Album Review: Lizzo - Special

Lizzo has had to deal with A LOT from the public for just existing. More than most pop stars have had to deal with, in what feels like the relatively short time that she’s been in the mainstream public eye. She’s too fat to show that much skin. Why she gotta always show her ass? Why is she doing pop now? Why is she on a diet, if she’s fine with being fat? Why doesn’t Lizzo rap hard any more? Why is Lizzo working with Max Martin? Why is she all up on that One Direction boy? Can she really play the flute? How she not outta breath after that performance?

It’s all a mess.

Given this, it would have been easy for her album Special to have been a really scathing, angry, ‘Fuck all y’all’ type of album, but it’s not. Special is instead an album all about Lizzo and her journey of being able to love herself and allowing herself 2 Be Loved.

It’s easy to look at Lizzo flaunting her body, shaking ass, and bussin’ it on stage with Harry Styles and thinking that she has it all, and that she must love herself, and I don’t think any of us would question that she doesn’t. But Lizzo is human like the rest of us. She probably doesn’t love herself and love on herself every single second, of every single day - especially when she is a public figure that everybody with an Internet connection has some form of access to, who feel it necessary to make comments on her posts concerning her size and how she chooses to show her body. And she is also a Black woman living in America. All of the shit that we have all seen Lizzo get must exact a toll; and then there’s the shit that we don’t see, and all of the personal battles that she has faced offline. Special is a reminder that sometimes you really do have to champion yourself, but at the same time it’s actually okay if you have moments where you just don’t fucking feel like it. Sometimes all you want to do is just be okay and get through the day. And sometimes you have to pretend that you love yourself, until you are actually able to love yourself. You gotta fake it ‘til you make it. But you also have to truly put in that work to WANT to love yourself. It’s all a journey. And listening to Lizzo walk through hers is one of the best things about Special.

But the music itself though? This is where Special will divide a lot of people. As if Cuz I Love You and the breakout success of that album wasn’t dividing folk already. And to be frank, it's kinda where Special both got me and lost me.

Lizzo - Special | Nice Life, Atlantic Records

Not only does Lizzo have to contend with people policing her weight and how she chooses to simply exist a big Black woman in the world, but she is also at a point in her career where she is being pulled in a whole bunch of directions over her sound; and having to make choices in terms of how she ultimately wants to be viewed musically. Is she Hip-Hop? Is she pop? Is she soul? Is she R&B? Special pulls on every pop thread of Cuz I Love You, so it is a wholly pop album. So if you were a fan of Lizzobangers and Big Grrrl Small World, and wholly in love what that sound of Lizzo’s, then you won’t like Special for shit. It’s more of the fans that Lizzo made from the release of 2019’s “Juice” who are carrying her now anyway. I really don’t care, as long as the music is good and feels true to the artist. Lizzo being a pop girl and working with the likes of Max Martin just makes sense to me. Also, Special is heavily influenced by the 80s, an era where many Black women released huge pop records, but they all got filed under soul and R&B because they were Black. “It’s Raining Men”. “I’m so Excited”. Pop gurl.

What I like is that Lizzo has made a choice with this album. Lizzo decided she wanted to do a lil’ more pop and sing a little more, and I respect it. Special isn’t even as rapid of a departure from what Lizzo has done as people are making out. The DNA of Lizzo on the likes of Lizzobangers and Big Grrrl Small World is still here. There’s a bit of “T-Baby” in the album title track “Special”. There’s a bit of “Ride” in “About That Time”. It’s just that Lizzo as a package looks and sounds a little different.

This insistence that Lizzo should have to choose one or the other, or that she should go back to what she did before is the kind of shit Black women are made to face far more than their white peers. I don’t recall any such discussions when Christina Aguilera was flip-flopping between styles and genres with each one of her albums. When Britney Spears went from working with Max Martin to working with The Neptunes. When Fergie was doing any and everything on her debut album. When Selena Gomez was doing a song with Gucci Mane. But Black women are constantly made to choose between either R&B or pop specifically, like these are the only two genres that they can do. And should a Black woman choose pop, they’re seen as sell-outs, and copying whichever white girl is releasing chart topping pop music at the time.

It’s ridiculous.

If Lizzo wants to do pop, then just let a bitch do it. She has made a choice to do it, she is doing it well - that’s all that should matter. As a fan of Lizzo, you should want her to grow and show more of her range, and Special shows far greater range and scope for Lizzo than her earlier albums did. Part of Lizzo’s outlook on life is to not be boxed in by labels that society wants to put upon her. So why would she do that with her music?

Lizzo - Special | Nice Life, Atlantic Records

Whilst Special seems big in terms of its scope and appeal, this isn’t really reflected in the execution of the sound of the album. I’m not sure what it is about these throwback albums which don’t fully deliver in the vein of the sounds and eras they’re inspired by. Throughout 2020 and 2021 we got artists putting out disco albums with songs which clocked in at 2 to 3 minutes, and not a single 6 minute groove. And now here’s Lizzo with Special, try’na short change a bitch.

I can’t get away from how small Special sounds. When I first heard “About That Time”, I liked it, but was stuck on how it didn’t give more. Lizzo’s 2022 BET awards performance of the song gave it more of just not what I wanted, but better captured the sound and spirit of what I thought “About That Time” was going for in the first place. With “2 Be Loved (Am I ready)” it’s a similar thing. The song is drawing a very clear influence from The Pointer Sisters “I’m so Excited”. To the ear, the song is hitting all of the right notes, but it still doesn’t feel as big and as full as “I’m So Excited” did. It doesn’t sweep you up in the same way. And the energy of the song never really feels like it’s varying, or building in any way. We get a key change at the end, but it feels unearned and like a cheap way to feign variation in the song. “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)” needed a bigger middle 8, a saxophone solo, a chorus of girrrls chanting during the chorus. “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)” is still a great song. Max Martin, Ilya Salmanzadeh and Savan Kotecha continue to show they are no flukes when it comes to pop records with hooks that don’t quit. And they’re a great team for Lizzo. But I just needed the song to be more. Same shit yet again with “Everybody’s Gay”, which is Lizzo’s take on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, but with none of the musical richness. Lizzo had said on Twitter that this song was originally 5 minutes long, and I like the prospect of that. But only if it meant we got something interesting musically. Because I can’t imagine listening to a 6 minute edit of “Everybody’s Gay” if the whole thing is just the same energy the 3 minute version gives. I wanted more mood setting. I wanted a spoken monologue. I wanted a flute solo. I wanted to hear Lizzo whispering “Everybody’s Gay” and have that shit channel hop from left to right.

The lack of largeness on these songs is something that really sticks out to me about this album, because it’s a theme which goes across the majority of it. It’s not a huge deal breaker for any of the songs afflicted. Each and every song has a solid enough framework and foundation that it would take A LOT to make any of them bad. And Lizzo continues to show that she knows how to write a good hook and throw in a line or two that’s memorable and will get quoted online. But having these songs just feel bigger and more filled out would have been the difference between a song being just good, and a song being great. The difference between a song being great, and it being amazing. And there’s nothing on Special that quite hits amazing, which is unfortunate when the potential was there for several of the songs to be.

Special also falls victim to the current trend of super short songs. The shortest song on Special is 2 minutes, with the longest being 3 minutes and 35 seconds. Now, I’m fine with a short song if it feels like a full song and gives me what I need. But between the lack of largeness in sound and these runtimes, there is no song on this album that to me feels TRULY whole. I listen to “The Sign” and I wonder where the gospel choir is. Then it’s over. I listen to “Grrrls” and wonder where the drumline break is. Then it’s over. I listen to “I Love you Bitch” and I’m wondering where the backing vocals and when the middle 8 is gonna hit. Then it’s over. I listen to “Coldplay” and wonder where the extended outro with the orchestrated strings is. Then it’s over.

The more soulful cuts on the album “Naked” and “If You Love Me” fare far better than most of the uptempo ditties, and I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it’s because Lizzo’s vocal delivery on these songs is more raw and more heartfelt, which is more the focus of these songs than a largeness of sound. Or perhaps because both songs are quite vibey, it’s easier to get lost in them. Or it might just be that my expectations are lower by the time these signs roll around, as the more soulful cuts on Special are in the backend of the album. This is something that also hurts Special. There is a very clear line which gets drawn from “Everybody’s Gay”, and it’s from this point that Special loses a lot of its momentum. It’s unfortunate, because the songs in the latter third of the album are when Lizzo allows herself to stop being the always on self-loving and self-affirming star that she feels she’s always required to be, and she really lets it all go; baring her soul about how she wants to be loved, how she wants to be in love, let somebody into her life, and be able to surrender herself to them. Up until this point in the album, so many of the songs have been about Lizzo living in a world that wants something from her and Lizzo questioning herself. But in the final stretch of the album, Lizzo focuses on what she wants for herself and the things that she is unwavering on. Thematically it works, there is a very clear arc. It’s just a shame that the last couple of songs on the album will probably get skipped or overlooked, because there are no bangers and nothing uptempo enough to pick the energy back up. “Birthday Girl” tries, but it’s a lost cause by this point.

Lizzo - Special | Nice Life, Atlantic Records

Lizzo is one of those artists who I feel may be too difficult to separate from their music. And given 90% of the songs on Special are about Lizzo and her personal journeys, I don’t think you could separate the two even if you tried. So, if you don’t like Lizzo, never have liked Lizzo, have no interest in Lizzo, then you will not listen to this album - regardless of how good a song on it is. But I also don’t think the two should be separable. It would be convenient for everybody if they were. The same way it would be convenient for everybody if Lizzo were skinny and maybe a few shades lighter.

But I also wouldn’t necessarily recommend this album, even though I really like how it advocates loving yourself and allowing yourself to be open to love from others. The thing that prevents me from feeling that Special is special is that it just doesn’t feel big enough. Special needed to feel like an entire world was being created for Lizzo musically. In the same way that Nakata Yasutaka does for Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. As Western Union scammer Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo did for Kelis on Wanderland. As Clarence Clarity did for Rina on Sawayama. As Stuart Price did for Madonna on Confessions on a Dancefloor. As Danja and Bloodshy & Avant did for Britney Spears on Blackout. As the 8036 people who worked on Renaissance did for Beyoncé.

Maybe Lizzo herself wasn’t in the headspace to take up so much room on songs and push for them to be bigger. Maybe not wanting the songs to be bigger was a subconscious thing on Lizzo’s part, and a by-product of a willingness to shrink herself as a result of the shit people say about her. I have no clue. But regardless, Special doesn’t feel as representative of Lizzo as I feel it could and should have as a result of the lack of largeness in the sound. And the messages that she preaches on every song would have hit so much better if they were surrounded by sonics to help them hit harder and louder. On Special, Lizzo is still just a big grrrl in a small world, and she shouldn’t be. Her world has changed. The world has changed. Chile. EVERYTHING has changed. But the sound of Special doesn’t account for any of this, when it should have. Lizzo needs a music council who can make her world bigger and paint it better with the colours of her life, who she is and the largeness of her persona. Either that or a Teletubby that can teleport her to Mars.

Verdict: Gurl. I’m ‘bout to have a panic attack.

Highlights:
▪ About Damn Time
▪ 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) 🏆
▪ I Love You Bitch
▪ Naked
▪ If You Love Me
▪ Coldplay