![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/lizzo@2000x1270.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Lizzo<\/a> has hit back at people criticising her music and other Black pop icons in the past \u2013 see what the \u2018Truth Hurts\u2019 singer had to say below.<\/p>\n Lizzo recently announced news of her new album \u2018Love In Real Life\u2019 when she previously released the LP\u2019s title track as the lead single<\/a>\u00a0last month, and has since gone on to drop the unapologetic song \u2018Still Bad<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n Since then, the star has drawn some criticism for the song on social media and has made her return to X\/Twitter since moving to BlueSky in November last year \u2013 save for a few promotional posts \u2013 to address criticism of her music and the mistreatment of Black women in pop as a whole.<\/p>\n Addressing her own music, she wrote: \u201cSaying my brand of \u2018poptimism\u2019 doesn\u2019t work in a \u2018post-Covid world\u2019 is a lazy take\u2026 as if I didn\u2019t release \u2018About Damn Time\u2019 post pandemic\u2026\u201d She doubled down, continuing: \u201cAs if I didn\u2019t write \u2018About Damn Time\u2019 to be a post lockdown anthem to inspire us to get outside and together again\u2026 and was successful at it btw\u201d.<\/p>\n Saying my brand of \u201cpoptimism\u201d doesn\u2019t work in a \u201cpost Covid world\u201d is a lazy take..<\/p>\n As if I didn\u2019t release \u2018about damn time\u2019 post pandemic..<\/p>\n \u2014 LIZZO (@lizzo) March 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n As if I didn\u2019t write \u2018about damn time\u2019 to be a post lockdown anthem to inspire us to get outside and together again.. and was successful at it btw \u2014 LIZZO (@lizzo) March 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n She then shared that she thinks the criticism she faces isn\u2019t unique to her, but is something that has been experienced by several Black pop icons in the past: \u201cI think seeing and hearing a Black woman make real music with radical joy triggers miserable people\u2026 but I follow in the footsteps of Janet [Jackson]<\/a>, of Funkadelic, of Earth Wind and Fire<\/a>\u2026 nobody\u2019s doing it like me for us. And I stand on that.\u201d<\/p>\n I think seeing and hearing a black woman make real music with radical joy triggers miserable people\u2026 but I follow in the footsteps of Janet, of Funkadelic, of Earth Wind and Fire\u2026 nobody\u2019s doing it like me for Us. And I stand on that.<\/p>\n \u2014 LIZZO (@lizzo) March 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n She went on to call back to the numerous Black musicians who were mistreated: \u201cAretha [Franklin]<\/a> and Whitney [Houston]<\/a> got backlash for being \u201ctoo pop\u201d and they kept going\u2026 and so will I.\u201d<\/p>\n She continued in a scathing post pointing out the hypocrisy of fans and the music industry when it comes to Black musicians: \u201cThe way this world treats Black women is sickening\u2026 blacklisted Janet and now 20yrs later yall calling her music \u201ccute Black girl bops\u201d & giving her flowers\u2026 Dogged Whitney for her love life & called her a drug addict for laughs but now yall wanna honor her\u2026 yall laughed at Tina [Turner]\u2019s<\/a> abuse and never let her forget\u2026 the least protected person in America\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Aretha & Whitney got backlash for being \u201ctoo pop\u201d and they kept going\u2026 and so will I<\/p>\n \u2014 LIZZO (@lizzo) March 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The way this world treats black women is sickening\u2026 blacklisted Janet and now 20yrs later yall calling her music \u201ccute black girl bops\u201d & giving her flowers\u2026 <\/p>\n Dogged Whitney for her love life & called her a drug addict for laughs but now yall wanna honor her <\/p>\n Yall laughed at\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 LIZZO (@lizzo) March 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Elsewhere, Lizzo earlier this month\u00a0explained how she came up with the album title<\/a>, saying that it came when she realised how much more integral real-life friendships are compared to those through social media.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that real life is the only place that love exists,\u201d she began. \u201cI think that I have mistaken the gratification that you get from social media as love. Because there was a time [where] I wasn\u2019t reaching out to the people who were closest to me or I was in isolation, in desolation, in certain times of my life. The internet was the only place I felt seen and appreciated.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think when it stops becoming that safe space and it becomes a very toxic, destructive place, your sense of self-worth gets destroyed as well,\u201d she added. \u201cI had to discover in the past two years, one and a half years, that as good as it feels to be praised online and to be loved by people through a screen, the real love happens when you are in the real world connecting with people.\u201d<\/p>\n These comments come after Lizzo\u00a0broke her silence in December<\/a>\u00a0on the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against her in 2023, claiming that she \u201cdid nothing wrong\u201d.\u00a0She had been sued by three former dancers<\/a>\u00a0who claimed to have been subject to sexual harassment and a hostile workplace environment while on tour. The singer denied the claims and said the situation had\u00a0left her contemplating quitting the music industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the time of writing, no official release date for \u2018Love In Real Life\u2019 has been confirmed. A press release, however, has shared that \u201cThis chapter is all about love, life, and Lizzo.\u201d<\/p>\n Lizzo\u2019s last album, \u2018Special\u2019, was given a\u00a0four-star review<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0NME<\/em>, which read: \u201cPerhaps inevitably, given Lizzo\u2019s overwhelmingly positive message, \u2018Special\u2019 is sometimes a bit cheesy. Still, it\u2019s cheesy in a way you won\u2019t want to resist\u2026 Lizzo knows exactly who she is as an artist and what she wants to achieve: she\u2019s the bad bitch with an incredible talent for making people feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Lizzo slams criticism and mistreatment of Black pop artists: \u201cThe way this world treats Black women is sickening\u201d<\/a> appeared first on NME<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lizzo has hit back at people criticising her music and other Black pop icons in the past \u2013 see what the \u2018Truth Hurts\u2019 singer had to say below. READ MORE:\u00a0Lizzo \u2013 \u2018Special\u2019 review: joyful superstar uplifts with self-assured, self-empowering bops Lizzo recently announced news of her new album \u2018Love In Real Life\u2019 when she previously […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-art"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-25 11:19:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/lizzo@2000x1270.jpg\")
\n
\n
![\"\ud83d\ude09\"](\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/72x72\/1f609.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
![\"Lizzo](\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Lizzo-performing.jpg\")