Cuz I Love YOu

In all the time I did college radio I bet I can count the number of real requests our show received on one hand. 

Our friends loved to call and request things that often we couldn't (or sometimes wouldn't) play, but when you do the late night weekend shift you don't really get much in the way of calls. I seem to remember us getting a few web requests, but  all of that was a long time ago and I feel lucky to remember it at all.

The point here is that direct requests aren't something I both get many of or actually act upon. It might seem that everything I write about is reactionary to what others have said, but that'll always happen when one has no early access to upcoming records. I'm slightly behind the press but try and stay ahead of what's out there. I don't always make it.

Recently my wife gave me a request along the lines of "you should review the new Lizzo album." When I checked over our vacation there was only a large list of singles on Spotify. My wife was ahead of the curve. One week later we all got Cuz I Love You, and it's so worth it.

If I weren't writing about it I would never have known that Cuz I Love You is actually the third album by Lizzo, a Detroit-born singer/rapper born Melissa Viviane Jefferson. After two independent releases, she joined forces with producer Ricky Reed, signed for Atlantic Records, and put together a record that will be blasting from every car radio for months to come. 

I can imagine it's difficult for any writer to discuss this album without mentioning how Lizzo seems to have learned so well from those that came before her. She's taken a bit of the growl of Brittany Howard and combined it with the bluesy flow of Odetta. She's as much Missy Elliot (who guests on the album) as she is Lauryn Hill. 

Lizzo knows who she is and who she wants to be. She pulls absolutely no punches through her self-love and body positivity - she is who she is and she absolutely doesn't care if you do or don't like it. She's not in it for you, your praise, or your love. It's not just refreshing, it's necessary. We need albums like this. We need people like this.

What I love best about this album is that it doesn't let one track define it. It starts off with the title track, a massive belter that could have easily stepped out of a Best Musical Tony winner. It's got some contemporary R&B flavor, it dabbles in 80's flavored pop, and it takes time with the blues. It's fun, funny, and catchy. You may not want to listen to it on repeat for hours, but I think everyone will be spending a bit of time with or around this record this summer.