Lizzo
Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988),[2] known professionally as Lizzo (/ˈlɪzoʊ/), is an American rapper and singer. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of ten. After college, she moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she began her recording career in hip hop music. Prior to signing with Nice Life Recording Company and Atlantic Records, Lizzo released two studio albums, Lizzobangers (2013) and Big Grrrl Small World (2015). Her first major-label extended play (EP), Coconut Oil, was released in 2016.
Not to be confused with Rizzo and the given name Lizo.
Lizzo
- Rapper
- singer
- songwriter
- actress
2011–present
- Vocals
- flute[1]
- Ellypseas
- Lizzo & the Larva Ink
- The Chalice
- Grrrl Prty
Lizzo attained mainstream success with the release of her third studio album, Cuz I Love You (2019), which peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200. The album spawned the singles "Juice" and "Tempo". The deluxe version of the album included Lizzo's 2017 single "Truth Hurts", which became a viral sleeper hit two years after its initial release. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and became the longest-leading solo song by a female rapper. Around this time, her 2016 single "Good as Hell" also climbed the charts, reaching the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart. Lizzo received eight nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards—the most for any artist that year—including nominations for each of the "Big Four" categories, and won the awards for Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best Pop Solo Performance for "Truth Hurts", and Best Traditional R&B Performance for the song "Jerome".
In 2021, Lizzo released the single "Rumors" (featuring Cardi B), which debuted in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100. Her fourth studio album, Special (2022), was preceded by its lead single "About Damn Time", which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and made Lizzo the first black female singer since Whitney Houston in 1994 to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
Along with her recording career, Lizzo has also worked as an actress; she performed a voice role in the animated film UglyDolls (2019), and appeared in the crime comedy-drama film Hustlers (2019). She is also the host of the Amazon Prime Video reality television series Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Competition Program.[3] In 2019, Time named Lizzo "Entertainer of the Year" for her meteoric rise and contributions to music.[4] In addition to four Grammy Awards, she has also won a Billboard Music Award, a BET Award, and two Soul Train Music Awards.
Early life and education
Melissa Viviane Jefferson was born on April 27, 1988, in Detroit, Michigan.[5] When she was ten, her family relocated to Houston, Texas.[6] She was classically trained as a flutist for eight years, from the age of ten until she graduated from Alief Elsik High School in 2006, where she had started rapping.[7][8] At age 14, she formed a musical group called Cornrow Clique with her friends.[8] At this time, she acquired the nickname "Lizzo", a variant of "Lissa", inspired by Jay-Z's "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)".[9] In college,[10] she studied classical music, concentrating on flute, at the University of Houston.[11] At age 21, after her father's death, she lived out of her car for a year as she tried to break into the music industry.[12] In 2009 and 2010, she performed lead vocals and flute in the jazz/prog rock quintet Ellypseas.[13] She dropped out of college and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2011.[14][15]
Artistry
Lizzo's music primarily incorporates hip hop,[144][145] and is also infused with genres such as soul,[145] R&B,[145] and funk-pop.[145] Lizzo's influences include Missy Elliott,[146] Lauryn Hill,[147] and Beyoncé.[148] Primarily a rapper, Lizzo incorporated singing into her debut record. She stated in an interview in 2018, "I was always afraid of being a singer, but then when I heard Lauryn Hill, I was like, maybe I can do both", adding that her debut album was inspired by The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and Hill's "rapping, singing, being political."[147] She has cited Diana Ross as a fashion reference.[149]
In an article for The Guardian in 2019, writer Leonie Cooper credited Lizzo for "the woodwind renaissance" as "the flute's brightest champion" in the mainstream.[150]
Headlining
Supporting
