Lizzo Explains Why Recruiting Cardi B for ‘Rumors’ Was ‘Very Selfish’: Watch

Lizzo stopped by Apple Music 1 on Wednesday (July 13) to look back on the making of “Rumors,” her hit single with Cardi B.

“That was my f–k you,” she said of the 2021 one-off, which peaked at No. 4 on the Hot 100. “And I was so excited and proud to put that song out because I needed to do that. I honestly needed it.

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“It was very selfish,” the R&B star continued. “I very selfishly wanted a song with Cardi for a long time, and I very selfishly wanted to be like, ‘B—h, all the rumors are true, whatever you want to believe about me, and f–k you too.’ And I did that.”

In fact, Lizzo explained to host Zane Lowe that writing the song was a cathartic turning point that ultimately led to her upcoming album Special, which is due out Friday (June 15) via Nice Life/Atlantic Records. “Once I actually put that song out, I got a lot off my chest, energetically,” she said. “And I feel a lot of the songs on Special kind of came through after that. I wrote Special, actually, after I released ‘Rumors’ and started getting a lot of… Being brought back into the cultural zeitgeist and after becoming famous and having the year that I had, it was interesting seeing how people relate to me and treat me and talk to me. ”

Elsewhere during the interview, the three-time Grammy winner opened up about her activism in the social justice space — including why supporting Planned Parenthood is such an important cause to her — and also heard Cardi’s new single “Hot S–t” for the very first time on the air.

Watch Lizzo reminisce about “Rumors” below.

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