Lizzo Talks Being A ‘Body Icon’ And Working Hard For Her Success: ‘I Had To Blaze A Trail… There Was No Lizzo Before Lizzo’
02.03.2022 - 17:59
/ etcanada.com
Lizzo knows she deserves to be where she’s at.
The singer, born Melissa Viviane Jefferson, chats to People for the magazine’s “Women Changing the World” issue about body positivity, Black Lives Matter, her huge success, and more.
The 33-year-old insists, “I deserve the spotlight. I deserve the attention. I’m talented, I’m young, I’m hot, you know? And I’ve worked hard.”
“I had to blaze a trail,” she admits. “There was no Lizzo before Lizzo.”
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Talking about being a Black woman in America, Lizzo shares: “I grew up in a family that was very proud of our Blackness.
“I don’t think my dad wanted to tell us about the gruesome murders that happen to Black people all the time. But Black parents have this responsibility to let their children know what can happen. They taught me at a very young age how America treats Black people. How it treats Black women. And I saw very quickly how we treat fat people.”
Lizzo may have been “cynical” at first but insists: “I was like, ‘OK, what can I do with this? How can I make the best of this? I wasn’t supposed to survive. I wasn’t supposed to make it this far.
“I wasn’t supposed to be a millionaire. I wasn’t supposed to be a sex symbol. I wasn’t supposed to be on the cover of People, but I am. So how can I make this worthwhile? How can I make this not just a flash in the pan?'”
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Lizzo talks about body positivity, telling the mag with a sigh: “Okay, we all know I’m fat. I know I’m fat. It doesn’t bother me. I like being fat, and I’m beautiful and I’m healthy. So can we move on?”
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