Lizzo saves the day in the video for ‘Special’, which was released on the 1st February, giving us more reason to regard her as a hero of pop. The song is the title track from her album released in July last year and was released as a single on the 13th January reaching number eight in the Billboard US R&B/ Hip Hop Digital Song Sales.
The video for ‘Special’ sees Lizzo living a classic superhero secret double life – by day she’s a hard-done-by waitress but at night she shines as a not-to-be-messed-with super. She saves little girls from being hit by traffic, stops thieves from snatching purses, and prevents robbers from stealing from cash registers all whilst in a lycra purple suit and matching mask. As always Lizzo brings her jubilant humour to the video. She unintentionally sneaks a peek at construction workers with her x-ray vision and catches spitballs directed at her whilst she waitresses. The highlight of the video is the ending in which the little girl she saved comes into Lizzo’s diner dressed in her purple costume and with a figure of the hero. Both as a fictional superhero and as a singer in IRL she’s an inspiration to the next generation bringing much-needed representation for plus-size black women.
The video matches motivational message of the song perfectly. In the lyrics, Lizzo discusses the constant stream of criticism she receives from the media and the internet with the opening lyric, “Woke up this mornin’ to somebody in a video/Talkin’ about somethin’ I posted in a video”. She asks if the hate she receives is because “I’m black and heavy?” but doesn’t dwell on it since she says, “I’m so in love with me”. She reassures her listeners who also receive hate that they aren’t alone as well as reminding them they are special. In this way, Lizzo really is a superhero.
Lizzo has been riding high for quite some time now. Last year, her album Special charted around the world and achieved the number two spot on the Billboard 200. She is just about to start the second leg of her world tour in Europe, which will see her come to the UK in early March before she returns to Canada and the US where it will finish in June. Earlier this month Lizzo won ‘Record of the Year’ at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards with her song ‘About Damn Time’ and gave a moving speech in which she thanked Prince and Beyoncé. Most recently Lizzo delivered a glitzy glittertastic medley of ‘Special’, ‘2 Be Loved’, and ‘About Damn Time’ at the BRITS in a fabulous light pink corset with huge over-the-top fluffy boning that extended over the singer’s head, a bit like a furry clam. The singer never fails to entertain.
The ultimate team-up we didn’t know we needed was gifted to us on the 9th February with a remix of ‘Special’ featuring SZA’s stunning voice adding background vocals. This dream collab will uplift you even more than the original.
Words By: Molly Sutherland
Header Image: Lizzo, ‘Special’
