In this era of euphemisms, what had always been called "being fat and not feeling ashamed" we now know it as a "body positive" attitude, an issue that is addressed, with the usual and exhausting post-structural prosody, giving visibility to " non-normative bodies ", so that no one feels social exclusion or harassment for natural issues that should not be stigmatized. Everything leads to the same thing: the body is a facade that does not define you - or it does so only in part, and it is not even the main part - and it is so petty to attack people for their appearance if they do not respond to the canon Kate Moss / Brad Pitt, how sad it would be if someone had to be ashamed of being the way they are.

Lizzo's music and artistic project has revolved in recent years around this issue. It is evident that his body is fleshy and volumetric. She, to make the aggressive weapon her defense shield, refers to herself as "a fat slut" , although a poet would surely define her as a Rubensian nymph, which is finer. And he does it because in a time when Instagram has multiplied the anxiety derived from how others perceive you, not fitting into the mold becomes a source of pain.

Lizzo - whose real name is Melissa Jefferson, born in 1988 in Detroit - has explained it in several interviews: she was a girl harassed and ridiculed at school for being fat, and that unpleasant situation led her to doubt herself , she felt the venomous temptation to disgust himself with his body and he compensated himself in the only possible way: becoming strong, becoming aware that the error was not in her, but in others, and channeling that growing power through music. In 2011, having moved to live in Minneapolis, he formed his first group, Lizzo & The Lava Ink -a soul duo with electronic bases of ephemeral life-, and in 2012 he recorded his first album, We are the Chalice, followed in 2013 by Lizzobangers , already definitely headed for hip hop.

It was hard to break through. As any artist who starts in music from an independent platform knows, the competition is fierce and it is difficult to capture the attention of an increasingly overflowing and impatient audience, and for five years his achievements were on a local scale, on the verge of precariousness and counting more defeats than victories. During his first "professional" year - and after the death of his father -, he lived in a car, and not even a collaboration with Prince - the most illustrious neighbor of Minneapolis at the time - opened the doors to a larger audience.

In 2017 he decided to leave the music: he had recorded Truth Hurts , a song that he considered impeccable, but its impact was minimal. Perhaps it was true that in pop in a broad sense non-normative bodies had to pay an extra toll, and she was suffering it in her own generous meats.

Suddenly, the stars lined up for Lizzo, and this 2019 has been their year. His third album, Cuz I Love You - the first after signing by Atlantic, a division of the multinational Warner -, arrived on the market without making noise, but the good use of its social networks, the greatest exposure received on YouTube and the impudence with which she has issued the messages about herself they began to have a viral diffusion that multiplied when she sang Truth Hurts at the BET Awards, dressed as a bride on a giant cake, and surrounded by her dancers, proud to wear large sizes. His last viral repercussion has been in the American Music Awards, where he presented Jerome, soul anthem about the feminine spite written in cruel and vindictive terms that makes Lizzo something like the anti-Adele.

Musically, his proposal is not particularly revolutionary. Her free attitude takes a lot from Missy Elliott, one of the first women in hip hop to integrate languages ​​such as R&B and soul, and channeling motivational messages about the body and strength of inner beauty, while strictly creative continues the steps of Janelle Monáe, still far from the level of excellence of the great revolutionary of black music of the century. However, Lizzo has touched a key that, when activated well, has a tremendous shock wave: that of being the voice of difference, not only that of fat women, but also that of lesbian women and that of people queer, turning around stigma or social contempt as if it were a sock to transform it into pride and self-esteem, celebrating that variety in positive.

Lizzo could have thrown in the towel years ago. In today's pop, who does not succeed at first usually stays on the road. She persisted and even her past has returned to give her greater satisfactions : Truth Hurts , a song of 2017, has resurfaced as a viral sensation that has fed back the impact of the last album, although with a sinsabor added: former collaborators of her have claimed a correct accreditation of his work, which is leading him to different litigation related to the intellectual property of the song.

Meanwhile, he makes his way in the cinema - he has participated in Scammers of Wall Street in a small role with Jennifer Lopez -, it is the new reference model for brands that work with plus-size clothes, and the great festivals of the world the doors have opened . And that is his last lesson: the reward only comes if there is effort, and whoever feels defeated always loses.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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