Lizzo spoke about the stigma she faces as a black pop artist and how the genre has “a racist origin” in an interview with Entertainment Weekly published Friday.
The “Special” singer talked about how black artists were left out of pop music and the history of racial music or “race records” — music made by black artists and marketed to black people in the early 20th century.
“Racial music was their way of separating black artists from being mainstream because they didn’t want their kids to listen to music made by black people and black people because they said it was demonic and yada, yada, yada” , he told the publication.
Lizzo later said she thinks it’s “the coolest thing” that rap and hip-hop are now considered mainstream and pop. She added that her musical style is somewhat reminiscent of the “pop diva records” of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey in the late 80s and early 90s, but with “a bit of rap”.
“I think people just have to get used to me,” she said. “I think anything new, people will criticize and feel it’s not for them.”
He later added, “So for people who don’t like pop music or don’t like black artists making pop music, I might end up liking them.”
Timothy Norris via Getty Images
Lizzo also spoke about some of the criticism she’s faced as a black pop artist.
She told Vanity Fair last month that she was very annoyed by criticism that she was making music for white audiences.
“I don’t make music for white people. I am a black woman making music from my black experience to heal [from] the experience we call life,” he said. “If I can help others, hell yeah. Because we are the most marginalized and neglected people in this country. We need hymns for self-love and self-love more than anyone else.
The singer’s new documentary, “Love, Lizzo,” premiered on HBO Max on November 24.
