Lizzo is covering Vanity Fair this month, wearing my favorite Lizzo color, red couture. And she is denying that she makes music for white audiences. She spoke candidly to Vanity Fair in its cover story, telling the magazine that so many people are criticizing her because she’s a big hit. Her music is rooted in R&B, hip-hop, and gospel. But when you reach the top of those charts with anthems like “Good as Hell” and “About Damn Time” — she says that when a Black artist reaches a certain level of popularity, it’s going to be a predominantly white crowd. That’s just real. She said, “I am a Black woman, I am making music from my Black experience.”
Now, Lizzo — by the way, her real name is Melissa Jefferson and she does hail from Detroit, where all that good music from the last 70 years has come from — she says that she is doing music that is needed for self-love and creating self-love anthems for everybody, and I agree with her.
By the way, you know she’s in some over-the-top couture looks for the photo spread. On the cover, she has this billowing red wrap dress by ACT N°1, the brand that outfitted Beyonce from one of her Tiffany & Co. “Summer Renaissance” looks. I just love it.
Lizzo recently had to pause her concert in Toronto to acknowledge that critical remark that Kanye West made about her weight, a day after the heartless rapper said she was being indirectly used to promote genocide of Black people. Well, just know Kanye is certainly not the barometer of Black intelligence. So Lizzo, don’t worry about anything he has to say. And I hope you continue to do your thing, girl, and make us all proud.
And for all these stories and a whole lot more, you can tune into me at @aurnonline. We’ve got a lot of great stuff — a lot of video, a lot of stories you don’t want to miss. And follow me on social media at @tanyahollywood.
Click play to hear the Hollywood Live report from Tanya Hart:
