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Lizzo responds to criticism that her music is for white people
24 January 2020, 14:14
Lizzo, real name Melissa Viviane Jefferson, opened up about the criticism she receives in a new interview with Rolling Stone.
It is truly Lizzo's moment right now. The 'Truth Hurts' singer will perform at the Grammys for the first time on Sunday (26 Jan), where she has received eight nominations, and she recently graced the cover of Rolling Stone in a cover shoot shot by famed photographer David LaChapelle.
There's no doubt that Lizzo's meteoric rise to the charts is well-deserved, but she has had to defend her music. Lizzo has been accused of making music for a white audience. Some believe that her mainstream success is because she makes more palatable pop music and she's an "industry plant".
READ MORE: Lizzo defends wearing 'inappropriate' thong outfit to basketball game
In September 2019, rapper Azealia Banks said Lizzo was "making a fool of her black self for a white American public" in a series of Instagram comments, which have now been deleted. She said: "The fact that the public and the media has been keeping this fat girl joke going for so long is honestly peak boredom."
In her recent interview with Rolling Stone, Lizzo addressed the criticism that her music is for white people – and she insists her tunes are for "everybody".
"Yeah, there's hella white people at my shows," she said. "What am I gonna do, turn them away? My music is for everybody."
She added: "As a black woman, I make music for people, from an experience that is from a black woman. I’m making music that hopefully makes other people feel good and helps me discover self-love. That message I want to go directly to black women, big black women, black trans women. Period."
As well as criticism for pandering to white people, Lizzo has also had constant trolling about her weight. In January, she announced she would be quitting Twitter because of the hateful comments. However, Lizzo's cool response to the criticism is actually admirable.
READ MORE: Ariana Grande defends Lizzo after her fans get #LizzoIsOverParty trending on Twitter
She continued: "Look, I’m new. You put two plates of food in front of people, [and] one is some fried chicken. If you like fried chicken that’s great. And the other is, like, fried ostrich pussy. You not gonna want to fuck with that.
"We eventually get used to everything. So people just gon' have to get used to my ass."
