Lizzo Just Wants to Be Accepted for Exactly Who She Is

Lizzo
Lizzo
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Getty Images

Now that Lizzo's highly-anticipated fourth studio album, Special, has finally arrived, the singer is getting candid about how her new music reflects where she's at in life. It's no secret the 34-year-old and her music have helped many people feel empowered and confident. Her new album is about wanting to receive that same energy back, she explained in a new interview with Zane Lowe for his Apple Music podcast. Her message for her fans and haters alike is simple: "Just accept all of me," she said during the episode.

Lizzo got real about how her fame means she deals both with people who feel comfortable using her as "some sort of punchline or joke" and how she's using her "amazing platform on stage as a big Black woman" to make space for others who look like her and come from similar backgrounds, she explained.

Quoting lyrics from her new song "If You Love Me," in which she sings, "If you love me, you love all of me," Lizzo told Lowe she's grateful for her fans showing her so much love, and hopes they treat other people around them the same way.

"A lot of times it's people who don't look like me in the crowd," she told Lowe of her shows. "I've had moments where I'm like, 'You support me. You support a big Black woman on the stage. You bought my concert tickets, I want to thank you for that. But when you're in the world, I want you to keep that same energy.'"

"If you can love me, you can treat big Black women and people with respect out in the world, which I find doesn't happen very often,'" she continued. "And I don't want to be the token fat Black girl that gets the respect. I want to be able to put myself in a position where I can make this experience of life easier for people who look like me."

Lizzo went on to explain an additional message behind the lyrics of the song: that people should accept every aspect of who she is. "If you love me, you love the fact that I look like this," she said. "If you love my music, you love this body."

This is far from the first time Lizzo has gotten real about her appearance and how it relates to how she's treated. Back in March, the singer discussed all the social media comments she receives about her body in an interview with People. "We all know I'm fat," she said at the time. "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?...I don't think I'm the only kind of fat girl there is. I want us to be freed from that box we've been put in." (Related: Lizzo Got Real About the Hateful Comments She's Received: 'It's Unfair')

Lizzo has championed confidence and self-love as long as she's been in the public eye, even as she's dealt with negativity from others. There are people who "want to criticize whatever I'm doing because there's levels to me that they don't accept," she told Lowe. "I just find that people always kind of have exceptions with me. It's like, 'I love her except…' 'I love her but…' It's like, man, just accept all of me." Lizzo's latest interview and new album are a reminder that everyone deserves to be loved and accepted for who they are, no matter what they look like.