and dance. She herself describes her music as “Church with a twerk ”. CNN compared her to Amy Winehouse (but more mundane), Erykah Badu (more disrespectful) and Beyoncé in 2019 . Her often playful texts deal with topics of diversity such as physicality, sexuality, skin color or self-confidence. Lizzo has now risen to become a new pop idol who embodies empowerment and self-love. With her dance-intensive stage shows, colorful to extravagant outfits and unusual hairstyles, she has become an icon of body positivity and is committed to body shaming in the mass media. For the album cover of Cuz I Love You , she was photographed naked in 2019.

“I can't wake up one day and not be black. I can't wake up one day and not be a woman. I can't wake up one day and not be fat. "

“I can't wake up in a day and not be black. I can't wake up in a day and not be a woman. I can't wake up in one day and not be fat. "

- Lizzo (2018)

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2019	Cuz I love you	-	-	CH75 (1 week) CH	UK30th gold (47 weeks)UK	US4th gold (… Where.)US	First published: April 19, 2019 Sales: + 660,000

More studio albums

• 2013: Lizzobangers
• 2015: Big GRRRL Small World

EPs

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2016	Coconut oil	-	-	-	-	US31 (26 weeks) US	First published: October 7, 2016

More EPs

• 2015: Grrrl Prty × Bionics

Mix tapes

• 2012: Due Process & Product (with Johnny Lewis)
• 2012: We Are the Chalice (with Sophia Eris & Claire de Lune)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2016	Good as Hell Coconut Oil	DE83 (4 weeks) DE	AT62 (4 weeks) AT	CH39 (19 weeks) CH	UK7th platinum (42 weeks)UK	US3 × 3 Triple platinum (30 weeks)US	First published: March 8, 2016 Sales: + 4,150,000; Remix feat. Ariana Grande
2017	Truth hurts	-	-	CH94 (1 week) CH	UK29 gold (28 weeks)UK	US1 × 5 Quintuple platinum (42 weeks)US	First published: September 19, 2017 Sales: + 6,000,000
2019	Juice Cuz I Love You	-	-	-	UK38 gold (9 weeks)UK	US82 platinum (4 weeks)US	First published: Jan 4th, 2019 Sales: + 1,585,000

More singles

• 2013: Batches and Cookies (feat.Sophia Eris)
• 2013: Wegula (as Grrrl Prty)
• 2013: Night Watch (as Grrrl Prty)
• 2014: Let 'Em Say (with Caroline Smith)
• 2014: Paris
• 2014: Faded
• 2015: Humanize
• 2015: Ain't I
• 2015: My Skin
• 2015: Never Felt Like Christmas
• 2016: Basement Queens (with Sad13)
• 2016: Phone
• 2017: Scuse Me
• 2017: Water Me
• 2018: fitness
• 2018: Boys (US:gold)
• 2019: Cuz I Love You (US:gold)
• 2019: Tempo ( feat.Missy Elliott ) (US:gold)

Chart placements as a guest musician

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2019	Blame It on Your Love Charli	-	-	-	UK70 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 15, 2019 Charli XCX feat. Lizzo

Further guest contributions

• 2014: New Eyes ( Clean Bandit feat.Lizzo)
• 2014: Boytrouble ( Prince & 3rdEyeGirl feat.Lizzo)
• 2014: Torn Apart, Pt. II ( Bastille feat.Lizzo & GRADES)
• 2015: Iko (NASA feat.Lizzo)
• 2015: Hands Up Don't Shoot! (NASA feat. Sean Paul & Lizzo)
• 2016: Boiled Peanuts (Astronautalis feat.Lizzo)

Awards for music sales

Golden record  Australia 2020: for the single boys  Belgium 2020: for the single Good as Hell  Brazil 2019: for the single juice 2020: for the album Cuz I Love You 2020: for the single Good as Hell  Denmark 2020: for the single Good as Hell  France 2020: for the single juice 2020: for the single Good as Hell  Italy 2019: for the single juice  Canada 2019: for the single Tempo

Platinum record  Brazil 2020: for the single Truth Hurts  Canada 2019: for the single juice 2019: for the album Cuz I Love You 2020: for the single boys  New Zealand 2019: for the single Truth Hurts 2019: for the single Good as Hell 2 × platinum record  Canada 2019: for the single Good as Hell

3 × platinum record  Australia 2020: for the single Truth Hurts 2020: for the single Good as Hell 6 × platinum record  Canada 2020: for the single Truth Hurts

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Australia (ARIA)	gold1	6 × platinum6th	455,000	aria.com.au
Belgium (BEA)	gold1	-	20,000	ultratop.be
Brazil (PMB)	3 × gold3	platinum1	100,000	pro-musicabr.org.br
Denmark (IFPI)	gold1	-	45,000	ifpi.dk
France (SNEP)	2 × gold2	-	200,000	snepmusique.com
Italy (FIMI)	gold1	-	25,000	fimi.it
Canada (MC)	gold1	11 × platinum11	920,000	musiccanada.com
New Zealand (RMNZ)	-	2 × platinum2	60,000	nztop40.co.nz
United States (RIAA)	4 × gold4th	9 × platinum9	11,000,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	3 × gold3	platinum1	1,500,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	17 × gold17th	30 × platinum30th

Filmography

• 2019: UglyDolls (speaking role)
• 2019: Hustlers

Awards

year	Award	Nominee work	category	result
2019	American Music Awards	herself	New Artist of the Year	Nominated
			Favorite Female Artist - Soul / R & B	Nominated
		Juice	Favorite Song - Soul / R & B	Nominated
	BET Awards	herself	Best Female Hip-Hop Artist	Nominated
	Bravo Otto	herself	newcomer	Nominated
	International Music Award	herself	Style	Won
	MTV Europe Music Awards	herself	Best New Act	Nominated
			Best Push Act	Nominated
			Best US Act	Nominated
	MTV Video Music Awards	herself	Best New Artist	Nominated
			Push Artist of the Year	Nominated
		tempo	Best Power Anthem	Nominated
		Truth hurts	Song of Summer	Nominated
	People's Choice Awards	Cuz I love you	Album of 2019	Nominated
	Q Awards	Juice	Best track	Nominated
	Soul Train Music Awards	Juice	Song of the Year	Nominated
			Video of the Year	Won
			The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter's Award	Nominated
			Best dance performance	Nominated
		Cuz I love you	Album / Mixtape of the Year	Won
		herself	Best R&B / Soul Female Artist	Nominated
	Streamy Awards	herself	Breakthrough Artist	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	herself	Choice Breakout Artist	Nominated
			Choice Summer Female Artist	Nominated
		Truth hurts	Choice Summer Song	Nominated
2020	Grammy Awards	herself	Best New Artist	Nominated
		Cuz I love you	Album of the Year	Nominated
			Best Urban Contemporary Album	Won
		Truth hurts	Record of the Year	Nominated
			Song of the Year	Nominated
			Best pop solo performance	Won
		Exactly How I Feel	Best R&B performance	Nominated
		Jerome	Best traditional R&B performance	Won

Web links

Commons : Lizzo  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website (English)
• Lizzo at Allmusic (English)
• LIZZO at Discogs (English)
• Lizzo in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Brittany Spanos: Lizzo on Judging 'Drag Race,' Working With Prince and Becoming Eternal. Rolling Stone , July 24, 2018, accessed April 27, 2019 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Sandra E. Garcia: Lizzo Wants to Build You Up. The New York Times , September 18, 2018, accessed April 27, 2019 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Bethonie Butler: How Lizzo went from underground phenom to rising pop star. The Washington Post , April 24, 2019, accessed April 27, 2019 . 
4. ^ ^{A b c} David Jeffries: Lizzo - Biography. Allmusic , accessed on April 27, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Melissa Locker: 14 Musical Acts To Watch in 2014. Time , November 13, 2013, accessed April 27, 2019 . 
6. ↑ The Legend of LIZZO - Jazz Flute Scene. Lizzo / YouTube , March 5, 2019, accessed April 27, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Adam Uren: Lizzo's new album goes to No. 1 on iTunes, and critics love it. Bring Me The News, April 20, 2019, accessed April 27, 2019 . 
8. ↑ R&B star Lizzo to produce TV programming for Amazon's streaming service. In: Reuters. August 6, 2020, accessed on August 7, 2020 . 
9. ↑ Kendall Trammell: Lizzo is the musical artist you need to hear right now. CNN , April 22, 2019, accessed April 26, 2019 . 
10. ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung: Oh, the transience! Retrieved December 23, 2019 . 
11. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US