During a recent interview with Howard Stern, Lizzo addressed the hurtful comments from online critics that said she makes music for white people, which she also addressed in her HBO Max documentary Love, Lizzo.
via Uproxx:
When asked how the criticism made her feel, Lizzo replied, “[It is] very hurtful only because I am a Black woman. I feel like it challenges my identity and who I am. It diminishes that, which I think is really hurtful. And on the other end, I’m making funky, soulful, feel-good music that is so similar to a lot of Black music that was made for Black people in the ’70s and ’80s.”
Staring at the host, Lizzo continued, “Then, on top of that, my message is literally for everybody and anybody. And I don’t try to gatekeep my message from people. So, all three of those things from me, and I’m like, you don’t even get me at all. I feel like a lot of people truthfully don’t get me, which is why I wanted to do the documentary. I feel like y’all don’t get me. Y’all don’t know where I came from. And now, I don’t want to answer no more questions about this sh*t. I just want to show the world who I am.”
This isn’t the first time the Emmy-award winner addressed the remarks. In October, Lizzo told Vanity Fair, “I am not making music for white people. I am a Black woman. I am making music from my Black experience, for me to heal myself [from] the experience we call life.”
Marginalized entertainers often face these remarks after breaking into mainstream culture. So, although it shouldn’t be necessary, it is good to see Lizzo standing up for her art.
Lizzo’s Love, Lizzo documentary is available exclusively on HBO Max.
The suggestion that Lizzo makes music for white people is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I know it may sound crazy to some, but music is a universal thing, and artists make music hoping that all races, genders and sexual orientations vive to their artistic expression.
I feel black people have a habit of throwing the white narrative on black artists any time they cross over into the mainstream, and if you've followed Lizzo's career, she's so pro black it's sickening.
So what people need to stop doing is projecting their own insecurities on artists they don't know, and save that energy for the anti-black clowns who thrown their own people under the bus for white validation, such as Koonye West, Coondace Owens, Hershel Walker, etc.
Watch the full clip of Lizzo’s appearance on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show below.