Singer-rapper Lizzo recently posed for Playboy magazine.
“I think self-love is all about seeing yourself in the world as you and who want to be and being that person. Playboy did feature one type of woman for a long a** time, big a** titties and a flat stomach and light skin. So it’s kind of cool to be a big brown girl in Playboy,” Lizzo said in the promo video for her feature.
The “Juice” singer did the Playboy photo shoot at a 1970s Barbie-themed apartment, and in her feature, she talks about her positivity persona, getting comfortable with traveling with her flute, relocating to Los Angeles, not falling into Hollywood celebrity-ness, gender norms, and her individuality.
“B****, I’m not gonna go where I ain’t invited,” the Detroit native said. “It could be Jesus’s 35th birthday party at the 40/40 Club with Jay-Z and Beyoncé turning water into wine. If my name isn’t on that list and those people don’t have an emotional connection to me, I don’t give a f***.”
Lizzo, who is known for being body positive just as much as she is known for belting out inspirational tunes, doesn’t want body positivity to turn trendy.
“The important thing is making sure this sh** don’t become a trend. We gotta be undeniable. We gotta fix ourselves in the culture so that we’re unshakable. Body positivity has to be mainstream.”
Lizzo also wants to change the way that we think about gender.
“The way we talk about gender has to change,” Lizzo said. “Gender doesn’t really exist. We created social gender, so we gotta destigmatize it, take the importance off of skirt versus pants. That’s not even real, dog. What are you f***ing talking about? ‘This is a boys’ club.’ Get your dumb a** outta here. This is a girls’ club, ho. Shut up.”
With Lizzo’s new upcoming album, Cuz I Love You, she wants to be as bold and fierce as the late Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.
“My individuality is a gift, but it’s my biggest creative obstacle,” the singer said. “I can do everything. I wanna do everything. I can rap fast, sing big, say things people never said before.”
“I could freestyle sing over any trap song. That’s safe, that’s easy. But what happens when I really unleash what I wanna say? I’ve learned not to be afraid of who I am,” Lizzo said.
“I thought, Yo, what would Aretha Franklin’s rap record sound like in 2019?” Lizzo said, deadpan. “She didn’t hold back. She was a G.”
The rapper-singer’s new upcoming album, Cuz I Love You drops Apr. 19, and she’s gearing up for her national promotional tour that commences in April, which is sold out.
Glennisha Morgan is a Detroit-bred multimedia journalist and writer. She writes about intersectionality, hip-hop, pop culture, queer issues, race, feminism, and her truth. Follow her on Twitter @GlennishaMorgan