“This is going to be one of the greatest nights of all time.”
Spoken from this year’s leading soulful philanthropist, singer, rapper, and model Lizzo, the deafening applause to this statement reverberated through Brixton’s O2 Academy for an extensive 5 consecutive minutes. My admiration for this powerhouse performer began earlier this year with her string of funk-ridden trap-pop bangers, ‘Juice’ and ‘Truth Hurts’, taken from her latest third LP, Cuz I Love You. With an overriding message of acceptance and self-love no matter your size, creed or colour, the infectious positivity behind our leader Lizzo’s campaign at last graced us with her presence for what turned out to be one of the most hotly-anticipated shows this year. But would it be one of the greatest nights of all time?
For the second night of this packed-out, in-demand sermon, we found our respective pews amongst the pit in which Lizzo eventually appeared at the pulpit imminently exuding her powerful soul-trap repertoire with ‘Heaven Help Me’ and ‘Cuz I Love You’. From the emotional outburst unleashed from tonight’s leader, Lizzo thereafter paid her due respects to her predecessors - namely Aretha Franklin’s empowering single ‘Respect’ which continued the upbeat, joyful inception to this less-than-PG sermon.
Through this essential narrative of self-love and independence, the ballads eventually entered into the fray with ‘Scuse Me’ and ‘Jerome’ offering another layer of emotional vulnerability to Lizzo’s repertoire. Yet as triumphantly exuberant the twerk-off to the Missy Elliott-featured ‘Tempo’ eluded, the overall lack of instrumentation and underwhelming nature to Lizzo’s singular on-stage DJ proved all too apparent. As felt with her previous Glastonbury performance this past summer, the soulful gravitas of this set was equally reliant on the backing instrumentation’s bravado, too. In spite of this apparent pitfall, the sporadic dance breaks sprinkled throughout Lizzo’s set marked as an apt sign for the changing times of popular expression in the current music scene - one just as tongue-in-cheek as it is empowering.
"I don't need a crown to know that I'm a queen."
Lizzo’s larger-than-life community ultimately galvanised for the euphoric ending to tonight’s sermon. Reeling out the soulful trap-pop bangers of ‘Good as Hell’, ‘Truth Hurts’, and ‘Juice’, the crowd unequivocally jumped together, sang together, and drank together with Lizzo ceremoniously finishing her bottle of liquor on stage. The latter track ultimately triumphed as a feel-good finale in this evening’s reclamation of power and self-acceptance against prejudice - with the soulful singer acting as a shining beacon of hope in a world where such divisions are all the more prone to insidiously permeating.
In concluding this particular sermon within Brixton tonight, I feel as if I must ‘tread lightly’ in conjunction with Lizzo’s scathing words against music critics earlier this year - so, wish me luck. After an insatiable year, topping music charts and selling out tours worldwide, Lizzo has righteously concluded this year as a self-acclaimed Queen - offering a type of empowerment and acceptance which remains unmatched by many of her contemporaries. Regardless of the apparent void in her musical entourage, Lizzo’s essential presence (vocally and visibly) on this memorable evening marked a change in the pop-sphere as we know it - proving herself as an indelible orator whom we should cherish for years to come.
8/10
Lizzo's latest LP, Cuz I Love You, is out now and can be found here.
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