Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you’ll have noticed the massive impact that Lizzo is having on the music industry. From her incredible lyrics and her infectious beats to her message of self-love, she’s the breath of fresh air that we’ve all been waiting for. But one area in which Lizzo truly excels? Her live performances.
The internet has already been blown away by her sets at the BET Awards and the VMAs. Lizzo was so good, in fact, that she made fans of A-listers like Rihanna and Queen Latifah. Her latest turn at the Philadelphia music festival showed that even Beyonce can’t resist her charms.
But not everyone’s a Lizzo fan. Rapper, Azealia Banks, took to Instagram this week in a typically incendiary Instagram rant.
She’s been making music for a long time (her debut album came out in 2013) but she’s only hit the mainstream fairly recently.
Her third studio album, Cuz I Love You, is a total masterpiece.
But it’s not just the brilliant music that she makes that has garnered Lizzo such a legion of fans.
There’s so much more to the star.
Which other plus-size, dance-trained, hip-hop artist plays the flute in almost all of her songs?
Truly, Lizzo is one of a kind.
But what’s even more important than her talent?
It’s gotta be Lizzo’s incredible message.
Her lyrics are all designed to inspire self-love and confidence – particularly in young women. In a world of problematic messages, she’s a real force for good.
Social media is rife with jokes about how we are all now trying to love ourselves – if only to make Lizzo proud.
Hey, any motivator makes for a good start!
She performed her hit single “Truth Hurts,” wearing a leotard-wedding-dress – and blew the collective minds of the entire audience.
Lizzo then proceeded to remove her veil and gown, dance like no one was watching, and even include an impressively intricate flue solo. We have to stan.
There was one audience member at the BET Awards who was truly losing her mind over Lizzo’s performance – a certain Rihanna.
She also performed at last month’s MTV Video Music Awards – and, again, blew the internet’s collective mind.
For one thing, the stage was decorated by a giant inflatable booty.
And, at the end, also managed to preach a message of self-love to the eagerly awaiting audience.
At the VMAs, the audience was pretty much all going wild for Lizzo – including one Queen Latifah.
In one NSFW Instagram message, Lizzo claims that Rihanna “said I f**ked the stage like it was my side b***h. Don’t get mad, Rihanna. I am not trying to blow up your spot, but that was a hard a** line! I might take that line.”
Incredibly, the POTUS in our hearts, Barack Obama, tweeted his and Michelle’s (incredibly cool) summer playlist – and you best believe it included our gal.
Oddly enough, she had tweeted earlier in the day about her love for Obama. Sometimes the universe really seems to work in mysterious ways.
Because her latest performance has garnered her yet another high-profile fan – the Queen herself, Beyonce.
Lizzo also took to the stage on Sunday – in a typically amazing array of stagewear. Her set included all of her hit songs, including “Juice” and “Good as Hell,” plus exceptional dance moves.
But you probably guessed that already, right?
After she finished, Twitter went wild with reactions to their new hero.
As you’d probably expect, Jay-Z’s wife and sometime-collaborator. Beyonce, was in attendance at the festival. She also performed – but her biggest moment took place backstage.
At first glance, it looks like a signature shot of her energetic performance style. But it was actually so much more.
Because, if you look closely, there’s a certain somebody watching Lizzo from behind the scenes – and it seems like Beyonce likes what she sees.
Because some fans even captured a video of Beyonce grooving along to Lizzo’s signature beats.
We all knew that Lizzo was amazing – but having confirmation from Beyonce makes it all seem real. The future’s looking bright for our favorite flutist.
Maybe this performance is the start of a beautiful musical collaboration. We would love to see it.
But it seems like there’s one star who’s not such a Lizzo stan.
No stranger to controversy, rapper, Azealia Banks, took to Instagram this week to criticize the rising star.
But she broke through to the mainstream with her huge hit “212,” released in Septemeber 2011. There was a time when you literally couldn’t get away from this tune.
But (unfortunately) that isn’t what she’s best known for. Nowadays, Banks acts more like a professional troll. Looking for someone to voice an unpopular opinion? Banks will happily do it for you.
Banks let loose at Lizzo on Instagram. If you’re wondering why she chose that medium, it’s because she’s banned from Twitter – of course.
“I understand the body positivity thing but… imagine what the rest of the world thinks when they see Lizzo jumping around in leotards with cellulite,” she wrote.
“No one says body positivity – she looks like she is making a fool of her black self for a white American public. Nothing more nothing less.”
She continued, “like illiterate Cardi B, then fat Lizzo. They are really choosing the worst of the black women’s crop to advertise America with. Lmao, the fact that the public and the media has been keeping this fat girl joke going for so long is honestly peak boredom.”
While the vast majority jumped to Lizzo’s defense, some claim that Azealia wasn’t trying to criticize her, and was just trying to shine a spotlight on how to media portrays and responds to successful black women.
Hmm.
Think about it – when was the last time you heard an Azealia Banks song on the radio?
Perhaps this attack is just a way for Banks to remain (at least somewhat) in the public eye.
Proving that she’s on the high ground here, Lizzo hasn’t even said anything at all. We have to stan.
Want more Lizzo content? Keep scrolling to see her mind-blowing VMAs performance in full. We can’t stop watching.
