Debra L Rothenberg
A mainstream breakout can be a double-edged sword for an artist like Lizzo. For someone whose career exploded with such force and star power, the quickest recipe for continued success is to keep moving toward what’s working.
For Lizzo, that was Cuz I Love You, a record filled with loud and proud, poppy self-empowerment anthems and mid-tempo ballads that were brimming with oversinging. “Woke up feelin’ like I might just run for President” gets old fast when it’s sandwiched with “I’m my own soulmate, I’m never lonely.” There are only so many ways to let your fans know that you’re the baddest bitch in the room.
Special, Lizzo’s fourth studio album, which was released Friday, may not beat the bad-bitch accusations. But it does tighten her now-cemented artistic ethos. It’s her most consistent and exciting project in the last six years—and finally dares to do something (slightly) different than just be our musical therapist and life coach.