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For all the negative attention she gets, youd think Lizzo would be more of a troublemaker.
Were not as forward-thinking as we fancy ourselves.
Everything else was bullshit, particularly the notion that pop and rock belong to white people.
Black artists revolutionized both fields.
Its ours as much as it belongs to anyone else.
That history isnt lost on Lizzo herself.
(Rumors isnt a rock song, necessarily, wailing guitar solo notwithstanding.)
Both stars blew up unexpectedly after years of hard work.
Megastardom was an uncomfortable fit.
Getting them to comply with the coyness and perfection we demand from pop stars was a losing game.
Women of color get less pay but more rules, less opportunities but more scrutiny.
It says sexiness radiates from within.
Its not assigned to you according to your desirability to others, your value to the male gaze.
The video for it resembles the Mount Olympus from DisneysHercules.
The paintings on the pottery seem alive.
Beautiful Black women dance and sing with Lizzo like a Greek chorus.
Itll be a big hit; it feels almost scientifically engineered to be one.
Maybe it needs to be dropped in the middle of a lively function to truly land.
For now, though, its very pleasant.
