Ahead of her new album, Bitch, we rate the best of a singer who expertly suffuses self-empowerment anthems with humour and party-starting energy
Lizzo’s contribution to the Barbie soundtrack fitted the film’s opening scene perfectly: fluffy, wilfully lightweight disco-pop, with lyrics that split the difference between being knowingly daft and offering a self-empowerment message. If you’re not in the market for high-camp positivity, try the Pink (Bad Day) version, which flips the track’s mood on its head.
Lizzo’s recent singles haven’t clicked, and it’s debatable whether that’s because of allegations about her behaviour or because they aren’t very good. But her 2025 mixtape, My Face Hurts from Smiling, shows she hasn’t completely lost her touch, as this tough rap cut complete with a sweet SZA-sung hook proves.
The titular band’s breakthrough hit, Yellow, gets sped up on the happy ending closer from her 2022 album, Special. They get a mention in the lyrics too, albeit as a soundtrack to the misery the singer has left behind: the real meat of the track is in its description of blossoming new love and its lovely 70s soul strings.
The backing of Boys sounds like a taut, loving tribute to prime-time Neptunes with a house beat added, and the lyrics are a marvellous enumeration of Lizzo’s nondiscriminatory approach to dating: bearded or clean-shaven, hick or city-dweller, straight or homosexual, you’re apparently in with a chance. A joy.
