Singer/rapper Lizzo has emerged as one of the hottest new artists that almost never was. After a very long journey as an artist, Lizzo’s hard work to become a national superstar has been one of the greatest success stories of the year.
Lizzo has been an inspiration for many as an artist but also as an activist for mental health awareness including self-esteem issues and depression which she struggled with herself.
Lizzo’s hit single “Truth Hurts” has now been number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 for a month and her album “Cuz I Love You” is also peaking at number 6. This success did not happen over night as she has been trying to make it as an artist since she moved from Houston to Minneapolis in 2011 following the death of her father.
Lizzo had previously been studying classical flute performance at the University of Houston before realizing her true calling in being a hip-hop artist. Lizzo entered the Minneapolis music scene with her 2013 self-released, debut hip-hop album “LizzoBangerz”.
In 2015 she tried a more R&B and gospel style with her second album, “Big Grrl Small World”. Neither of these records had huge commercial success, but “Big Grrl Small World” made a big enough splash in the Minneapolis area to land her a deal with Atlantic Records in 2016.
In October 2016, Lizzo released “Coconut Oil”, later followed by the 2017 single “Truth Hurts”. Frustration started to arise for Lizzo following the release of “Truth Hurts” as she revealed to “People,” Magazine that she almost quit music.
In July, she told “People” Magazine, “The day I released ‘Truth Hurts’ was probably one of the darkest days I’ve had ever in my career. I remember thinking, ‘If I quit music now, nobody would notice. This is my best song ever, and nobody cares’”.
She later revealed that her producer, publicist and family supported her and are a big reason that she never gave up.
‘Truth Hurts” was the song that had caused Lizzo to fall to her lowest point, but then allowed her to rise to her highest. The song has confident, assertive lyrics that led to it being considered a song of the summer. If it wasn’t for the 2019 Netflix movie “Someone Great” featuring “Truth Hurts,” it may not have gotten the viral success that it did.
That movie jump started the attention but “Cuz I Love You” definitely played a huge role in the blow up of “Truth Hurts” because of how well it did. “Good as Hell” and “Juice” are other hit Lizzo songs that have contributed to her colossal success. She also landed a role on the star studded cast of the film “Hustlers” that entered theaters Sept. 13.
One summer can turn around an artists career dramatically and we see it every single year. An example of this would be Cardi B who broke out with her hit single “Bodak Yellow” in the summer of 2017, or Post Malone who entered stardom over the summer of 2015, with his soundcloud track “White Iverson”.
Some are bigger than others but no matter what, every year new artists emerge into stars. Not every success story ends with songs on Billboard’s Hot 100, but new music is always being discovered especially with the internet giving almost everyone access to so much music.
This year we saw several major breakout performances with young stars like Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish and Lil Tecca but what makes Lizzo different is that she’s 31.
Unlike these other breakout stars who are all under 21, she has been grinding for over a decade which makes her career accomplishments now more meaningful.
This goes to show that there is no guaranteed timetable on success. Instead of being distracted by the success of others, you can use it as a way to make your path more clear.
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