Lizzo: ‘I was crying in the studio, writing songs about who I want to be’ – Music News

She tells Apple Music why she’s proud of the project and loves the album, handling criticism and backlash upon experiencing fame, why releasing “Rumors” with Cardi B was selfish, wanting people to accept her as she is, and her calling to do good. She also discusses her new song “Coldplay”, during which she is surprised by the band’s frontman Chris Martin via FaceTime. During their chat Martin tells Lizzo he loves her and compliments her work, they discuss potentially collaborating in the future, and she thanks him for letting her name the song after his band.

Lizzo Tells Apple Music Why She’s Proud of Her New Album ’Special’…

I love this album. Come on. I’m very good at music, man. I would just say that. I studied music in college. I’ve written songs my whole life. I’m proud. I think taking my… I wanted to rush it so many times. There were so points….Woo. But in this process, I was like, “I got the album, okay? Let’s put it out. The singles are done.” And those songs didn’t even make the album. So I’m just proud of how patient I was with myself and with my art. And I took the time to write the songs that need to come out, the stories that I wanted to share, that people should hear. I was rushing because I had “Hush”… I mean, everything I make is good, it just doesn’t mean that it’s the right song for the album. So I got bars, and I got some hot bars off and I got bangers, but… And I got some moody songs, I got some really dark songs too that didn’t make it. But these are the songs that were supposed to happen.

Lizzo Tells Apple Music Love Is At The Heart of Her New Album ’Special’…

I think love is the heart of this album. I think everything I’ve been doing prior to Special was in pursuit of love. And it was like, Because I Love you was a almost autobiographical album about who I want to be. When I wrote Soulmate, I was crying in the studio, and I was like, “Okay, I’m writing a song about the person I want to be, I aspire to be.” Truth hurts, I was crying in the studio, writing songs about who I want to be. And now, Special is almost a celebration of who I am right now, it’s very present. And I think the only place love can really exist is in the present. You know what I’m saying?

Lizzo Tells Apple Music Why Releasing “Rumors” with Cardi B Was Selfish…

Well, in Rumors, featuring Cardi B, that was my f**k you. And I was so excited and proud to put that song out because I needed to do that. I honestly needed it. It was very selfish. I very selfishly wanted a song with Cardi for a long time, and I very selfishly wanted to be like, “B***h, all the rumors are true, whatever you want to believe about me, and **k you too.” And I did that. And once I actually put that song out, I got a lot off my chest, Energetically. And I feel a lot of the songs on Special kind of came through after that. I wrote Special, actually, after I released Rumors and started getting a lot of… Being brought back into the cultural zeitgeist and after becoming famous and having the year that I had, it was interesting seeing how people relate to me and treat me and talk to me.

Lizzo Tells Apple Music About Receiving Criticism and Backlash Once She Experienced Fame…

I’ve noticed that once people knew who I was, because before it was discovery, it was like, “Who is this? Who is that?” And then once people knew who I was and it became kind of solidified, they became more comfortable with using me as some sort of punchline or joke, or immediately they want to criticize whatever I’m doing because there’s levels to me that they don’t accept. So I’ve found that I’m always going to receive some sort of backlash or criticism whenever I put myself in a public space, just because of who I am and the way I choose to exist. …it’s absolutely bait now. People use negativity as clout and attention, and it makes them feel good to get that kind of attention, which is… It’s very addictive. It is like an adrenaline, it’s drug-like. And I don’t know, I’m trying to distance myself from even looking at those people and reading those comments. It’s been very difficult because I just feel I can’t escape it.

Lizzo Tells Apple Music About Her Song “Coldplay”…

It’s so literal. This is one of the most literal songs I’ve ever written. I mean, everything I say in the song actually happened. So Ricky Reed produced the track, and you know Ricky Reed. And we have a long relationship. I was in the studio, and I had just come back from a trip. And he was like, “Well, why don’t I just play the piano loop, and then you just talk?” And I was like, “Okay.” So I very Alicia Key’s, You Don’t Know My Name. I sat in the booth and was like, “So yeah. I remember when we went to Tulum, we pretended we were married. And I was talking, and I talked for like 25, 30 minutes. On that loop. And then I got really… I felt like, Ugh, kind of raw and sensitive about it. And I was like, “All right, let’s just move on.” And then he came back to me and was like, “Hey, all those words you wrote, I kind of turned it into a song.”

Lizzo Surprised By Coldplay’s Chris Martin Live on Apple Music While Discussing Her New Song “Coldplay”…

Lizzo: Wait. This is so crazy. Hi.

Chris Martin: Hey, listen. Are you good?

Lizzo: This is live?

Zane Lowe: This is happening right now.

Chris Martin: Yeah. I’m just at work. And Zane said, “Hey, will you FaceTime?” And of course I will, because I love you, and you’re wonderful. Lizzo, you’re doing so great. And you’re taking over, and it’s wonderful. How are you doing?

Lizzo: I’m good. Thank you. I mean, listen, the songs don’t got to come out with me and you. We just got to do it. If we sat in the studio, and we just worked. You play the piano, I’ll sing. Don’t nobody got to know. Don’t nobody got to know, Chris.

Chris Martin: Okay. I don’t mind people knowing. Honestly. I’d like people to know.

Lizzo: Whatever you want to do, baby.

Chris Martin: No, we were in London. And we just came back from Glastonbury Festival. And it was amazing. It was so inspiring, so I came to the studio. What are you doing? You got a new record.

Lizzo: I have Special coming out July 15th. Thank you for giving me the blessing, the blessing to sample you in and name the song after your band.I was with somebody, and I was just looking at the stars. And I was with him, and I was singing it. And tears just were coming to my eyes. You have such an incredible ability to move people with the poetry of your lyricism. So thank you so, so much. It’s so real.

Chris Martin: Hey, I don’t know to accept those kind of compliments. Thank you.If someone had told me 22 years ago, “One day, Lizzo’s going to make out to this song,” I’d be like, “Okay, great.” It’s become Lizzo’s hookup song, and that’s good.

Lizzo: Oh, that’s baby making music, baby.

Chris Martin: I better go, because it’s your interview. And I said everything that I wanted to say in terms of thinking you’re amazing.

Lizzo Reflects on Chris Martin’s Surprise FaceTime and Acknowledgment…

What a moment. How do I say this? It never gets… You never get used to the feeling of seeing people, who’ve inspired you, acknowledge you. Seeing him is kind of surreal, because it’s like… Yeah, my sister bought Coldplay’s first album when he came out and plays in the house, and you sing the songs. They’re in your DNA, you know the music. I don’t know what that means about me and who I am in my career and my life, because I’m doing my life. But I know that it never gets old, and I never want it to get old. Like, I saw Mariah Carey the other night, and I was like, “Wait, what? Mariah wants to talk to me?” And they’re like, “Yes, Mariah wants to talk to you.” And I’m like, “But this doesn’t make… I watched you.” And it’s not a fandom thing. It’s not like… Well, of course, I’m a fan. Because once you enter a sphere where you are in the same room as the artists who’ve inspired you, and not only are sitting next to them, they’re acknowledging you and they’re inspired by you. It’s like, “I feel like we’ve known each other our whole lives.” “And I feel like we’re family.” Even more in a macro way, art is a language, isn’t it? So when you speak that language, it’s almost like you’re all sharing the secret language together. It’s a beautiful exchange. That was so cool. Thank you for that. My under arms are sweating after Chris Martin. Oh, s**t.

Lizzo Tells Apple Music About Her Song “If You Love Me”…

I’ve been on stage and as a big black woman, and I have this amazing platform and there’s all these people in the crowd. And a lot of times it’s, people who don’t look like me in the crowd. I’ve gone through so much in this country and I try to reflect that in the crowd and inform them on my experience so we can have a shared experience so they can empathize, so they can help when it’s time to hold us down, and to help us. I’ve had moments where I’m like, “You support me, you support a big black woman on this stage. You’ve bought my concert tickets. I want to thank you for that. But when you’re in the world, I want you to keep that same energy from …We’re out there. If you can love me, you can treat big black women and people with respect out in the world, which I find does it happen very often? And I don’t want to be like the token fat black girl that gets the respect. I want to be able to put myself in a position where I can make this experience of life easier for people who look like me. So that’s why I wrote a song like, if you love me, you love all of me. It means so many different things. It’s like me and all of the people who look like me, who come from places where I come from, like show us all respect. But also, if you love me, you love the fact that I look like this. If you love my music, you love this body, you love my personality, you love that I say b***h

Lizzo Tells Apple Music About Wanting People To Accept All of Her…

you know, I’ve, I’ve had the criticism that I’m not black enough or you know what I’m saying? Things like that. So I just find that people always kind of have exceptions with me. It’s like, I love her, except … I love her, but … It’s like, man, just accept all of me. What the f**k?

Lizzo Tells Apple Music That Music Is Her Therapy…

The very fabric of the journey is the music, I think. Music has been therapy for me for a long time, and it hasn’t stopped. I mean, I have a therapist, but just because I got a therapist don’t mean music didn’t stop being my therapy, it’s the number one outlet for me. So I feel when you listen to my songs, you hear in almost chronological order, my life, what I’m going through, how I feel, what’s up.

Lizzo Tells Apple Music It’s Her Calling To Do Good…

I just want everyone to know that I’m here because I want to be here. I have not done anything in my career, and I stand by this and I’m proud of it, that I did not want to do. Like nothing’s obligatory. I love touring. I love talking to you. I love writing the music. I love doing interviews where I can talk about the s**t that I made, that I’m proud of. I live for this s**t. I don’t just make pledges to organizations and donate money to people because of optics or because I feel like I have to, ain’t nobody else doing it. It’s not a have to situation. I want to. This is why I was put here. This is my calling to do good and you ain’t never going to see me do something I don’t want to do, and you ain’t never going to see me do something just for clout.

Lizzo Tells Apple Music About Activism, Using Her Platform For Good, and Supporting Planned Parenthood…

I’ve never really been somebody who liked just talking about stuff. I’ve always felt like, “God, if I’m saying this, I need to do something. If I’m upset and people are in the streets upset, okay, let me go out where the people are.” I can’t just sit around, but I think because of the position I was always in whether it was from a financial standpoint or a platform, I felt helpless. I was like, “Oh my gosh. What can I do?” And I think it’s just as soon as I was able, as soon as I was financially able, and as soon as I had any type of resource or platform, I was like, “It’s time. And it’s almost like I’ve been waiting in the wings and then it was like, here’s your moment. You have it. You can take action. So what’s interesting is that Lizzolovesyou.com website, it’s for my Juneteenth give back that I’ve been doing for three years, where every year we offer all of these prizes and giveaways, and we raise all of this money and I just give back to black organizations and businesses from the grassroots, like grassroots. It started in Minneapolis because this was when the George Floyd protests were happening and I was like, “What can I do right now where I can take this holiday that I’ve celebrated since I was little in Houston, Juneteenth, and give back to this city, Minneapolis, who has helped me so much and is in need, how can I help rebuild the community?” It started there and this year we decided to add Planned Parenthood to the list of organizations that we were going to be given money to. And this was before the Supreme court overturned Roe V. Wade. We just wanted to add them because we wanted to. Then when everything happened, when Roe V. Wade got overturned, I quickly had to turn Lizzolovesyou.com into a fundraising for abortion funds and for planned parent. So that’s why when you go to the website, it is very like, it’s actions. It’s very actionary because we were already doing that for Juneteenth.