Earlier this year, I wrote an article about the highly talked about cult rom-com titled Someone Great. In the movie, Lizzo’s 2017 song “Truth Hurts” plays during Jenny’s kitchen sesh and people quickly became obsessed with the singer-songwriter. After that, I imagine there were many people like myself who rocket-launched Lizzo’s name into search bars and fell deeply in love with her. Shortly after I watched the movie and committed every verse of “Truth Hurts” to memory, Lizzo’s album Cuz I Love You came out and CAPTURED my heart. It’s rare that I find an album where every song is a banger, but this one just is—for many, complex reasons.
Naturally, I decided to Hannah-LYZE this album that has undoubtedly become my everyday go-to jam playlist. Side note: I did decide to review the deluxe version of the album because if you’re anything like me, you will NOT be able to get enough Lizzo in your ears.
“Cuz I Love You”—The first song that shares the title of the album is so beautiful and varied in the sounds and tones. With a full-bodied wail, Lizzo belts out, “I’m crying / because I love you” with bold instrumentals behind her. The song crescendos with my favorite line, “I thought that I didn’t care / I thought I was love-impaired.” The woman is clearly full of love and ready to open herself up to potential with the awesome sentiment, “Tryna open up a little more / Sorry if my heart a little slow.” Her vocals are anything but timid even as she sings about finding the courage to put herself out there, and it definitely makes me wanna wear my heart proudly on my sleeve.
“Like a Girl”—This song is full of lyrics to pump you up in a plethora of situations, especially for all the ladies, hence the title! Lizzo is the pinnacle of a thriving, independent woman with all the resources to provide an epic life for herself and empowers her listeners to do the same.
“Juice”—This song has one of my favorite lines in a song, I think, EVER. It goes, “The juice ain’t worth the squeeze / if the juice don’t look like me.” If that doesn’t boost your self-esteem through the roof, you better put it on replay until it does!
“Soulmate”—Lizzo did an incredible job with this one by making it a complete expression of self-love. She does that in more subtle ways throughout the album, but this is without a doubt a bop for days when you need a reminder about who TF you are!
“Jerome”—This song makes me wish I knew a Jerome to sing as woefully about. She clearly cared a lot about this so-called-guy, and it shows in both the beat and lyrics with a sad, swaying vibe.
“Crybaby”—I don’t know about you, but I love a good cry sesh; I think Lizzo’s in the same boat as well. Emotions are a natural part of being human, and this song builds to something really epic, making me want to cry triumphant joys at how amazing this singer-songwriter is.
“Tempo (ft. Missy Elliott)”—”Tempo” becomes the first song with a feature on the Cuz I Love You album, and it could NOT be a better-suited one, IMO. Missy Elliott, as proclaimed by Lizzo herself, is a huge inspiration to her music and energy as a whole. So the duo is a darn right dream and creates the love child of rap and pop to make a plus-size anthem to shake the bass in the club, in the car or anywhere with speakers worthy of the pizazz and spunk these two have together.
“Exactly How I Feel (ft. Gucci Mane)“—With the second feature on CILY, Lizzo’s pipes complement the rap portions of this song really well. She clearly knows the sound she wants, and this accomplishes something great… but I could (and pretty much have) said that about every song.
“Better in Color”—One of my ABSOLUTE favorites on this album, it’s such a sweet message about love, acceptance and equality. We love a cross-genre artist who advocates for equality with a song like this.
“Heaven Help Me”—I am going out on a limb to say “Heaven Help Me” is my favorite song on the album. The section “Y’all, who you think you sassing? / Say whoa, baby I’m a classic / Say whoa, silent like a Hitchcock / Say whoa, got you goin’ psycho / Oh no, don’t you get your Sheera / Say whoa, catch you with the tick tock / Say whoa, time’s up on these motherf***ers / Say whoa, what you say, what you say, sucker?” gets stuck in my head without fail two to three times a day. Also the line, “If love ain’t dead, I’mma kill it ‘cause it’s killing me” is catchy beyond belief.
“Lingerie”—Another song all about self-love, this is a surefire way to boost your sex appeal when you’re feeling less than desirable or just an awesome slow jam in general.
“Boys”— A song all about boys? Sounds like the story of my life! This is such an energetic tune, and the content is right up my boy-crazy alley.
“Truth Hurts”—Popularized by its appearance in Someone Great, this song always boosts my mood. ALWAYS. I haven’t yet used the line, “I just took a DNA test / Turns out I’m 100% that B***CH” as an instagram caption, but I definitely plan on it. Every single line is an earworm. If you’re gonna memorize one Lizzo song, this is one I would highly recommend.
“Water Me”—This song also has themes of self-care and prioritizing personal needs. It also alludes to a saucy, bedroom bop that might leave you needing a tall glass of water to quench the thirst. She reigns a queen on this song, but did we expect anything less?
So in conclusion, this album is a work of art, Lizzo is a national treasure, and you should all listen to each song accordingly. And you wanna know why I’m telling you to do this? Well, Cuz I Love You!