Lizzo

Who is Lizzo?

Lizzo, born Melissa Viviane Jefferson, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and presenter. Born in Detroit, Michigan and raised in Texas, Lizzo started rapping as a teenager. At the age of 14, she formed a rap group named the ‘Cornrow Clique.’ For the next few years, she performed in collaboration with many indie artists and formed an all-female music trio named ‘The Chalice.’ The group released their debut album, ‘We Are the Chalice,’ in 2012. The indie album was a sleeper hit locally. Lizzo was eventually signed by the record label ‘Totally Gross National Product.’ Her first solo album, ‘Lizzobangers,’ was released in 2013. The album was a critical and commercial success. Following the release of her second album, ‘Big Grrrl Small World,’ in 2015, she was signed by ‘Atlantic Records.’ With ‘Atlantic,’ she released her third studio album, ‘Cuz I Love You.’ Throughout her career, she has been the founding member of many hip-hop groups, such as ‘Grrrl Prty,’ ‘The Chalice,’ ‘The Clerb,’ and ‘Absynthe.’

Career

She had started rapping when she was 14 years old and was living in Houston. She formed a rap group named the ‘Cornrow Clique,’ collaborating with her best friends. She played at many local events and gained some name for herself.

After moving to Minneapolis, she joined hands with many hip-hop groups and performed locally. She formed a three-piece all female rap/R&B group named ‘The Chalice,’ which became her stepping stone into the music industry. With ‘The Chalice,’ she recorded her debut album.

In 2012, the group released their independently released debut album, ‘We Are the Chalice.’ In the absence of a record label, the album became only a local success and was played at local clubs and pubs.

She was gaining attention and soon came in touch with musicians such as Lazerbeak and Ryan Olson. They worked together on Lizzo’s debut studio album, ‘Lizzobangers.’ The album was released in October 2013, under the label ‘Totally Gross National Product.’

The album featured 14 songs and was a major critical and commercial success. Many respected publications such as ‘The Guardian’ and ‘Drowned in Sound’ gave the album high ratings. The music videos from the album earned a decent number of views on ‘YouTube.’

She toured the UK and the USA in the fall of 2013, promoting her album and playing live on stage. She also won the ‘City Pages Picked to Click Award’ for the ‘Best New Twin Cities Artist.’ She was also named one of the artists to look forward to in 2014 by ‘Time’ magazine.

This dream-like beginning of her career resulted in collaboration offers from other established musicians. She worked with Prince on his album ‘Plectrumelectrum’ and appeared as a featured artist in three songs of the album.

Following the success of her promotional tour and her debut studio album, she started working on her sophomore album in 2013. She then worked with music producer Lazerbeak to produce her album ‘Big Grrrl Small World.’

The album featured 12 tracks and was yet another major success. Many of her songs were about her personal experience of being a “black and overweight woman” and the stigma related to it. This resonated with the listeners, and she climbed the ladder of success with yet another mega successful album.

In 2016, she released her first major EP, ‘Coconut Oil.’ By then, she was signed under ‘Atlantic Records,’ one of the biggest American record labels. Although the album was a success, it failed to achieve the success level of her first two studio albums. The magazine ‘Rolling Stones’ featured it at the 14th spot on their ‘20 Best Pop Albums of 2016’ list.

In April 2019, Lizzo released her third album, ‘Cuz I Love You,’ which was her first album to be released under a major music label. The album attained universal critical acclaim and was a commercial success, too. It debuted at the sixth spot on the ‘Billboard 200’ chart. She was also dragged into a controversy when she appeared nude on the promotional cover of the album.

In April 2019, she performed at the ‘Coachella Music Festival.’

She has also appeared on the ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ and ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ She has hosted 10 episodes of the music TV show ‘Wonderland’ in 2016.

She played a voice role (‘Lydia’) in the 2019 animated movie ‘Ugly Dolls.’