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A Deep Dive Into Lizzo's Massive Breakout Year | THR News
Hollywood Journal
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16 hours ago
2019 is the year of Lizzo. From garnering a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Truth Hurts" to snagging a part in the film, 'Hustlers,' there are no rules for this breakout artist.
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00:00
2019 is the year of Lizzo.
00:03
From garnering a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with Truth Hurts, to snagging a part
00:08
in the buzz-worthy film Hustlers.
00:10
She literally redefines pop music just by the virtue of her very existence.
00:15
There are no rules for this breakout artist.
00:18
The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard News are taking you inside her standout 2019 and
00:23
breaking down how she put her charming stamp on the music industry.
00:27
This is Lizzo in the spotlight.
00:30
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Melissa Jefferson set out on her journey early on, learning
00:35
how to play the flute at just 12 years old.
00:37
Getting serious about her career, she started collaborating with different indie groups and
00:41
perfecting her distinct sound in the studio, before finally moving to Los Angeles.
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Her hard work finally paid off when she signed to Atlantic Records, which finally put her
00:50
on the map.
00:51
The first time I heard about Lizzo was from one of the marketing executives at Atlantic
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Records, so this is probably like 2016.
01:00
Her voice just struck me.
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It was big.
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I'd never heard of her before.
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The first time I heard about Lizzo was about a year ago, and it was on Twitter.
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I just saw this video of somebody playing the flute.
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Like, I've never seen anyone play the flute before.
01:14
She was kind of like sexy and badass, and she was just a big, beautiful black woman rocking
01:23
the hell out of a flute.
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I was like, who is that?
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My first experience with Lizzo was at a strip club, here in Hollywood, off La Brea.
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I'd never been to an album listening party at a strip club hosted by a female musician,
01:40
ever.
01:41
So I was game.
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Had the time of my life.
01:43
While the ambitious singer began emerging on the scene, she was no overnight success.
01:48
Her sleeper hit, Truth Hurts, took nearly two years to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
01:53
But I think people actually may not realize, she has a fairly sizable catalog of work behind
01:59
her that has led her to this moment, and now people are just starting to discover the
02:02
rest of her music.
02:03
I just took a DNA test, turns out I'm 100% that bitch.
02:09
So Lizzo's Truth Hurts, which has actually been around for a few years, was in Netflix's
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Someone Great back in April.
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The week after people saw the song in the film, it had a huge jump in on-demand streams
02:21
of the United States, more than 350% in just a single week.
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So suddenly everyone was like, who's this Lizzo lady?
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Sometimes that can be super instrumental.
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I mean, you think of certain TV shows like Grey's Anatomy or The O.C. back in the day,
02:37
that really made the name for certain artists like The Fray or like Phantom Planet for The
02:42
O.C. or all those CW shows.
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It can really make an emerging artist's career because you're associating their song with
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the emotion of the storyline.
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It's like a free music video.
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All those things that she talks about and she writes about in her song, I've experienced
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every one of those.
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It's something everybody has to go through in terms of breakups and you never think you're
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going to go through it and then you help other friends through it and then you turn around
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and you find yourself going through it.
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In April, she received critically acclaimed reviews after Cuz I Love You dropped.
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The cutting edge album fused pop with R&B and hip-hop.
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Slow songs, late for skinny hoes Can't move all of this here to one of those
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I'm a thick bitch, I need tempo She's blurring genres.
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She's blurring the lines between what is supposed to be pop or what is hip-hop or what is whatever.
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She's great for the music industry because music should be all about innovation while reflecting
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on classic sounds that have come before.
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People still think R&B is just straight up big voice singers like Aretha and Lettucey
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and people like that when R&B is a lot of colors.
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Lizzo shows that on her album as well.
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Record labels are having to step back now and say let's see what the fans want.
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All those things add up to this incredible perfect package of a pop star right now and
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that's what Lizzo is doing.
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Lizzo in 2019 is changing the music industry, breaking the mold and thriving on her own terms.
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She's not sort of the cookie cutter, sort of svelte pop star that people think that you
04:09
have to be in the music industry and I think people really love that.
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I think people love to see someone that looks like them, that talks like them, that is speaking to them.
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I think it's important to showcase women that look like her, that look like me, that look like everyone else.
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No shade on the established pop stars but you know certainly Lizzo has a different body shape
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than the Taylor's or the Ariana's or the Katie's that we have.
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We're all not models, we're all not Giselle's and the Naomi Campbell's of the world.
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Someone like me resonates with someone that looks like her because we're not a size two,
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but we're super talented and we're passionate about music.
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She is also kind of redefining pop stardom both in terms of her race, her body type,
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in terms of also her versatility because she's not just an amazing belter with these huge vocals
05:00
and she's a songwriter, she's a rapper and she's a flautist. That combination just has not existed
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before at least not in commercial pop. She literally redefines pop music just by the virtue of her very
05:13
existence. The star is now taking her bold persona to the big screen with Hustlers starring alongside
05:19
Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu and Kiki Palmer. Lizzo is hilarious in Hustlers. Her part isn't huge,
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she and Cardi B are kind of in the front part of the movie but they really make a big impact with
05:35
their screen time. She's sort of playing a version of herself. Her outfits are not unlike the real Lizzo's
05:41
stage outfits. Quite revealing but she's bold and campy and I think that this was exactly the right
05:48
kind of role for her to make sort of one of her first screen impressions. I definitely could see
05:52
her being somebody who crosses both the film as well as the music world. Jennifer Lopez recently opened
05:59
up to The Hollywood Reporter at the Toronto Film Festival, revealing how the cast members brought
06:04
their characters to life. That's what these women were. They were really tough. They were, they were
06:09
daring. They, they, they, they push the envelope. And while she's making her debut on the big screen,
06:15
she could be making an even bigger debut on music's biggest night. We've got Grammy nominations coming
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up and it feels like she could be a contender in a lot of major categories, probably lots of nominations.
06:28
Will she be in all the top four categories? I don't know, but I feel like it's going to be a great year
06:33
for Lizzo. I see her having a chance in all the R&B categories. I think she transcends that,
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fusing the different genres. I wouldn't be surprised at perhaps maybe an album of the year. Lizzo's
06:45
empowering anthems and catchy hooks show no signs of stopping thanks to her massive year. As far as
06:51
what lies ahead for this pop diva, it's only the beginning of her journey towards becoming an icon.
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For the next chapter for Lizzo, I just want her to keep exploring. I want her to stay her authentic self.
07:01
Just let her keep growing organically the way she popped on the scene. Very rarely now do I use the
07:06
word career artist, but I think she has a chance to be a career artist. I think Lizzo could very well
07:12
go down in history as being someday one of those iconic divas. She's already on a first name basis,
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but becomes a household name for real. I just think the possibilities are endless for her.
07:23
Because she's that bitch. 100% that bitch.
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And this is 100% in the spotlight for The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard News.
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