Lizzo, there's more than curvy power

On April 27, 1988 he was born in Detroit Melissa Viviane Jeffersona quarter of a century later the girl, with her stage name Lizzo, has made her way through songs into the hip hop'n'soul universe. To celebrate her birthday we thought we'd propose again our review of her fourth and latest album, “Special”published in 2022.

Sit back, press play and get ready for surprises, including brilliant flashes, author quotes, thrilling vocal performances. What if the 2022 album was Lizzo's “Special”? Three years after the overwhelming success of “Cuz I love you” and the single “Juice”, which made Melissa Jefferson a star of contemporary R&B in hip hop style, as well as an icon of curvy power, the singer seeks consecration with an album that brings together the greatest minds of contemporary pop. Like in an all-star team. From Mark Ronson (you can hear his touch in the Motown echoes of “Break up twice”) to Kid Harpoon, via Ricky Reed, Max Martin, Benjamin Levin, Adam Horovitz, Benny Blanco, Savan Kotecha, Peter Svensson, Ian Kirkpatrick: not It happens every day that we see the most successful hitmakers of recent years gathered together on a single album, showered with Grammys, platinum records and money.

There is nothing out of place in this “Special”, expertly constructed from the first to the last piece, mixing r&b, soul, funk, more explosive moments and other more intimate ones in which Lizzo lays herself bare – “Naked” is the title , perhaps all too predictable, of the most personal song, a hymn to self-confidence – inviting us to recognize the value and strength in ourselves.

“Hi motherfucker, did you mess me?”, says Lizzo in the very first verses of “The sign”, which open the album. The first mine is “About damn time”, but it's not a surprise: it's the single that preceded the album, which reached 250 million plays on Spotify. It sounds like a Daft Punk song from “Random access memories”: keyboards, damn funky basses, synthesizers. Contains a sample of “Hey DJ” by The World's Famous Supreme Team, a hip hop song from '84.

It is only the first of a long series of homages: in “Grrrls” there is a sample of “Girls” by the Beastie Boys and Rick Rubin, in “Break up twice” there is one of “Doo wop (That thing) ” by Lauryn Hill, in “Birthday girl” there is a quote from “Summer madness” by Kool & The Gang. The other mine, after “About damn time”, is “Everybody's gay”: this time the reference is not the '70s of Chic, but the '80s of Moroder, with those acid synths and that chorus of pure disco music.

There is more beyond curvy power and Lizzo demonstrates it with her talent, which goes well beyond the image (this time, unlike “Cuz I love you”, on the cover she did not choose a shot in which, without veils , shows its roundness, but a close-up).