Love, Lizzo (2022)

1. - Aw, look at Melissa trying to be shy.

2. She's trying to be shy.

3. You look so cute.

4. - Her real name's Melissa. - Melissa, say something.

5. - Something. - Ha ha.

6. - Go, Melissa. - This is Melissa.

7. - She was Lisso, like Melissa.

8. - She was L-I-S-S-O. - Hey, Melissa!

9. - This is the backstage, and this is the wall

10. where our name's going to be next year.

11. And then it went to Lizzo.

12. And for a while, no one knew Lizzo.

13. - My mama knew Lizzo.

14. Please welcome Lizzo.

15. - Ladies and gentlemen, Lizzo!

16. - Lizzo! - Her name is Lizzo.

17. Give it up, ladies and gentlemen.

18. Lizzo, Lizzo,

19. Lizzo, Lizzo, Lizzo...

20. - Someone calls a girl, "OK, Lizzo,"

21. because she's big and she's Black,

22. and she's doing something that they don't think

23. big Black women should be doing,

24. like dancing and being confident.

25. I can only turn Lizzo into a compliment

26. by being a best version of myself.

27. - Hear me out. - What's up?

28. - Can you hear me? - OK, I got you.

29. "2 Be Loved" starts off

30. the way "Truth Hurts" ends, right?

31. I'm marrying myself,

32. I pull the veil back, run, right?

33. I'm about to have a panic attack, right?

34. I'm a runaway bride. I hop in the car.

35. I speed off.

36. Then, somewhere in between, a U-Haul pulls up,

37. and it's, like, a bunch of my girls.

38. And we can have moments of dancing and all types—

39. Ever since I was very young,

40. I would...

41. I would want something so badly.

42. OK, talk to you later.

43. - Take care. - Bye.

44. And I would get it.

45. I would just, like, manifest,

46. and I would get it, specifically with music.

47. I'd be like, all right, let's go,

48. and I would just... make it happen.

49. But it took nearly ten years

50. to get to where I am today.

51. I worked so much and never said no.

52. No matter what part of my story you come in at,

53. I'm always chasing the music.

54. Why is she sleeping in her car?

55. She's chasing the music.

56. Why did she move to Minneapolis?

57. She was going where the music is.

58. And I also might not made it a few times.

59. Because nobody was fucking with me.

60. Nobody was trying to sign a fat Black girl

61. that rapped and sang and played the flute.

62. Y'all have no idea how close I was

63. to this not being a thing.

64. You know, I was born in Detroit.

65. You know, my whole family Detroiters.

66. - I'm from the Eastside, and my mom and dad,

67. they both worked for Chrysler.

68. I met Michael at church.

69. We had only dated for about a month,

70. and then we got married.

71. Because, I mean, you just know, you know?

72. So the next year, we started having children,

73. and they were born, like, two years apart.

74. Melissa is the only child that took me all the way to term.

75. Her brother used to tease her when she was little,

76. and she would just scream.

77. Oh, my God, she had a set of lungs on her.

78. But I would never tell her to shut up or be quiet,

79. because I just knew she was going to

80. use her voice for something.

81. - Ever since I was little, I was the person

82. who had to mediate family arguments.

83. I was the only person my dad would listen to.

84. It taught me how to communicate.

85. Hi.

86. - My father was extremely pro-Black.

87. He had a lot of Black pride, which I loved,

88. and he taught us a lot.

89. He taught me about injustice.

90. He taught us about Emmett Till.

91. I learned about these things growing up

92. because my dad just wanted to show me

93. the way the world was,

94. and he really enforced in me

95. to never ever switch up.

96. You know what I'm saying?

97. Whoa!

98. Oh, there's the picture.

99. That's the one you're talking about, right there, huh?

100. - This one. It's my great-grandma.

101. That's Mama Kirkwood.

102. - Her and her husband, they founded the church.

103. - My church was a family church,

104. so everyone was kind of my cousin.

105. My mom played piano in church, and she sang.

106. - I was in the choir at my grandfather's church.

107. You know, and then my cousins and I,

108. we formed a little group

109. called the Gospel Nightingales.

110. Come on, matriarch.

111. - And then later on, I met the Winans,

112. and I was able to sing with them, too.

113. We were brought up around

114. like major gospel players in Detroit,

115. and our dad would even promote their concerts.

116. So, like, being around them, Lizzo saw the professionalism

117. of the music industry in Detroit.

118. - Music has always had a physical effect on me

119. because of the way

120. that I would get so lost in the music in church.

121. New York, can I get a amen?

122. When I walk on stage, I black out.

123. It's not even blackout. It's a light.

124. It's a bright light. It's lights on.

125. My shows are the way they are

126. because I want you to catch the spirit.

127. And if I'm on that stage,

128. we're connecting to something higher.

129. New York, can I get a amen?

130. Amen!

131. When I was a little girl,

132. I really believed that I was a bad singer—

133. not because I didn't try.

134. It's because I actually was singing

135. and it wasn't good, like...

136. After I had moved to Houston,

137. when I was like 10 or 11,

138. I would write these pop songs, and I would try to sing it.

139. And I'd be like you know what, I'm gonna get somebody

140. to sing that part.

141. Like, I could hold a note,

142. I always had good intonation and pitch,

143. but I didn't have the confidence

144. or the power in my voice.

145. If there was a singer in my head

146. that I wanted to sound like,

147. it was probably Lauryn Hill and Beyoncé.

148. And I didn't sound like that, so I didn't bother.

149. - Yeah. - Let's pull it out.

150. This is my letterman jacket,

151. the one thing we saved from my past, Jefferson.

152. They give you line names, and I don't know why.

153. They were like, and you gonna be spotlight.

154. I was like, OK.

155. Hello, hello, helloey!

156. And this is, um, I was Ms. Melissa.

157. Ooh, Ms. Melissa is so bougie.

158. Band, of course.

159. Flute.

160. And then this side was class of '06.

161. - '06. - Jefferson—I put an

162. - exclamation point on it, too. - No way.

163. And that's funny.

164. My Lizzo signature has a exclamation point,

165. so some things never change, ho.

166. And it's huge because I was insecure,

167. and I was like, I need the biggest jacket you have.

168. 'Cause I was scared to get something too small,

169. and everyone would make fun of me.

170. Why she got that old little jacket on?

171. - Why would they even laugh like that?

172. - 'Cause that's how they was. They were so mean.

173. They was so mean in Houston.

174. Seventh and eighth grade

175. is when kids started to notice differences.

176. I wore my hair different.

177. I didn't have the body type. Like, I was chunky.

178. There were things I would hide about myself,

179. like hiding that I liked anime,

180. or that I read Sailor Moon fan fiction.

181. I knew people were making fun of me

182. or laughing at me.

183. I have memories of raising my hand,

184. and people being like...

185. "Damn, you going to answer that question, too?

186. Damn!"

187. Of girls hiding my clothes from me after gym class,

188. boys calling me fat ass on the bus.

189. By the time I was going through the ninth grade,

190. I was like, I am sick of being nerdy.

191. I want to be cool.

192. So I started throwing myself into rap.

193. That was my first rap performance.

194. I remember I went out into the crowd,

195. and everybody just started screaming and going wild.

196. - Go, Melissa!

197. And that's where I fell in love with live performance.

198. In Houston, freestyle rap was everywhere.

199. You'd put on the radio, Lil Flip was freestyle rapping,

200. and he was the freestyle king.

201. Then Ludacris came out, and I was like, oh,

202. I want to rap like Ludacris. This is it!

203. And mind you, that was the time

204. when I was taking Phentermine.

205. I was wearing trash bags.

206. I was, like, putting on girdles.

207. I was doing all of this shit in high school

208. to be, like, thin.

209. Like a lot of people, I grew up

210. learning how to hate my body.

211. And... it worked.

212. You're just so disgusted with your skin and your flesh

213. and your muscle and your bones

214. and the way that they're designed.

215. And the fat in your body is just, like,

216. you wanna cut parts of your body off.

217. Like, how do you— how do I stop that?

218. I don't want to feel this way anymore...

219. you know?

220. So I was just like—music.

221. Boys don't like me. I don't need boys.

222. Music is my boyfriend.

223. I was very focused.

224. The first song we wrote for Cornrow Clique

225. was "It Don't Matta Doe."

226. How did it go?

227. I have it.

228. - Play it. - Here we go.

229. Wow. Performing to a room of people

230. on their phones—my dream.

231. My dream.

232. When I land in Houston, it's always like, whoa.

233. This is really where I grew up.

234. Detroit is where I was born,

235. Minneapolis is where I was branded

236. and where I became an artist, like a solo artist,

237. but I was such an adult by then.

238. Houston is really where I was, like, bred.

239. I moved down to Houston in 1997.

240. My parents had a business in real estate.

241. There were days where we had a lot of money,

242. and there was days where we were squeezing it.

243. My brother and sister got involved.

244. It was a family business,

245. and I was the only one not involved

246. because I was like, I'm going to band practice.

247. Hi.

248. It's crazy to be back.

249. This is where I used to rehearse

250. with my band and—yeah.

251. I went to the University of Houston on flute scholarship.

252. The Houston Rodeo was like the biggest thing

253. that I've ever done—period.

254. - Are y'all ready to see who the mystery performer is

255. for Black Heritage Day?

256. - It's me! I'm coming back to Houston.

257. It feels like a homecoming.

258. And I remember just thinking,

259. that is the biggest thing you can do—

260. like when Beyoncé did it and when Selena did it.

261. I've never played a stadium.

262. I've never played a venue that has 75,000 ticketed to see me.

263. I sold out the Houston Rodeo in seven min—

264. , I sold out the Houston Rodeo

265. in seven minutes, !

266. Oh my God, look at Brazil.

267. And I sold out the —

268. God is good. I want to say thank you

269. to everybody who bought tickets to the Houston Rodeo.

270. It's about to be a party.

271. I love y'all.

272. Damn!

273. - We all knew that it was probably a matter of time

274. before this was going to happen.

275. So now that this has happened

276. and we have a community spread,

277. this isn't about the Rodeo.

278. This is about large gatherings

279. and protecting the community.

280. - We just got news that the Rodeo is officially canceled.

281. Oh.

282. OK.

283. - So I—they literally—

284. I just hung up with them two minutes ago.

285. We can hop on a plane anytime you want.

286. I'm sorry.

287. It sucks.

288. I was pretty fucking sad,

289. but people were expecting me to be sad,

290. so I'm like, I'm gonna keep it together.

291. Everything's gonna be fine.

292. Welcome. Um...

293. as some of you might know,

294. I was scheduled to play the Houston Rodeo today...

295. and we had to cancel.

296. A lot of people are sad right now.

297. A lot of people are sad right now...

298. because somebody they know is sick

299. or they might be sick

300. or we might be afraid of what this means

301. for life as we know it.

302. The pandemic was the cause,

303. and everything else was the effect.

304. I had to stop what I was doing

305. and sit with myself.

306. I was staying home and working on music.

307. I told myself that Monday,

308. this Monday, tomorrow,

309. would be my deadline for having

310. a bunch of demos, listenable demos,

311. to play for my A&R.

312. Fucking idiot. I hate when I do that.

313. I'm so annoyed with myself right now.

314. Lately, I just...

315. I don't... I don't see it.

316. I just feel like there's people out there,

317. there's artists that are way cooler than me.

318. There are artists that are way more

319. politically impactful than me.

320. There's artists that are way more mysterious

321. and mystify people more and wake people up more.

322. Like, I just don't think that...

323. It's like the stakes changed.

324. I think I was like, ugh, how do I—

325. how do I write bangers when I'm fucking sad

326. and mad and hurting?

327. I'm such a conduit when I write music.

328. I can't fake it, you know, and I was blocked

329. because I was holding on to a lot.

330. I've always been a little, quote-unquote, different.

331. I was really, really bookish,

332. and I couldn't wait to go home and read

333. and just sit in my room.

334. I can lay in my bed and, like, daydream

335. and imagine things all day,

336. and music was definitely an escape.

337. The flute was part of that world that I could go away to,

338. and I would just practice for hours.

339. The flute was this weird thing that just happened.

340. Mr. Broughton was my first band teacher ever,

341. and he looks at you and picks your horn for you.

342. And for me, I was just chosen for flute.

343. I remember walking into the band hall every day

344. excited about what piece Mr. Broughton had for us.

345. He would write out his own music.

346. He would score it out, and it was normally

347. like songs from the radio.

348. He just made playing instruments cool.

349. People assumed that because I was Black

350. I wouldn't be good at the flute.

351. And I'm just like, let me prove all y'all wrong.

352. Let's bring out Sasha.

353. This is Sasha the Flute, the final flute.

354. - Oh, Sasha Floot. - Her name is Sasha F-L-O-O-T.

355. Sasha, she gonna post this on her Instagram

356. because she's a cocky little biyatch.

357. Hey, y'all, it's Sasha, and I'm walking you through

358. the Library of Congress. No one in 200 years

359. have ever heard this flute get played.

360. So, of course she had to twerk.

361. Oh, my God.

362. Are you kidding me?

363. Where do I blow?

364. Heh. Well...

365. This is a beginner flute.

366. My dad would come to the concerts with my mom,

367. and they thought that, you know,

368. Mr. Broughton's band was cool.

369. But he didn't really get invested

370. until I learned "The Carnival of Venice."

371. Whew!

372. Oh, shit!

373. Wow.

374. This is the sickest thing ever.

375. "The Carnival of Venice" is this technical feat.

376. It's like a flute's piece and chain.

377. You know what I'm saying? A flute showing out.

378. And my dad thought that that was the coolest thing ever.

379. He was all, she good at this.

380. He was like, you need to get a lavalier mic,

381. and you need to start playing the flute

382. and putting synthesizers on it.

383. My dad just motivated me a lot.

384. Bye, guys.

385. Oh, God. I don't even wanna think about this.

386. He had his first stroke when I was 16.

387. I remember in my mind being like,

388. I'm going to become successful.

389. I'm gonna make money

390. so that I can just make sure that my dad is healthy.

391. I can buy him a nice house with Mommy,

392. and I'll get a live-in nurse that can just, like,

393. juice for him every day, and a chef.

394. And I had all these big dreams and plans

395. and goals to help him.

396. 2006 to, like, 2010

397. was a hot mess blur for me.

398. I graduated high school, and I went to college.

399. My dad was kind of in the house a lot,

400. couldn't really work that much.

401. That was the same time the financial crisis hit.

402. My parents' business suffered, but also my dad was sick.

403. The pressure really got to me,

404. and I really kind of like froze

405. when it was time to go back to school.

406. So yeah, I just kind of abandoned it.

407. My dad would be manifesting for me.

408. He would be like, you know, I was praying for you today,

409. and I really want you to go back to school,

410. and I really want you to study music

411. and be successful in music.

412. He wanted us to be, like, stars

413. because my dad believed he was a star,

414. and he believed that my mom was a star.

415. Not a star in the, like,

416. you're going to be famous type of way,

417. but like, do you know who you are?

418. You came from me, so you should be great.

419. He was actually doing better.

420. He was at a hospital,

421. and, um, I still don't know what happened to him.

422. I still don't know. He was...

423. he was getting better.

424. When he passed away,

425. I kind of lost the will to make music.

426. I lost the will to live.

427. A lot went to shit in that time.

428. I lost my apartment. I lost my job, I lost my dad.

429. I was sleeping on floors, sleeping in, like,

430. my band's rehearsal studio, sleeping in my car.

431. It was a old 1998 Subaru,

432. and the side was T-boned in.

433. I slept in my car on Thanksgiving,

434. and I just cried.

435. I lost everything.

436. I didn't talk to anyone. I didn't respond to questions.

437. I don't know what this was.

438. It was some weird psychotic break.

439. I would go out in the streets all alone,

440. and I would sing by myself.

441. And the thing that came out was just ugly and raw and dark

442. and therapeutic all at once.

443. My relationship with myself had to change,

444. because in order to pick myself back up off the floor,

445. I had to trust myself.

446. I had to love that person.

447. I was like, all right, well,

448. I can't stay in Houston anymore,

449. and I kind of threw myself into the unknown.

450. Hello.

451. I'm going to be singing "Ghosts."

452. It is one of the songs I sing with my band, Ellipses,

453. and it's written by Jean Guillory,

454. not me, Melissa. OK.

455. Good luck, though.

456. I had been doing, like, Skype sessions with this producer.

457. That's my cousin.

458. That's my sister.

459. - And he was like, let's go to Minneapolis.

460. That's where the music scene is.

461. So I hopped in his Jeep, and we drove to Minneapolis,

462. and I found my voice.

463. First, I was in Lizzo and the Larva Inc.

464. Then I was in The Chalice.

465. And then I was in

466. GRRRL PRTY.

467. I met Sophia Eris like the first week

468. I moved to Minneapolis at a block party.

469. It was hardcore, it was party, clast,

470. it was, like, rebellious, it was very punk rap, you know?

471. And her and I together, we were just, like,

472. trying to do anything we could.

473. We were hungry.

474. Sophia became my DJ.

475. It was kind of like we needed each other,

476. and we didn't really know what this was all gonna be,

477. but we're sisters, you know?

478. I was working in a producer's home studio,

479. and his style was very Rap Olympics,

480. where I'm like...

481. And he's like, all right, one more time.

482. And I'm like...

483. And then I evolved into Big Grrrl Small World

484. where I was like, I wanna get weird.

485. I started getting into like sonics.

486. The throat got all these little nuances to it.

487. You got to get under— I studied music theory,

488. and I was like, I need to flex that.

489. And so for Big Grrrl Small World,

490. I got very in the driver's seat.

491. Because nobody knows my truth, you know.

492. I have to like find it.

493. Got a lot on my chest,

494. so here's my breast reduction.

495. I hear the sound of gums bumping.

496. They ain't saying nothing.

497. I'm sick and tired of being typecast

498. like Lindsay Lohan

499. when I'm gon' probably outlast

500. every nigga flowing.

501. Boom!

502. "Lizzobangers," what I did with Lazerbeak,

503. kind of came out unexpectedly for me

504. 'cause I have been in girl bands my entire life.

505. - And now we just got word of a new solo record.

506. - Yay! - Big Grrrl Small World.

507. I'm so excited.

508. I finally just went in and started recording.

509. And I had this breakthrough moment

510. where I wrote a song called "My Skin."

511. When I wrote that song, I was like, now, I know my mission.

512. Like, I know why I'm here,

513. I why I have this mouthpiece.

514. And everything else became super, super clear.

515. What do you love the most

516. about your body?

517. My skin.

518. I love my skin.

519. And this is something I was born with, you know?

520. You can't buy this at the store, so... hey.

521. Your whole life, when you are on the other side

522. of the spectrum of, like, what's hot

523. or what the models are walking in on the runway,

524. you're called these names.

525. You're called fat, you're called big, you're called ew.

526. I remember being like, should I call myself big?

527. I mean, I might as well call myself big

528. before everybody else do on the internet.

529. And then one day, I was like, yo, like,

530. I'm going to be in this body forever.

531. I'm going to be this bitch forever,

532. so you either live your life not liking her,

533. or you live your life trying to love her.

534. Before that, I hadn't heard anyone say

535. I'm in love with myself on a song.

536. But people connected to it, and it was personal,

537. and it was real.

538. So I realized that was who I was.

539. I used to wanna be a cool rapper,

540. but after "My Skin," it really hit me, like,

541. I'm really a songwriter.

542. And I wanted to write a song

543. that the whole world could sing back to me.

544. Minneapolis accepted, like, every single part of me,

545. the part of me that had a little bit of a accent

546. and loved to freestyle rap,

547. and then the other side of me

548. that was like, I listen to indie rock music

549. and play classical flute.

550. I feel like this city gave me the opportunity

551. to just be who I am.

552. I don't think I would have left Minneapolis

553. if it weren't for MTV Wonderland.

554. It's going to be on and popping, Khaled.

555. You got to watch it.

556. It premieres September 15 at 11:00 p.m.

557. Honestly, hosting that TV show

558. was the only reason why I moved to LA,

559. which, it weren't for that,

560. then I would have never met Myke.

561. And then I would have never fallen in love.

562. But that's a long story.

563. Wow, all these people are just, like, regular drivers.

564. They don't know that I'm fucking—

565. - A first timer? - Yeah.

566. Whew, another car, look.

567. Why am I not honking?

568. There it is.

569. Full stop.

570. I don't do no California—whoa!

571. - When was the last time you drove?

572. 2000 and, um,

573. I haven't been able to get a license

574. for, like, mm... years

575. 'cause somebody had stole my identity,

576. and I had two licenses down in Houston.

577. And one of them had so many outstanding fucking warrants

578. that, you know, I was riding dirty.

579. I was riding dirty just being there.

580. - But you got your license. - I know.

581. - Drivers don't want to wave?

582. - So much has changed in all those years.

583. - So much has changed since 1900 and—

584. - Watch the squirrel. - Squirrel!

585. I'm not going to hit the squirrel.

586. I'm a defensive driver, you know, I mean,

587. I can say I'm probably the best defensive driver there is.

588. What? Oh, my God.

589. Am I not supposed to hit that?

590. Whew!

591. Wow!

592. Suck it, Texas.

593. Texas was trying to keep me down, man.

594. But you know what?

595. I'm a driver now.

596. - Artists are never allowed to come back

597. on the sophomore record with, like, something real.

598. It always has to be something that's, like, so constructed

599. that it's, like, bulletproof.

600. - Of course, I wanna be like, yeah,

601. let's go out with something fucking vulnerable.

602. Like, trust me, I got a lot of pent-up shit

603. that I be just watching. I'm like, damn,

604. I wish I could say this, I wish I could say that but—

605. - What are actually some of those pent-up things

606. that you feel like you can't say?

607. - When I'm feeling shitty about myself, I'm honest.

608. But then the whole internet goes crazy,

609. and it's, like, on the fucking news.

610. But I'm like, I'm just being honest, you know.

611. I'm just saying the things that people feel

612. about themselves, whether they're big or small,

613. every single day.

614. - In this fucking world of Instagram supermodels,

615. you're the only girl your size, your style, that they accept.

616. Even the people that talk shit about you,

617. they're talking shit about you because they're confused

618. - as to why you're accepted. - Yeah.

619. I'm so fucking happy with the way that I look and who I am,

620. and it's so crazy, 'cause you put my body

621. next to Kim Kardashian's and, baby,

622. people would think that I'm wrong.

623. But I'm like, this is the body I was given.

624. - Now we're talking. - You know?

625. I don't think I want to write a song

626. tackling everything at once that we're talking about.

627. - Right. - I think to do something else

628. and then drop these kind of like

629. unabashed truths in there,

630. and then people are like, oh, OK.

631. She talking about making that album.

632. Hey! A album?

633. A album, bitch?

634. A album? Absolutely not.

635. I'm not making no fucking album.

636. A album!

637. Yeah. Something like...

638. 'cause the second verse is good.

639. There's just some things in the first verse,

640. and then there's like a few things in the hook,

641. and then the second time, when the pre comes.

642. So the whole song?

643. There is more pressure

644. from not only my management team

645. but from the label.

646. - Get, like, an update on, in case nobody told you—

647. - I was writing good songs, and I was like,

648. oh, shit, like, I've got some really good songs.

649. - Should we see how it sounds? - Yeah, let's hear it.

650. I played them for Atlantic Records.

651. And for me, I thought they would be like...

652. "This is it. You've done it again.

653. Girl, you did it."

654. And, um...

655. they just were like...

656. "Yeah, um..."

657. I was so fuckin' mad that day.

658. I was like, I don't trust the damn label right now.

659. I need to trust myself.

660. I mean, it sounds insane,

661. but they're just super thorough.

662. - You are coming from a place where just—

663. you're now in a... you've won Grammys and shit now,

664. so they wanna keep that up too.

665. They want critical acclaim.

666. I don't know what music is.

667. I don't know what songwriters do.

668. I'm tired.

669. - When did you write "Good as Hell" and "Truth Hurts"?

670. Did you care?

671. No.

672. - Did you overthink those songs?

673. - No. - All right.

674. You got a point there, buddy.

675. You got a point there, buddy.

676. It's OK.

677. The story of how "Truth Hurts" evolved...

678. I got my heart stomped on in 2017.

679. I wish that there were cameras then.

680. Shit.

681. 'Cause it was really just a sad day.

682. It was around my birthday,

683. and I had a voicemail and this phone call from this guy.

684. He was like, please don't contact me, don't call me,

685. don't text me.

686. And I was like, huh?

687. It was painful, like I slid down the wall.

688. I was crying. Like, I was crying for days.

689. I didn't eat.

690. So I go into the studio,

691. and I was just talking about my day.

692. It was that weekend.

693. Like, there was this dude on the Minnesota Vikings

694. who wanted to go on a date with me, so I hit him back.

695. And then, I took my weave out

696. and just went and got my hair washed and pressed and cut.

697. I just wanted some new energy.

698. I took a bomb photo, and I was like,

699. life is fucked up right now, but at least I look good.

700. Remember, I was like, oh, you trying to break my heart?

701. Huh.

702. Breaks my heart.

703. 'Cause you ain't never even had it.

704. It was just like a magical moment

705. of everything I've ever said out of raw emotion,

706. and I just put it in a song.

707. That's why it's so important

708. that I just keep writing shit like that.

709. I'm glad it happened.

710. Sometimes I'll be laughing to myself like, this boy.

711. And I just sing the song about him.

712. Ha ha.

713. This is my favorite part.

714. This is the cover shoot of "Cuz I Love You."

715. Like, that is the black backdrop,

716. and I sat right where he is.

717. I just got so excited.

718. We're gonna listen to the album.

719. I'm about to be naked. It's be about to be fucking—

720. I'm about to fuck shit up it, bitch.

721. What's good?

722. Just a little tit.

723. It was kind of the beginning of this wild ride.

724. I was just excited.

725. You're the one killing it.

726. - A genreless pop star, a woman of color.

727. Hey, girl, color in black!

728. - Peace and beauty. - Can I get a amen?

729. It's always kind of been like this,

730. and then this year, it was just like—

731. I don't know why this bathtub

732. is full of Skittles. It gets weird.

733. - Yeah, girl... - We love you!

734. It is incredible.

735. Oh, my God.

736. Whoo!

737. Goddamn! That's fine!

738. Fuck it up to the tempo.

739. Fuck it up. Fuck it up.

740. Whoo!

741. All your guitars and shit that you added are missing.

742. Maybe it's just in my ears.

743. Do you hear it in the house, Devon?

744. - So it's missing, yeah?

745. Tracks are missing.

746. It hurts my feelings.

747. This is my show, this is my music, this is my life.

748. Please don't hurt my feelings. Please don't break my heart.

749. Let's all be the best we can fucking be.

750. This is fine, but this is a rehearsal.

751. But when it's time to go tonight,

752. it's time to motherfucking go.

753. Thanks, everybody.

754. I think in 2019,

755. I was growing faster than I could keep up.

756. Like, holy shit, now we're doing Coachella.

757. And I wanted the set to be perfect.

758. And, you know, I was a little big for my britches.

759. We gon' have us a good-ass time today, Coachella.

760. Nothing but body positivity and self-love.

761. The music kept cutting in and out because...

762. our system had overheated.

763. I'ma keep singing this shit.

764. We just kept dancing, and I kept singing.

765. Back then, I felt like who I am now.

766. But everything around me

767. was always kind of like half done.

768. I want the show to be so much bigger and better

769. - than it is right now. - Yeah, yeah.

770. - As I'm standing there, I was like, huh?

771. We need pyrotechnics.

772. We need videos.

773. It breaks my heart because

774. these people want to see a big show,

775. and I want to put on a good show.

776. Our infrastructure was tiny back then.

777. And at that point, I was, like,

778. living in a one-bedroom box apartment.

779. It's like, it wouldn't be

780. a fucking Lizzo award show performance

781. if it wasn't down to

782. the fucking wire.

783. I'm just so fucking tired.

784. It's 2:00 a.m.

785. - Welcome. - Oh, my God.

786. - Welcome to my crowded apartment.

787. - Welcome. - I don't know how

788. you got this done in less than 24 hours.

789. Fingers crossed.

790. - Should I put it over my head? - No, you're good.

791. T-minus seven hours before the AMAs.

792. We were struggling back then.

793. Beautiful.

794. - But I gotta give everybody credit.

795. Like, I was working with such a small group of people,

796. and we kept going.

797. - Look. Look at it from behind.

798. The show don't stop.

799. The show must go on.

800. I'm sorry.

801. The music has been my first love.

802. Music has been my most consistent lover.

803. And I always felt like my music is

804. a conversation with the people who listen to it.

805. But when I perform music sometimes,

806. I relive painful experiences.

807. But music didn't do that to me, life did.

808. And because of music, I can express that pain

809. in a way that makes life easier.

810. Me and Myke had been friends since "Wonderland."

811. It's complicated because we're friends

812. with a lot of feelings.

813. I didn't really know what to do with all those feelings,

814. so we were off and on, you know?

815. One day we were on, and the next day we were off.

816. It hurt because I loved him,

817. but honestly, I don't think I was ready for love.

818. I feel so bad.

819. I don't know.

820. I feel so bad.

821. I don't know how this person just has,

822. like, all of my heart.

823. You know what I mean?

824. I don't know what I'm going to do.

825. I just want it to, like—

826. I just want, like, the feelings to stop.

827. You look so nice, Shelby.

828. - Thank you.

829. Girl, this a hard one.

830. I don't even got no words for you,

831. 'cause I know exactly how you feel.

832. - Yeah. Isn't it so scary just being like,

833. what if this hurts, or what if it doesn't work?

834. Like, it's not even about him.

835. It's just about, like, fear, like, I have a lot of fear.

836. You know?

837. This is the first time I've ever been so close to someone

838. who doesn't need me or doesn't ask me for anything,

839. which was something I thought was nice at first.

840. It was refreshing.

841. And then, now, it's like, oh, no, you don't need me.

842. You don't need me at all.

843. Ugh.

844. Just put on the Harry Styles album.

845. Oh, fuck.

846. I love this fucking song.

847. Bitch!

848. Don't sing my truth, bitch.

849. What am I now, bitch?

850. I forgot he said that.

851. Love these lyrics, bro.

852. - Why did you want me to turn it on?

853. - I don't know. Why did he say that?

854. I was good till he said that.

855. - I'm sorry. - It's OK.

856. - You know, music is really powerful.

857. - You know, you should watch a Lizzo show.

858. - Ha ha. - I can't.

859. It's impossible.

860. Can I sing to y'all?

861. I love that.

862. Write that down.

863. - I want to say celebrity is new to me,

864. and so is people judging me, but that's not exactly right.

865. Fame is pretty new to me.

866. I'm used to people judging me.

867. You can say "and."

868. Pow.

869. OK, now I sing it in tune.

870. OK. 1, 2, 3, 4.

871. 5 and 6, 7, 8.

872. - The big girls are an extension of myself.

873. I'm not small,

874. and I remember being like, well, if I'm gonna have

875. people on stage with me, they gotta look like me.

876. So it inspired me to just be like I need big girls.

877. And I was like, we can call them the big girls.

878. The big girls went from being a physical thing

879. to like an energetic thing, like how big is your spirit,

880. how big is your heart?

881. - How we feeling, y'all? - Good.

882. - I just want to let y'all know,

883. I watched the footage from the rehearsals yesterday,

884. and it just looks so good.

885. And now that we have perfection, I think it's time

886. to just bring realness to it, so the whole world can

887. fall in love with the person that we've fallen in love with,

888. you know.

889. So I want to talk about what we felt

890. and talk about how we can feel better.

891. Not even better, how we can feel actually good as hell

892. when we're performing this song.

893. Because, I'm not going to lie,

894. yesterday, I didn't feel good as hell.

895. I was stressed out

896. instead of just kind of opening up and letting it

897. flow from me, you know, but that's me.

898. We'll start over here, and we'll move through.

899. Like, how did you feel, as you were going through?

900. - I feel like you feel like we are capable of everything,

901. and you think that I'm capable of

902. more than I think I'm capable of.

903. And so I was fighting this inclination to shrink

904. and to, like—it's OK to, like, for all of us

905. to be, like, big, to take up space.

906. Even stepping on the train sometimes,

907. I know for me the first thing I do is try to shrink up

908. to space for other people.

909. - Isn't that funny that that's our inclination,

910. is to shrink ourselves.

911. Why do I have to shrink myself?

912. Why is this too big for you?

913. Do you know what I mean?

914. And this ain't too big for the main stage.

915. If anything, it's just the right size—

916. - Come on. - For an arena, for a stadium.

917. Light me up.

918. But, um...

919. And so being there and going through the steps,

920. and going through this whole process with everybody,

921. it's just like, yo, now I have to give myself permission

922. to be in this moment, so...

923. - There's nothing I can do to take away

924. the fear of vulnerability.

925. But I think we can use that when you're performing

926. tomorrow, and realize how strong you look

927. and realize how much strength you're going to give people.

928. - I gotta be on point. I have to.

929. I can't—you can't let nobody see you sweat.

930. You have to be three times better than.

931. It's not two times. It's three times.

932. - You know what I mean? - Yes.

933. And it's just, oh, my God.

934. - Being big, your body is politicized.

935. Being Black, your skin is politicized.

936. Being a woman, your gender is politicized.

937. So we're actually making quite the political statement

938. being all three.

939. Look where you are, you know.

940. This performance isn't like, oh, we have,

941. like, a token big girl.

942. This performance is about us.

943. It's for us. And it's not—

944. And it's not a joke. It's dead serious.

945. I want you to imagine that you walked to that train

946. and then you hopped in a limo and drove to the VMAs,

947. and you looked back at that girl walking to the train,

948. and you said, I knew it, girl. I told you, didn't I tell you?

949. You are the self that your younger self saw.

950. They would look up to you.

951. Let me talk to y'all for a second.

952. I'm tired of the bullshit.

953. And I don't have to know your story to know

954. that you're tired of the bullshit, too.

955. It's so hard trying to love yourself in a world

956. that doesn't love you back. Am I right?

957. So I want to take this opportunity right now

958. to just feel good as hell

959. because you deserve to feel good as hell.

960. We deserve to feel good as hell.

961. Yeah!

962. OK, so basically,

963. Myke is coming to my house at noon to talk.

964. Wait, what?

965. He wrote me yesterday.

966. Wait, what?

967. I know.

968. Wait, what?

969. - I was like, are you frozen or—

970. Even if he wants to be with me,

971. I don't think that I could...

972. I couldn't handle that.

973. No, you couldn't.

974. I just want to talk to him.

975. We had such a great relationship.

976. We talked about things that I can't really

977. talk about with anybody.

978. I just hope that I don't fall in love with him

979. all over again after seeing him,

980. because he got ASAP Rocky braids now, bitch.

981. Aah!

982. But anyway.

983. Going live.

984. 62nd Annual Grammy Award Nominations Announcement.

985. - We got to pack up quick because we got, like—

986. - Fuck. We're boarding our fucking plane.

987. - Whoo! - It's starting.

988. - Oh, God. Mic it in.

989. Best Pop Solo Performance.

990. "Spirit," Beyoncé.

991. Yes.

992. "Bad Guy," Billie Eilish.

993. - Shit. - Oh, my God.

994. "Truth Hurts."

995. Oh, my God.

996. Wow!

997. Oh, my God.

998. That's crazy.

999. Oh, my God!

1000. Oh, shit.

1001. So I told Alex my Grammys idea.

1002. He's the first person to hear it.

1003. It came to me on the plane today.

1004. All of a sudden you see these thick Black girl ballerinas.

1005. Boom. Yes! Boom.

1006. They're ballerining.

1007. You could have had a bad bitch.

1008. Here come the big girls, so I want

1009. to go back and forth between a Baroque version

1010. and a trap version.

1011. - Sasha comes down from the sky. - Ah!

1012. - 15-second flute Baroque solo.

1013. You know what I mean? And everyone's like,

1014. what the fuck, I ain't know the flute was so lit.

1015. Last chorus, everybody, ballerinas

1016. dancing, big girls dancing.

1017. Orchestra's back—

1018. Actually, in my crazy-ass head, the orchestra

1019. been there the whole time.

1020. Bah!

1021. And it's period.

1022. I love it.

1023. So good.

1024. Wow.

1025. So here's my idea.

1026. It involves finding some thick Black girl ballerinas,

1027. so you need to find them now.

1028. - I hear you 100%, but Black ballet dancers

1029. are so much of an anomaly.

1030. I know.

1031. It's like, I've seen ballet dancers,

1032. but I've never seen a curvaceous, thick Black

1033. ballet dancer.

1034. Because they don't get the training,

1035. and they don't get the training because people don't want

1036. to teach them because of their bodies or their skin,

1037. you know.

1038. That's why it's important to me.

1039. - All right. I'm already on it.

1040. I'm going to search the country high and wide.

1041. High and thick.

1042. Fuck yes.

1043. All these Black girls at the fucking Grammys

1044. shitting on these niggas? Period!

1045. Y'all came the fuck through.

1046. Y'all was like, oh, you want loud, bitch?

1047. That's what I want. You know what I'm saying?

1048. They told us to shut up for too long!

1049. But I'm—I'm so proud of you all.

1050. And thank you so much for being a part of this.

1051. I'm going to leave, and I trust y'all.

1052. Y'all sound beautiful.

1053. Fill up the room.

1054. Take up all the space in the music, in the theater,

1055. in they face, in your life.

1056. You know what I'm saying?

1057. This is like— it's raining blessings, so just receive it.

1058. I woke up this morning, and I was just like—

1059. - I know, like—

1060. - Fucked up in a bad way. - Yeah.

1061. Thanks, guys.

1062. - I'm so proud of you. - I know.

1063. Damn.

1064. I know. I woke up this morning,

1065. and I was in my bathroom.

1066. And I was like, whoa, look what—

1067. I was like, shocked.

1068. I was like, what am I about to do today?

1069. - That's good. - Like, look what—

1070. look what God has done.

1071. I was talking about, that's crazy.

1072. It's like, my first rap crew, and then

1073. when I moved to Minneapolis, The Chalice, like—

1074. so glad y'all are here.

1075. And the Grammy goes to Lizzo.

1076. Thank you so much for lifting me up.

1077. Let's continue to reach out, hold each other down,

1078. and lift each other up.

1079. God bless you. Thank you so much.

1080. Period!

1081. All of this feels unavoidable.

1082. I've always described my life as being

1083. on a certain type of track.

1084. Now I know why.

1085. Sometimes I feel so connected to the Black women

1086. who came before me who didn't really get their praise—

1087. like my grandma or my great grandma.

1088. I do this for them and so many Black women,

1089. like Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Big Mama Thornton,

1090. who, like, literally invented rock and roll.

1091. And none of them get the credit.

1092. So it's like, well, this is for her.

1093. - Breaking news out of Louisville, Kentucky,

1094. where a grand jury handed down its decision

1095. of three officers involved in the deadly police

1096. shooting of Breonna Taylor.

1097. No one is charged with anything directly related

1098. to Breonna Taylor's death.

1099. - I wonder if some shit's going to pop off in LA

1100. because of this Breonna Taylor shit.

1101. At the end of the day,

1102. I don't think it's going to be as

1103. extreme because I think Black women's lives

1104. matter way less to people.

1105. Breonna Taylor was, like, us really crying out

1106. for respect this time, but I still

1107. don't think it was enough. It's sad.

1108. It really fucking pisses me off.

1109. I think there's just so much work to be done in the world,

1110. and there's so many people who are suffering

1111. from the system,

1112. Like, I will never understand...

1113. I mean, I actually do understand white supremacy

1114. because it's working.

1115. Fuck, I don't know.

1116. Oh, what if it's—

1117. - But someday you will.

1118. Oh, I like that.

1119. The system is effective because of racism

1120. and sexism and classism.

1121. We just need everyone to realize

1122. that this isn't working for all of us.

1123. - We're going to take over Brooklyn Boulevard.

1124. Black women have been the heartbeat of every movement,

1125. from Sojourner Truth to the Black women

1126. leading the Black Lives Matter movement.

1127. We are at the bottom, but yet,

1128. we always raise our voices first.

1129. I'm so proud to be a Black woman and an activist

1130. because when I'm loud, they hear this mouth.

1131. Period.

1132. I feel like, as a Black woman,

1133. I have been put in this position that I didn't really

1134. ask for of, like, making people feel good

1135. and making noise about issues to make a change.

1136. Because that's what we do.

1137. It's what Black women do. We've always done that.

1138. But sometimes I wish that that wasn't

1139. always kind of put on us.

1140. Because I know that easily, as a Black woman,

1141. I can wear that burden

1142. and let it weigh me down like a mule.

1143. And I don't want to be anybody's fucking mule.

1144. I have 1, 2, 3.

1145. - It was really important to me

1146. that the big girls could twerk.

1147. - Whoo! - Hey!

1148. - I've been twerking since I was 12.

1149. And it's in the music that I listened to growing up,

1150. from New Orleans bounce to Southern rap.

1151. Twerk, the word, is a newer way to describe the dance

1152. move that has been going on for hundreds of years.

1153. There's forms of twerking in almost

1154. every Indigenous culture.

1155. Black culture is the only sect of culture that

1156. becomes mainstream and loses its origin.

1157. When you know where it comes from,

1158. you put more respect on it.

1159. - Thank you, Christy. Good job.

1160. - Blackness is a commodity. It's a hot commodity.

1161. The media described twerking as, I quote,

1162. disturbing and disgusting.

1163. Once mainstream, twerking was misunderstood

1164. and taken out of context.

1165. So I want to do everything in my power

1166. to prevent the erasure of Blackness from twerking.

1167. Shaking that ass is this thing that is sexy.

1168. It's exciting. It's extremely feminine.

1169. Sing it to me.

1170. It beats at the heart of my ancestors,

1171. and it became a part of my brand.

1172. It is one of my favorite things to do.

1173. I can't wait for this album to come out

1174. so I can shit on everybody who's been trying

1175. to reduce me to my body.

1176. - So Lizzo right now is getting canceled.

1177. - "Lizzo Is Over Party" was trending on Twitter.

1178. - Am I getting some backlash right now?

1179. - That dress left little to the imagination.

1180. - With nothing underneath but a thong.

1181. She got a very pretty face,

1182. but she keep showing her body off, like, come on...

1183. - She became the number one trending topic on Twitter.

1184. - No respect for art history or any historical artifacts.

1185. - I don't think people should be canceling Lizzo.

1186. - Being overweight is the new gold.

1187. - She's merely shucking and jiving for an audience

1188. - of white feminists. - On Twitter,

1189. a large amount of Black people

1190. have decided they don't like Lizzo's music.

1191. What they end up saying about her music

1192. is she makes music for white people.

1193. - I think there's nothing that hurts my feelings more

1194. than the rejection of my own people.

1195. But I feel like, the bigger you get,

1196. the more your Blackness is taken away.

1197. I was, like, so sad last night because

1198. I saw something on TikTok.

1199. And it was, like, this thing where it was,

1200. like, comparing some other artists to me.

1201. The reason why this person doesn't have

1202. as much, like, mainstream success is because

1203. Lizzo makes palatable music

1204. and makes white people feel comfortable.

1205. I don't make nobody comfortable.

1206. I've never walked in a room and been like, like me.

1207. I walk in a room, and I'm like, accept me.

1208. And the fact that people use me as this think piece

1209. or why someone else doesn't have success

1210. because of my proximity to whiteness,

1211. it's like, bruh, like, huh?

1212. The James Webb Telescope just published a photo

1213. of a grain of sand,

1214. and there are millions of stars and planets

1215. and life forms and celestial bodies

1216. within that grain of sand.

1217. You think username Fuck That Bitch

1218. has any authority on your existence and why you're here?

1219. No.

1220. OK, so here's the tea. I'm back with Myke.

1221. - So y'all actually going somewhere or—

1222. No, just to a park.

1223. I'm going to be like, happy birthday,

1224. let's go on a picnic, you know.

1225. - Spend some time with your boo.

1226. - I'm going to cuss him out too, though.

1227. Like, yeah, we're on good terms, but...

1228. So that's the tea.

1229. - Hey, guys. - Hey.

1230. - All right, I'll talk to you later.

1231. - All right. Bye, girl. - I warmed up for you today.

1232. - OK, I worked out for you. - Really? You did?

1233. Yeah.

1234. A lot of my issues with my dad.

1235. No, I'm just kidding.

1236. Me and Myke needed the space.

1237. And I'm grateful 'cause we grew,

1238. we learned about ourselves, and most importantly,

1239. we learned that we didn't wanna be apart.

1240. And I, like, prayed about it.

1241. I was like, help me be an unconditional lover,

1242. because to love somebody with conditions

1243. hurts too fucking bad.

1244. He's my muse. I've written quite a few

1245. songs about him— "Break Up Twice,"

1246. "Naked,"Cold play," "To be Loved."

1247. The whole album.

1248. Hell yeah.

1249. - That's it. - Who gonna put up with

1250. your Gemini shit? OK, cool.

1251. - I don't know who would put up with the Gemini shit.

1252. - I haven't done stage banter in so long.

1253. Jesus Christ, there's so many mosquitoes in this car.

1254. Oh, my God. Uh-uh.

1255. - They are still in here. - This is a nightmare.

1256. - Ouch. - I'm sorry.

1257. - Minnesota for you. Welcome back.

1258. - This is exciting. It is.

1259. Oh, my God. This the first show in what?

1260. - A year. - If I didn't play a show

1261. before January, it would've been two years.

1262. Wow.

1263. Oh, my God, you guys.

1264. All right, everybody.

1265. Close your eyes and just squeeze the hand

1266. of the person next to you.

1267. We did not think we would make it here,

1268. but Lord God, you brought us here to put this show on

1269. to make people's nights better, Lord God,

1270. their lives better. Thank you for putting us here

1271. to be positive change in the world.

1272. We're so grateful for the whole team.

1273. I would be nothing up there without you guys.

1274. Every person in this circle is a part

1275. of the bigger picture, a part of bringing

1276. light into the world.

1277. This show is already done, and we have

1278. already won, in Jesus' name.

1279. Amen.

1280. I never thought I would make it back to the stage, man.

1281. This is my first show in nearly two years,

1282. and it feels so special to be doing

1283. it here back in Minnesota...

1284. Where my solo career took off.

1285. Thank you so much for accepting me for who I am.

1286. Here we go. 1, 2, 3, sing!

1287. Y'all don't know how much I been through

1288. to be right here, right now on this stage.

1289. 1, 2, 3, sing!

1290. Oh!

1291. I messed up so many times.

1292. - It was so good. What are you talking about?

1293. The flute stuff drives everybody crazy.

1294. - Once that flute comes out. - Oh, yeah.

1295. - Banter was on point. - Thank you.

1296. My banter was sloppy tonight, but—

1297. It's your first time hearing songs about you.

1298. I'm glad they're all jams.

1299. They are jams.

1300. I'm just excited because my biggest regret on

1301. " Cuz I Love You," because I didn't have a car,

1302. and I didn't have speakers.

1303. I didn't listen to masters and get the timing

1304. right in between each track.

1305. That's my biggest regret on "Cuz I Love You."

1306. I'll listen to it to this day and be like, ugh.

1307. - It makes me really happy because so many people

1308. - don't care these days. - I—

1309. - Thank you for caring. - ... overcare.

1310. It wakes me up in the middle of the night.

1311. I'm like, "Like a Girl" went into—

1312. whatever my other songs are.

1313. All right, let's listen to the end of "The Sign"

1314. real quick into...

1315. A bee's dick to the left, a little sooner.

1316. So small.

1317. - I'm saying that phrase forever.

1318. Oh.

1319. Yes, OK.

1320. Woo!

1321. That's it, baby.

1322. That's it, baby.

1323. Oh, God,

1324. this is so fuckin' buttery.

1325. $55,000 flute, man.

1326. It is really gorgeous.

1327. The way that head joint goes in is a little sexual.

1328. I'm not gonna lie. I was like, OK.

1329. I just hope that Eri didn't make nails

1330. that will interfere.

1331. - Wait, you're playing flute? - Mm-hmm.

1332. - The nails I made are definitely not—

1333. Let's see 'em.

1334. What the hell?

1335. This is literally— this is like a wine opener.

1336. This is fire, though.

1337. - Do you think it's not gonna work?

1338. - There's only one way to find out.

1339. Fuck. It's like, why do I have to make things so hard?

1340. Like, it's already hard enough.

1341. It's like, OK, play the flute on the carpet. Cool.

1342. Memorize the song you're playing. Cool.

1343. Play it with fucking corkscrew nails.

1344. Damn!

1345. You feel comfortable?

1346. - Of course not, but that's the point!

1347. If I feel comfortable, then it wouldn't be

1348. worth doing.

1349. It wouldn't be—my life wasn't on hard mode.

1350. I have this huge, depressive episode

1351. when I dropped out of college, 'cause I was like

1352. "It was all for nothing."

1353. You know, all those years studying flute

1354. and those dreams of being like a famous flautist,

1355. but now it's like, bitch, you are a famous flautist.

1356. For like a 12-year-old nerd,

1357. when Mr. Broughton was like, "All right, who 'bout to be

1358. on flute?" And if I had a vision...

1359. Like walking on the Met Gala carpet playing flute,

1360. but like the most expensive, beautiful flute in the world.

1361. I'd like zoom back and be like... me!

1362. Like, life doesn't take you too far away

1363. from who you're supposed to be.

1364. I'm still trying to process the fact

1365. that this is my house.

1366. My parents, they didn't verbally say you need to

1367. own everything, but they instilled it in me

1368. at a young age.

1369. You know, they owned their shit.

1370. So as a person who slept on floors and...

1371. rented for... my entire life

1372. until right now,

1373. it is a milestone.

1374. The least we can do

1375. is have ownership of anything, really,

1376. in this country.

1377. where we didn't even have autonomy of our bodies,

1378. and our lives and our culture.

1379. Hello!

1380. - Happy Juneteenth! - Happy Juneteenth.

1381. How are you?

1382. Juneteenth is a big deal in Texas.

1383. It was almost like Juneteenth was like

1384. the Black Independence Day.

1385. I'm protective of Blackness.

1386. I'm protective of my Blackness.

1387. People like to mishandle my Blackness,

1388. but thank God they don't have ownership of it.

1389. So exciting.

1390. This is... this material? In my life,

1391. ownership is very... important.

1392. Like, the ownership and the pride that I have

1393. in Yitty, my clothing line.

1394. I've been wearing shapewear

1395. since I was in fifth or sixth grade.

1396. It was embarrassing and shameful

1397. and I don't ever want anyone to feel that way

1398. ever again.

1399. So cute. I feel like the length

1400. is a little long.

1401. I remember talking to creative directors

1402. of these huge brands and being like,

1403. why don't y'all make clothes for big people,

1404. and watching them kind of stammer over their words.

1405. And because I made it happen,

1406. I'm like, how can I clear this channel

1407. so that girls who look like me

1408. can just take the elevator up?

1409. That's why I made my TV show.

1410. Watch out for "The Big Girls."

1411. I wanted to make a show about big girls

1412. because you don't get to see big girls shown in this light,

1413. shown as the protagonist,

1414. and shown for her talent

1415. and not just like the punchline of a joke.

1416. - Today is the day fans have had circled

1417. around their calendars—

1418. release date for Lizzo's new album.

1419. - It's called "Special." - You finished.

1420. - Three frickin' years, baby, I been working on this album.

1421. I feel amazing.

1422. Last night, my dad was in my dream.

1423. And I don't really like dream about memories.

1424. I dream about, like...

1425. realm dreams where I'm very aware

1426. that he isn't physically here,

1427. and I'm like, oh, they let you come over here.

1428. This time it was like, oh, I'm so excited

1429. that we get to, like, hang out for a little bit.

1430. And it was a lotta like me clapping

1431. and jumping up and down and being excited.

1432. And then I woke up, and I was like, wow...

1433. thank you.

1434. He cared so much about my career,

1435. especially in his later years,

1436. and I think a lot of that energy

1437. that was put towards me

1438. being successful and everything

1439. it hasn't stopped, you know?

1440. I don't think somebody's love for you stops

1441. when they go.

1442. Like, energy doesn't die. It just changes form.

1443. Hi, everybody.

1444. If we have not met yet, I'm Lizzo,

1445. It's really important for me to know

1446. who everyone is that's a part of my show,

1447. 'cause my music and my show is very personal to me.

1448. Can you hear me this way better?

1449. That's fucking weird.

1450. Once upon a time,

1451. I had one person on the road with me.

1452. I had my DJ Sophia, and I had two dancers,

1453. and a table with a cloth and a chair.

1454. And, uh, now I'm emotional.

1455. This is wild for me, because this is my first

1456. - arena show. - Whoo!

1457. And I don't know how the fuck I got here,

1458. but, um... ha ha.

1459. I do know who I got here with,

1460. and it's with all of you wonderful people,

1461. and I just wanna say thank you

1462. from the bottom of my heart.

1463. You're making my dreams come true, so...

1464. I like the story of my success

1465. because it took so much hard work and time to be here.

1466. But I know that when people see me on stage,

1467. they see themselves.

1468. When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see

1469. was me in the media, someone fat like me,

1470. Black like me, beautiful like me.

1471. If I could go back and tell little Lizzo something,

1472. I'd be like, you gonna see that person.

1473. But, bitch, it's going to have to be you.

1474. Just look up, you know, and smile.

1475. I want to see your teeth.

1476. Yes!

1477. That's the smile.

1478. You're making me feel something, which I

1479. think that's all that matters.

1480. Just go for it. Go all the way for it.

1481. Don't halfway do it.

1482. So I want you to be like—

1483. then you're like, this my first time riding a plane.

1484. How did I get here? That's what I want.