There’s no denying that Lizzo is a singular artist. After exploding on the scene in 2019, she went on to land a string of hits with the ubiquitous “Juice,” “About Damn Time,” and “Good as Hell,” picking up Grammys and other accolades along the way. Not a traditional pop singer, she infused her music with funky horns, hip-hop grooves, and even the flute. She overindexed for bops, but was there a Lizzo sound? Depends on the track.
Lizzo first began chipping away at her fifth studio album, Bitch, around four years ago. The album underwent a number of transformations during that time. It was initially meant to be titled Love in Real Life, supported by a single of the same name and the disco-pop track “Still Bad,” both of which arrived last year. While Lizzo was still making up her mind about what she wanted her next album cycle to embody, it seems the broader pop audience already made up its mind about her.
Bitch arrived on June 5 via Atlantic Records. Within its first week, the album sold 2,649 copies and racked up just under 2.7 million on-demand streams, according to music data company Luminate. In its second week, sales dropped to 650 units, while streams dipped to just under 900,000. It’s a steep drop from her previous album, 2022’s Special, which debuted with 39,000 copies sold and 69,000 equivalent album units earned, enough for a Number Two debut on the Billboard 200. Bitch somehow managed to evade the chart entirely. Time is of the essence for most pop artists, and yet her brief absence doesn’t entirely explain such an abrupt fall. What does?
