Two years ago, Lizzo decided she’d had enough. Hit with allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination from former backing dancers (which she denies), she posted: “I’m starting to feel like the world doesn’t want me in it […] I quit.” New stories followed as many believed she was leaving the industry for good. Days later, she clarified on social media: “When I say ‘I quit’, I mean I quit giving any negative energy attention.”
The problem is, Bitch, Lizzo’s fifth album, is almost entirely devoted to negative energy. “A Toast” opens the record with a plaintive jibe: “I hope it makes you happy/ to hurt somebody else/ And when you lose it all/ I hope you find yourself.” “She Stole My Man” is a pop-punk diatribe about a romantic rival. And on the up-tempo, Tina Turner-inspired “Don’t Make Me Love U”, she sings like a spurned lover: “If you just gonna change your mind/ Don’t waste my time”. It’s not about a man – she revealed in an interview – it’s us, the public, who’ve left her feeling jilted.
In 2019, Lizzo could do no wrong. Her third studio album Cuz I Love You won her a Grammy and a devoted fanbase. They loved everything she stood for: body positivity, independence, radical self-love.
Now, it seems they’ve changed their tune. “She’s a bitch,” opens the title track, which interpolates Meredith Brooks’ Nineties alt-rock number of the same name: “I’m a bitch/ I’m a lover/I’m a child/ I’m a mother.” It works well, swapping Brooks’ grungy guitars for pulsing R&B, but the track doesn’t fizz with the wit of Lizzo’s earlier work. “I’m that bitch,” she sings, referencing the iconic line from her first hit “Truth Hurts”: “I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100 percent that bitch.” The humour, the clever turn of phrase, is chopped off. We’re left with aimless bravado.
Later in the album, Lizzo’s trademark confidence starts to curdle. On “Like A Crime”, a stripped back acoustic number, she sings, “I guess I people-please too much”; there’s an entire track about being “Too Nice”. The whole thing feels like a queasy, humble brag.
Lizzo was at her best when she was bragging with her whole chest. Her greatest gift was her optimism. “If I’m shining, everybody gonna shine,” she once sang, triumphantly, on “Juice” from her Grammy-winning album. But after years of mega-stardom, Lizzo’s juice – once full of zest – is starting to taste bitter.
[Further reading: Doja Cat’s mesmerising world tour]
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