Grrrls Controversy Explained: Lizzo Changed A Line In “Grrrls” After People Criticised It. “I Never Want To Promote Derogatory Language,” She Said.
Lizzo has responded to the criticism she’s gotten about an ableist line in her new song “Grrrls,” saying that the line has been changed on streaming services.
Lizzo sang in the first verse of the song when it came out for the first time last Friday, June 10: “Hold my bag, bitch, hold my bag/Do you see this s***? I’mma sp*z.”
The censored term is used in the US in a way that is similar to “freak out” or “go crazy.” It comes from the word “spastic,” which is used in medicine to describe spasms caused by conditions like cerebral palsy. People with disabilities like cerebral palsy are often made fun of when this word is used to describe them.
After the song came out, fans and activists for people with disabilities took to social media to say how disappointed they were with the lyric. Some people asked for the song to be taken down and re-uploaded without that line, which Lizzo and her label did overnight. The first line of the song’s first verse now says, “Do you see this s***? Hold me back.”
Listen to the difference for yourself:
Lizzo has also said something about the controversy on her social media pages. She wrote, “Let me be clear: I never want to promote offensive language. As a fat black woman in America, I’ve had many hurtful words said to me, so I know how powerful words can be, whether they’re said on purpose or by accident.
She went on to say that she changed the lyrics because she “listened to her critics and did something about it.” She also said, “As an influential artist, I’m committed to being part of the change I’ve been waiting to see in the world.” Here is the full sentence:
— FOLLOW @YITTY (@lizzo) June 13, 2022
Grrrls was Lizzo’s second taste of her upcoming fourth album, “Special,” which will be released on July 15 by Nice Life and Atlantic. It is the follow-up to 2019’s “Cuz I Love You,” and the single “About Damn Time” will be on it.
Lizzo called the album “one of [her] most musically badass, daring, and sophisticated bodies of work” earlier this year. She also said she was “shocked” to find out that it is a “love album.”
A new HBO documentary, which hasn’t been given a name yet, will also be about the singer and rapper’s life. It will be directed by Doug Pray, who was the executive producer of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine’s 2018 docuseries The Defiant Ones, and it will give fans “an intimate look into the moments that shaped [Lizzo’s] hard-earned rise to fame, success, love, and international stardom.”
Lizzo, on the other hand, just announced dates for a North American arena tour that will start in September.
