Album Review: Lizzo, ‘Special’

We live in a world that’s completely different from the one that existed when Lizzo dropped Cuz I Love You in 2019. Yet, in a way that feels both comforting and concerning, the function of that album’s follow-up remained the same. As Lizzo’s first post-mainstream breakthrough album, Special, her fourth studio album, had to serve myriad interconnected purposes. Special needed to solidify Lizzo as more than a one-album wonder, situate her in a markedly different era of music, and prove that the quality and allure of Cuz I Love You was no fluke. In typical Lizzo fashion, she does it all. With a collection of songs that range from brilliant to passable, Special is pop music at its most saccharine and pure-hearted.

“About Damn Time,” Special’s lead single, recently became Lizzo’s second song to top the Billboard Hot 100. The funky track joins “Truth Hurts” as Lizzo’s only songs to reach the summit. Although the phenomenon of “Truth Hurts” is several years old, the song’s buoyant pop-rap cadences and intentionally corny lyrics inform the majority of Special. Take “2 Be Loved,” the most obvious standout on the album and the set’s second single. Sitting somewhere between Hercules’ “I Won’t Say (I’m In Love)” and Whitney Houston’s most audacious late 80s pop confections, “2 Be Loved” finds Lizzo delivering one of the best pop songs of 2022. “I did the work, it didn't work, ah, ah / That truth, it hurts, goddamn it hurts, ah, ah,” she croons in the song’s first verse. Lizzo and Max Martin, who co-produced the track alongside Ilya, create a wondrous moment of contrast between the ebullient synths and her anxious lyrics. Once the fire of a kiss-off anthem fades, what do you do with the self-doubt that lingers in its wake? For Lizzo, the answer is talking herself back into the game (“2 Be Loved”) and linking up with the people who will always be in her corner — her friends.

“Grrrls,” the album’s lone pre-release single which embroiled Lizzo in some controversy, and “Birthday Girl” both find Lizzo relying on and strengthening her platonic friendships. Lizzo’s kaleidoscopic approach to love in her music encompasses different iterations of the universal phenomenon. Today’s pop music can often feel like it is forced into a dichotomy between romantic and self-love, but Special offers some genuine reflections on platonic love that fall in line with Saweetie & Doja Cat’s “Best Friend.” The debate about whether or not Lizzo should be classified as a “rapper” has died down in recent months, but both “Grrrls” and “Birthday Girl” find her leaning into a rap-dominant cadence. They’re fun campy moments that showcase the sweet spot of her penchant for cheesy lyrics. In fact, Lizzo and camp go hand in hand. Only she can pull off flipping Z-Ro’s “I Hate You Bitch” into a genuinely moving love song that’s applicable to virtually every kind of relationship (“I Love You Bitch”). There’s also “Special,” a happy-go-lucky empowerment anthem that recalls the days of Andy Grammer. As is often the case with Lizzo, the conviction in her vocal performance prevents her songs from feeling hollow; when she sings “I'm so glad that you're still with us / Broken, but damn, you're still perfect,” she really means every word.

Lizzo shapeshifts through myriad genres across Special, but her R&B moments are among the album’s brightest. R&B still seems to be finding its way out of its murky midtempo era, but Lizzo’s R&B always feels maximalist. Whether it’s in her vocal performance or the track’s production (take the Grammy-winning “Jerome,” for example), Lizzo’s R&B songs are grand. “Naked,” on the other hand, bottles that maximalism into something extremely delicate and tender. It’s an incredibly intimate moment on a staunchly forward-facing album. “I've seen every part of me and, babe, I can't erase it / If I get on top of you, you promise to embrace it,” she croons across Pop Wansel’s smooth Kool & the Gang-sampling beat. Quieter moments like this and the country-pop-influenced “If You Love Me” add beautiful pockets of nuance and variation to Special. Nonetheless, Special isn’t without its inconsistencies. “Break Up Twice,” which interpolates Lauryn Hill’s seminal “Doo Wop (That Thing),” struggles to rise above the recognizability of Ms. Hill’s track. Conceptually, it’s probably the album’s most intriguing song, but the sample is so obvious that it becomes a distraction. Similarly, the garage-inflected “The Sign” fails to deliver; the album’s opener effortlessly transports us to Summer 2020, and its rock edge keeps things interesting, but the lyrics are too trite for the song’s good. “Coldplay,” on the other hand, makes for a surprisingly vulnerable closer. The track, which samples both Coldplay’s “Yellow” and Quelle Chris & Chris Keys's “Sudden Death,” finds Lizzo flexing her falsetto as she fully embraces love despite all of her fears.

Special, in the purest sense, gets the job done. Lizzo’s latest may not be as consistent as Cuz I Love You, nor does it reach that album’s highs at any point, but it’s undoubtedly a worthwhile exercise in recognizing the overarching influence of Black music and Lizzo’s innate ability to craft some of the most infectious pop songs of the current era.

Vote for Lizzo at the 2023 Bulletin Awards.

Score: 68

Key Tracks: “2 Be Loved” | “I Love You Bitch” | “If You Love Me” | “Everybody’s Gay” | “Naked”