Brixton Academy, LondonThe body-positive pop-rap phenomenon may only have one volume level, but her powerhouse empowerment anthems are infectiously fun
Lizzo has been declaring herself “100% that bitch” since 2017. It just took most of the world two years to catch up. The classically trained Detroit singer and rapper racked up seven weeks at number one in the US this summer with her sleeper hit Truth Hurts, an exuberant flip-off to a loser ex which leapfrogged Cardi B’s Bodak Yellow to become the longest-running solo female rap number one in
American chart history.
Much like Lil Nas X and his recent megahit Old Town Road, Lizzo’s rise was powered by a groundswell of online support. In this spring’s #DNATest challenge on social network TikTok, global users flipped the song’s’ indelible opening line into playful affirmations of their own cultural identities. (“I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100% ... Arab,” quips one young person, as her mum dances with a hookah pipe.) Lizzo’s outspoken politics, body-positive message and irreverent persona chimes with many young
music fans’ desire for stars who reflect their own social values as well as churning out ear candy. That magnetism hasn’t been lost on
Hollywood, either: she cameoed in this autumn’s strip-club
comedy Hustlers, starring Jennifer Lopez.