Melissa Viviane Jefferson, popularly known as Lizzo, is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. She was born in 1988 in Detroit, Michigan, and later moved to Houston, Texas, where she began performing.
Then she went to Minneapolis and began her recording career in hip-hop music.
Before signing with Nice Life and Atlantic Records, she released two studio albums, Lizzobangers and Big Grrrl Small World, in 2013 and 2015, respectively.
Her first major-label EP, Coconut Oil, was released in 2016. The musician attained mainstream success by releasing her third studio album, Cuz I Love You, in 2019, which peaked in the top five of the US Billboard 200.
Recently the 34-year-old singer opened up about her insecurities and fears before she became world famous.
Speaking with Elle UK, the singer said that in the early years of her music career, she was so conscious about her appearance that when she would go on stage to perform, her mind used to make her think that the audience hated her.
“I always felt like, even if the song is great, people wouldn’t want to hear it coming from me. So I thought, if I have other people on stage, too, that will take the focus off me a little bit.
“I know people want to look like me now. But I’m talking about what it was like in my formative years. I wasn’t really set up to believe that I was desirable.”
The Good as hell star said that her fears got so bad that she didn’t want to perform solo on stage so that she’d have someone else up there to take the focus off her.
“For me, being a pop star – part of it is people either want to be you or be with you. And I didn’t feel like I had any of those qualities.”
She added, “While I used to believe that I didn’t have the right image for a famous pop singer, I have worked hard to overcome my fears and insecurities that held me back, and now I am happy with my looks.”
Lizzo told the outlet that over time, she experienced life on her own, and after beating all the clichés and making her name in the industry, she realized that she was more significant than her fears.
The singer also stated that she believes the fashion industry needs to make more progress and change the ‘all celebrities need to be thinner and light-skinned’ approach.
“I’ve had a lot of shoots with people making outfits from scratch for me. And I’m not mad at it. Thank you.”
“But what about the millions of people who are my size or bigger who can’t get access to chic and glamorous clothing? I don’t want to be the token big girl for the fashion world. I want to open the door. I want this for everybody.”
She also said that she wanted to bring a positive change in society with her music. According to Lizzo, her new album, ‘Special,’ was meant to be “a soundtrack to survive.”
“It was hard for me to find meaning, being an entertainer, while people were dying at a high rate. I had to remember, when we come out of lockdown, people are going to be coming out of a depression. And the end of lockdown does not signify the end of their mental-health struggles.
“So I wanted to make music that people can use as a soundtrack to survive. That was the driver for this album. All of these incredible songs are giving people the language to express themselves and to have a release after everything they’ve experienced.”
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