Lizzo is certain her third studio album Cuz I Love You will “define” her music career.
The singer-songwriter, born Melissa Jefferson, has made waves in the industry since the release of the record last month (Apr19), with the album featuring the single Juice.
However, Lizzo predicted that Cuz I Love would be bigger than her previous albums, 2013’s Lizzobangers and 2015’s Big Grrrl Small World, when she was sat at one of Atlantic Records’ offices last year and caught a glimpse of a picture of Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.
“I was looking at Aretha Franklin on the walls,” she recalled in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. “I (thought about her 1967 album) I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You. That’s what I want this to be — the album that defines my career. People are gonna be like, ‘That s**t was just the beginning, and from then on it was forever lit, and she won every award.’”
Lizzo, who is known for her flute-playing skills, also opened up about how it took her a long time to view herself as a solo artist and how she began undertaking therapy sessions last year.
The Good as Hell star is now allowing herself to be more vulnerable, in both her recordings and during her stage performances.
“I was like, ‘I’m afraid of my voice. I’m afraid of people thinking that I’m one thing,'” the 31-year-old said, going on to credit her Cuz I Love You collaborator Sam Harris for encouraging her to be free in the studio. “I had to just lose that fear, because the more people get to know me, the more they’ll realise I have many, many, many levels to me.”
Lizzo is now embarking on a tour, with concerts scheduled across North America and major cities in Europe.
