Currently Lizzo is promoting her first full-length solo album, released Tuesday. A collaborative effort with Minneapolis producer Lazerbeak entitled LIZZOBANGERS, it serves as a high-energy, musical melting pot that bears the diversity of Lizzo's musical and geographic backgrounds -- something she says defines her very soul as an artist.
"I'm just Lizzo," she says when asked to define her style. "I came up on gospel, classical, rock and trap -- and when I open my mouth, I think that's what comes out."
Signed to Minneapolis-based label Totally Gross National Product, Lizzo got her biggest break yet when fellow Minneapolite Sean Tillman -- better known as Har Mar Superstar -- invited her on tour with him as both an opener and accompanying band member. The tour's three-month stretch is taking the free-spirited wanderer across the U.S., as well as into Canada and the UK, signifying her first international touring experience and -- just maybe -- her first big break.
Already, the video for "Batches & Cookies" has been acknowledged by several respected online publications, including Death and Taxes, who called it "better than Gucci Mane's new mixtape."
While acknowledging that her recent successes are at least partially attributable to good fortune (and maybe the migration north), Lizzo also credits years of dedication for finally paying off.
"It all comes from working," she says. "I've been working my butt off, singing backup for people, playing flute, tracking additional vocals for bands and also being in my own bands. [My success] has all come from word-of-mouth that hard work exposed.
"Luck is all about that 'right place, right time' theory, though," adds Lizzo. "And I'd like to say that I have been [there]."
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