Is Lizzo Unlikable?

Lizzo is one of the biggest stars of the past year and implored us to ask the philosophical question: why mean great till they gotta be great? She made a lot of noise with tracks like “Juice,” “Truth Hurts” “Good as Hell” and “Tempo.” Her rise to stardom was something that we hadn’t seen before as her most notable tracks were released years ago and only recently made their way to the tops of the charts.

2019 was Lizzo’s most lucrative year yet, but it was also her most controversial. At the end of the year she got a lot of backlash, not only for her outfit and conduct at a certain basketball game, but also for her size. All of this begs the question: Is Lizzo unlikable?

An unlikable character emerges when their unlikable qualities outweigh the likable ones and when this can be proven with tangible evidence. It is not simply a unanimous opinion or general consensus. It is something we can prove.

The Short Answer is : No. Lizzo is not unlikable. But let’s get into the long answer, starting with the least controversial aspect.

Some people have an issue with songs like “Truth Hurts” being considered rap songs and not just pop songs. Similarly, some people don’t like that Lizzo topped the charts with old music. Lizzo’s genre doesn’t really have anything to do with her in my opinion. If Lil Nas X has taught us anything, it’s that the industry has an issue accurately typifying certain records. Something similar has happened to Ariana Grande and I see this being a problem in the future for other artists that blend genres like Anderson .Paak, Buddy and many others.

It is needless to say that Lizzo has been receiving body shaming comments since her emergence in the music industry, including comments telling her to lose weight, to dress differently, etc. etc. The point of the body positivity movement is to promote self-love and giving yourself grace, not being unhealthy. It is giving yourself permission to find yourself beautiful, no matter how over or underweight you may be, no matter how different from the norm your body may be. It is wearing outfits typically reserved for thinner people, even if you are overweight, because…why not? To insinuate that someone deserves constant hate just for being overweight and confident, is ridiculous. Lizzo is not promoting unhealthy habits, she’s promoting beauty and self-confidence.

People came out of the woodwork to both critique and defend Lizzo for her outfit at the Lakers game. But what about the children? But what about the cheerleaders? But what about the fashion police? I have nothing new to add to this conversation, so I’ll save my opinion.

Even with all of her recent shenanigans, Lizzo is still likable because of her amazing success story, charisma and niche representation. Lizzo appeals greatly to a niche in the market. Black women, young and old, see themselves in Lizzo. They see themselves in her image, in her words, in her backstory and in her success. Someone who is more relatable than they are controversial, can’t be unlikable. Lizzo twerks and plays the flute. Do you know how many times I have twerked and played the clarinet. Lizzo is me. She remembers her hardships and constantly uses them to relate to and encourage her audience. She wore a t-shirt dress with a hole in the butt. So what? The controversy she faced over this would benefit from a conversation about the differences between expectations of people based on gender and sexuality in the music industry, but that’s for a different day.

Lizzo is still an inspirational artist. She still makes good music. She still inspires people and hopefully, she will continue to do so.