Uncool Music for the Underrepresented

Lizzo is not very cool and she knows it. She flaunts her nerdiness and it serves as one of the main devices of her music. That is my favorite part about Lizzo’s music: she acts herself. However, I think that aspect gets in the way of me enjoying anything else about it. Her corniness and empowering attitude are the defining characteristic of her songs. When a Lizzo song is on, I feel like I’m listening to a self-help author or coach giving a pep talk on top of a groove-less, untextured pop beat. The ultra-commercial aspect of her identity is also off-putting. This is not to say that I do not enjoy any of her stuff. I actually love her song “Tempo (feat Missy Elliott),” but it might be mostly because of Missy’s contributions. The subtle flute outro in “Tempo” has a comedic effect.

“Tempo” brings me to my next point, which is to say that I believe Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliott is much more deserving of the type of fame Lizzo has achieved. Elliott provides that same cultural representation that Lizzo does, but has more of her own identity than just being a poster child of the body positivity movement in music. It might be because Elliott is just extremely cool and Lizzo is not. Another black, heavy-set woman artist who I find to be more interesting and deserving-of-fame than Lizzo is Brittany Howard. She became popular as the lead singer of Alabama Shakes and earlier this year released a solo album called Jaime, which I highly recommend. Howard has a powerful, touching voice and makes soul music influenced by hard rock, funk, and hip hop.

I have noticed that I haven’t seen much written about Lizzo with this view. Coverage of Lizzo seems to be nothing but praise of the highest order and criticism that is founded in prejudice, conscious or unconscious. One exception is Jillian Michaels, who received a lot of heat for her comments, saying “Why are we celebrating [Lizzo’s] body? … It’s not gonna be awesome if she gets diabetes.” I don’t think this argument is unsubstantiated, but Michaels seems to miss the basis of Lizzo’s fame. It’s not Lizzo’s body that is being celebrated. It’s her acceptance of herself for who she is, and the attempt to feel comfortable in her own skin that makes Lizzo so impactful. Despite her message and impact, there are others more deserving of the recognition who could have the same impact as Lizzo. Missy Elliott, Brittany Howard, among others. I can easily imagine Oprah Winfrey portraying the same message with the same quality music as Lizzo’s and having the same impact.