115: Lizzo And The End of Genre (with Sam Harris of X Ambassadors)

On her new album, Cuz I Love You, Lizzo shows off her genre bending musicality. We speak with X Ambassador's lead singer, Sam Harris, who helped co-write three songs on the album, including its eponymous track. We discuss how Lizzo's songs glide across sixties soul, seventies rock rock, eighties new wave, and nineties hip-hop. But we find that her music is much more than a history lesson in genre. Lizzo's writes vulnerable and courageous lyrics about self love, body positivity, female empowerment, and black identity. Rather than craft a singular sound for her album, Lizzo utilizes the genre that best fits the message of any given song. Her subversion of genre to the mood of her lyric matches changes in music consumption. According to Chartmetric, more people than ever are listening across genres to context based playlists. Does this mean genre no longer matters? Nate and Charlie try to find out with the help of Lizzo's genre busting music.

Songs Discussed

• Lizzo - Better In Color
• Lizzo - Cuz I Love You
• Lizzo - Juice
• Lizzo - Tempo
• Missy Elliott - Get Ur Freak On
• Lizzo - Jerome
• Radiohead - Creep
• Led Zeppelin - Royal Orleans
• Prince - When Doves Cry
• Lizzo - Exactly How I Feel (ft. Gucci Mane)
• Aretha Franklin - Respect
• Aretha Franklin - Say A Little Prayer
• Aretha Franklin - Chain Of Fools
• Aretha Franklin - I Knew You Were Waiting
• Eurythmics ft. Aretha Franklin - Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves

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