Lizzo - Big GRRRL Small World

They're ALL delightful profiles. Even the NME one.

"We forget that we have needs because we’re so artsy-fartsy and higher-conscious. But it’s like, no bitch, you need water and you need sunlight and you need rest – just like this fucking cactus.” Lizzo gestures to a cactus on the table between us. “This cactus might not be making a fucking hit song, but this cactus is chill and doesn’t have fucking anxiety. He’s not stressing himself out over no bitch-ass fuck-boys, you know what I mean?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqjPqsry7no

see this one feels like a self-conscious retro pastiche in the way I thought "Juice" managed to sidestep, huge as it sounds

Tempo!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raVe1hZxFAc

rrrrrrrrrrrr

so glad she is finally, finally blowing up but also annoyed that in the span of 18 months she went from underselling a 450 person venue to selling out a 1000+ person venue in less than 10 seconds (i.e. before I could get a ticket)

Kept reading people trying to push Tierra Whack as the “new” Missy but Lizzo makes way more sense as the substitute, she’s bombastic and fun in the same sort of way Missy was.

This collab makes me very happy.

I'm sure she wants to be more than the new Missy, but this is my fave Lizzo since Batches & Cookies

"juice" is amazing and if it was a bruno mars song -- which it basically is -- it would be no. 1 for 5 weeks

the album is so much fun - brash, loud and raucous

Yeah, I'm enjoying this album a lot. Everything here suits her brilliant personality so much.

My only complaint is I would have liked Boys to have been included, but it's no big deal really.

I've decided I really need to "deej it up" about my thought leading wrt Lizzo

rolling off a molly thread 2013

There's a lot of Prince in this record, yeah (like on Crybaby and Jerome esp)?

Pfork review today is terrible btw.

I thought it was fine - threaded a tricky needle.

but clearly some do not agree

PEOPLE WHO ‘REVIEW’ ALBUMS AND DONT MAKE MUSIC THEMSELVES SHOULD BE UNEMPLOYED

— |L I Z Z O| (@lizzo) April 22, 2019

There's a lot of Prince in this record, yeah (like on Crybaby and Jerome esp)?

― change display name (Jordan)

Crybaby is one of my favourites. The guitar playing reminds me so much of St. Vincent, maybe something from Strange Mercy? Jerome sounds a lot like Rihanna's Love On The Brain.

I thought it was fine - threaded a tricky needle.

― Simon H., Monday, April 22, 2019 7:29 AM (twenty-four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the tricky needle of comparing lizzo to natasha bedingfield and music for yogurt commercials

review baffling and bad even as it expresses some of my own reservations about the record, lizzo’s reaction understandable but also terrible

I was referring to separately assessing a work's social value against its artistic value and acknowledging they're somewhat misaligned at times, which requires some precision of language.

it's kinda funny that the pfork review veers into this weird sorta cop out in the end like "don't hate us for saying this album is bland pop music" and lizzo still jumped down their throats

The album shows more enthusiasm than skill, but the pop world needs at least sixteen Lizzos, so I won't complain much.

meghan trainor comparisons are a bridge too far

Better in Color is the bi anthem for 2019 imho

PEOPLE WHO ‘REVIEW’ ALBUMS AND DONT MAKE MUSIC THEMSELVES SHOULD BE UNEMPLOYED

they usually are these days, aren't they?

Anyway Lizzo is from H-Town so she can do no wrong

requires some precision of language.

― Simon H., Monday, April 22, 2019 7:58 AM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i don’t think it even did this well cf. giving over an entire paragraph to a stacey abrams quote with zero transitional setup, just preceded by a lot of cheap shots

admittedly splitting hairs about precision of language is my thing, there’s got to be a better what than being both mean and wrong on the internet

better way*

As far as Lizzo making a big pop album goes, this is a really damn good one. The songs are good, the production is minimal and surprising at times, in all the good ways (where what I heard of the previous record felt overstuffed and too bland for her). Idk, the review feels dismissive of the basic premise of the record and doesn't really get across how well-executed it is.

(obv rolling my eyes at Lizzo's response tweet)

I guess the review just didn't strike me as mean in either tone or sentiment but I may not have picked up on some cues xp

you aren't the last person to push back on me about that, maybe i just read too many things in an extremely online voice

imo people are reading meanness into it from the comparisons being made but I don't *think* that's the intent. it's entirely possible I'm being too charitable

I just think it's kind of petty to push back on one review given she's pretty much gotten a worldwide rimjob from the media from the moment she popped up

def petty and a terrible look

yeah but so

None of this is important. She'll be old news in 5 seconds.

fp'd

i think she has the potential to be pretty huge actually

THIS IS AN INVITATION TO ALL MUSIC JOURNALISTS TO KICK IT IN THE STUDIO WITH ME FOR MY NEXT ALBUM! I’d like to understand your world as much as you can understand mine https://t.co/niZhmrEvIl

— |L I Z Z O| (@lizzo) April 22, 2019

that's... not gonna work

ft. brandon stosuy

can well imagine fantano expanding his empire to guest features actually

"PEOPLE WHO ‘REVIEW’ ALBUMS AND DONT MAKE MUSIC THEMSELVES SHOULD BE UNEMPLOYED"

A world where they only people who are "qualified" to consume music are players already exists

https://pcdn.columbian.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/618995-bitz-battle-lawyer-b-1024x767.jpg

fwiw, I played music for a while and am now unemployed

I'm not quite sure how anyone could read the sentence, "Her pledge to be “ARETHA FRANKLIN FOR THE 2018 GENERATION” is evident, if not quite actualized; this generation’s Natasha Bedingfield is maybe more accurate," as complimentary, and I don't hate Natasha Bedingfield. It's saying exactly what Cousin Slappy said on this thread.

It would also help, when talking about how bad the rapping on the album is, to quote some lyrics that are actually bad

The review seems pretty even-handed to me. Shoehorning Stacey Abrams in is dumb; someone should have cut that bit, but Pitchfork's editing seems kinda hands-off (the number of typos that get repaired in reviews as the day goes on is evidence of that). But the quoted rap lyrics are terrible - they do read like something an SNL writer would have Elizabeth Warren rap from a podium. And the general thesis - "the music can feel like a means to a greater end" and the description of it as "empowerment-core" - is an accurate reflection of the pop landscape in general. That's what the industry is selling this year.

It has been decreed that Gebrauchsmusik is ripe for a comeback.

It would also help, when talking about how bad the rapping on the album is, to quote some lyrics that are actually bad

this is one of the things that absolutely drives me batty

Here's the full verse from "Like A Girl", with the quoted lyrics connected to the rest of the verse:

Woke up feelin' like I just might run for President
Even if there ain't no precedent, switchin' up the messaging
I'm about to add a little estrogen
Buy my whip by myself, pay my rent by myself
Only exes that I care about are in my fucking chromosomes
I don't really need you, I'm Macaulay Culkin, home alone
Bad bitch, diamonds in my collarbone (Yee, yee)
Buy my whip by myself, pay my rent by myself

Here. by comparison, is a verse from "All of the Lights"

Something wrong
I hold my head
M.J. gone, our nigga dead!
I slapped my girl, she called the feds
I did that time and spent that bread
I'm heading home, I'm almost there
I'm on my way, headed up the stairs
To my surprise, a nigga replacing me
I had to take 'em to that ghetto university (all of the lights)

Are these both examples of "bad" lyrics? Is one worse than the other?

Saying "this sounds like something SNL would have Liz Warren rap in a skit" completely ignores the context and sentiment of the verse and, interestingly, erases exactly the persona Lizzo is projecting onto the verse in order to make an entirely bullshit point. She is not literally talking about running for President and it's wholly disingenuous to make that comparison when the review knows damn well that the line is about self-belief and self-confidence.

Meanwhile, Kanye is rambling about how Michael Jackson's death made him beat his girlfriend.

voting both bad but ye bad is extra bad

Kanye’s lyrics have always been horrendous

that shit's the main reason I hated Klobs as a Presidential candidate, she used that same bullshit excuse.

Maybe it's a Minnesota thing?

I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself (i may ask you to eat a banana out of a stripper's vagina) but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not (a bad person)

surprised she didn't say not eating a banana out of a stripper's vagina was a 'boundary' for her

lol j0rdan

Maybe it's a Minnesota thing?

― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, August 3, 2023 12:00 PM bookmarkflaglink

"Minnesota not-nice"?

The statement is fascinating b/c she says a lot without actually saying the allegations are untrue (except I guess the part where she says she "would absolutely never criticize or terminate an employee because of their weight")

"I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not." Imagine if, like, Louis CK said this. (He probably did.)

Tbf she didn't fire them for being overweight, she allegedly told them to *lose* some weight. Totally different, right?

That's one of the worst rebuttal statements I've ever read, not that any of them are good

xo FWIW (and not withstanding anything he may have said or done later), I think Louis' apology statement at the time was a pretty good model for one.

"I've behaved like a vile piece of shit because I'm a fuck-up, I will now crawl into a hole and remove myself from the vicinity of the human race for a good long while" is the only rebuttal I ever want to hear from these people. Never seems to happen, funnily enough.

Iirc Louis undercut his apology by coming back and making light of his situation, plus, you know, the dead kids in Parkland. Edgy!

Yes, that's why I said "notwithstanding..." The guy unfortunately sucks, and maybe he didn't even write the statement himself, but it sure hit better notes than Lizzo's

hoo boy

Lizzo is being represented by Hollywood lawyer Marty Singer for her harassment and toxic workplace lawsuit.

Singer’s clientele ranges from a variety of stars, including Bill Cosby, Johnny Depp, Charlie Sheen, Chris Brown, Brett Ratner, and currently, Jonah Hill. pic.twitter.com/BGhkbIBLvd

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 3, 2023

there is nothing i take more seriously than the respect i deserve as the most important person in any room i walk into

that looks like a new fighting game character select screen

xpost - that is, uh, not a list of names i'd want to be publicly associated with here in the year of our lord 2023

he's been the lawyer for way more celebrities than just those of this particular ilk - but yeah, nagl

not defending Lizzo but if you cherrypick the clients of any fucking defence lawyer on earth, it's "nagl"

no one here made that list, calm down. of course it's cherry picked to make it look worse. still, the statement stands that, were i a celebrity, i would definitely not want to be publicly linked with those names in 2023.

do we need another nagl thread

point being that hiring a defence lawyer, any defence lawyer, will come with these kind of associations, there's no way around it

p sure the average defense lawyer doesn't provide concierge legal services to celebs

obviously tons of celebrities use lawyers like this and tons of celebrities do stuff like this, and certainly this lawyer is probably very good

the problem for Lizzo it's hard say oh well she's just doing what celebrities do when a huge part of her whole thing (I'd say equal to the music) is that she wasn't a typical celebrity, she was better, kinder, empowering, etc. that's a big part of how she presented herself and her appeal.

it's not like pre-Amber Heard, people were like you know who's the best, not at all sketchy dude in the world? Johnny Depp

i kinda sometimes find the "positive energy" qualities that are praised in a lot of celebrities to be at best neutral traits. sometimes there are displays of suffocating positivity that are a result of this weird symbiotic relationship fans have with celebs who love basking in adoration, and who feed off it. and anything that pierces the illusion or might make them feel disempowered from their status as the lord or lady of good vibes is going to cause them to reveal themselves.

It's really easy to not hire Bill Cosby's lawyer. just sayin.

OTM

marty singer has prob defended 75% of hollywood at this point

ultimately some tweets about how your lawyer defended cosby & johnny depp are a small tax to pay for an amazing lawyer

It's really easy to not hire Bill Cosby's lawyer. just sayin.

― Steely Duran (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, August 3, 2023 2:33 PM (nineteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i don't see how, if you're a celebrity being accused of sexual abuse, it's really easy not to hire the lawyer who got the most flagrant and heinous celebrity sexual abuser out of jail. seems like the obvious move

If you’re trying to stay out of jail, sure. If you’re trying to beat a civil suit and continue on with your lucrative career, scorched earth might not be the best option.

cosby's PR obviously beyond habilitation but in the depp case it seemed like the legal defence was successful at turning the media narrative in his favour too

to be fair, Lizzo and Depp's "brands" (I hate using this term but w/e) are a teeny bit different, also the latter has decades more of artistic goodwill/experience

singer isn't a trial lawyer he had nothing to do w/ the cosby trial and from what i can tell his involvement in the heard/depp trial was tangential, largely related to stuff he had done in the past representing depp (and heard when they were together) during various legal issues. he's attractive to celebrities bcuz he offers two services in one -- representation in civil litigation and being the kinda PR crisis manager who calls journalists up and threatens to sue them if they print a story in a certain way. he seems to be a very good litigator ... i'm more dubious that the crisis managing stuff is very effective tho i'm sure he's gotten stuff removed from stories on more than his fair share of occasions. perhaps his tactics will backfire on lizzo but i tend to think being associated w/ him won't effect her public image beyond the next 48 hours once the world moves onto another story, and if he gets the dancer suit dismissed or settled for little money it will prob be worth it for her

it is funny to think of her management team imploring her like "hire marty singer he's the best he's represented everyone in hollywood at some point" & then her waking up to a bunch of tweets being like "lizzo hires bill cosby and johnny depp's attorney"

lol

Murgatroid at 2:25 3 Aug 23

to be fair, Lizzo and Depp's "brands" (I hate using this term but w/e) are a teeny bit different, also the latter has decades more of artistic goodwill/experience

yes that's what I was saying

The Made in America festival in Philly was cancelled. Lizzo was the headliner.