Lizzo Gets Real About Racial Stereotypes in Pop Music
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Despite persistent detractors, pop star Lizzo has remained unfazed. Recently, she spoke up about the backlash she receives for not reflecting Black origins in her music.
Lizzo Says Pop Music is “Inherently Racist”
Lizzo has been in the entertainment industry for over a decade and has indeed made a couple of chart-topping hits throughout. Nevertheless, the multi-hyphenate was never spared from hate comments, particularly criticisms about her not-so-Black musicality.
In her recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, the singer said that genre is inherently racist. She also took some time to explain how code words were used to feed people’s racial biases in music.
“I think if people did any research they would see that there was race music and then there was pop music,” Lizzo said. “And race music was their way of segregating Black artists from being mainstream, because they didn’t want their kids listening to music created by Black and brown people because they said it was demonic and yada, yada, yada.”
According to her, people must remember that pop music has a racist origin. Today, she finds it the “coolest thing” that rap and hip-hop artists cross over to pop.
“Now pop music is really rap in its DNA,” she said. “Rap is running the game, and I think that’s so cool.”
As she creates more music, she intends to incorporate the style of pop icons Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, with a bit of rap. On facing backlash, she believes that people may like her eventually.
“You just gotta get used to me because I’m making good s—. You missing out,” she said.
Her New Documentary is Now Streaming on HBO Max
This year, Lizzo had the courage to detail her life story to the public. Last Thursday, she premiered her documentary titled Love, Lizzo to open up her ride to superstardom.
The pop star’s documentary includes footage during her childhood. The same traces the moment she discovered her passion for music to having three Grammy awards.
“Nobody was trying to sign a fat Black girl that rapped, sang, and played the flute,” she said in the trailer. “It took so much hard work to get to where I am today. But I found my voice. Now, when people see me on stage, they see themselves.”
Love, Lizzo is now streaming in HBO Max, to be followed by a concert special on New Year’s Eve.
