Born in Detroit in the late 80’s, Lizzo spent much of her formative years in the church, where she was raised on the gospel sounds of The Winans, The Clark Sisters, and Fred Hammond, along with mainstay secular artists such as Stevie Wonder and Elton John. At the age of 10 her family moved to Houston, TX, and Lizzo was exposed to a wide array of emerging Southern musical styles, from the trademark chopped and screwed rap tracks of the underground, to the progressive and polished R&B sounds of groups like Destiny’s Child that were raising the city’s national profile to new heights. In fact, it was after she stumbled across a Destiny’s Child performance at Wal-Mart that Lizzo—then a 5th grader-- was inspired to start writing music on her own. Over the next decade that decision would take her through the trenches of some of the most varied musical genres: R&B girl groups (I.N.I.T.I.A.L.S., Cornrow Clique), progressive rock bands (Elypseas), solo rap ventures, and electro-pop duos (Lizzo & The Larva Ink).
In 2011 she made the move to Minneapolis with Larva Ink in order to be a part of that city’s blossoming and collaborative musical community. Lizzo & The Larva Ink was well received there, and the group earned a few encouraging nods from the press. Lizzo was soon introduced to Sophia Eris and Claire de Lune, with whom she would form The Chalice, the three-piece all-female rap/R&B group that would elevate Lizzo’s profile and reputation. In 2012 The Chalice released We Are The Chalice, an album that would gain them instant local success amongst fans and critics alike, garnering City Pages’ prestigious Best New Band and Picked To Click accolades in the same year.
The success brought setbacks, though, and a falling out soon led to the demise of Lizzo & The Larva Ink. Feeling discontent with the loss of one group and the hurried blur of success of another, Lizzo was creatively drained from writing We Are The Chalice in two short months. She found herself in the throes of her first full-blown case of writer’s block. Unable to create music for herself, she began listening to several different local albums in hopes of finding inspiration. It was LAVA BANGERS, a 20-track instrumental mixtape from Doomtree producer and Minneapolis music vet Lazerbeak, that ultimately caught her ear. Beaks’ beats proved the fix for Lizzo’s problem. “I sat at home and listened to LAVA BANGERS, and when “Lift Every Voice” came on, my writer’s block was cured,” says Lizzo. “I think it revived my gospel roots. I wrote pages and pages of songs, and finally reached out to Lazerbeak, not thinking anything would come of it.”
Her timing could not have been better. Beak, impressed with Lizzo’s output with The Chalice, as well as her guest appearances on several other local releases, was looking for a change of pace from his daily Doomtree production and business responsibilities. He immediately signed on to work on some demos. Beat tapes were exchanged, songs were written, and mutual friend and musical collaborator Ryan Olson (Totally Gross National Product founder, Gayngs/Marijuana Deathsquads mastermind) was brought on board to creatively oversee the project. Olson recorded and edited all 15 tracks in his bedroom studio, bringing in laid back hype-man Cliff Rhymes along the way to add even more layers to Lizzo’s dynamic vocals.
LIZZOBANGERS is the culmination of that four-way collaboration, an album that manages to capture all of the varied musical influences of Lizzo’s upbringing and combine them with the forward-thinking experimental production style of Beak and Olson. The end result is a brave new project that encapsulates the best parts of both the familiar and the future.
Faded
Lizzo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(I'm faded, fa-faded)
It's that L to the I to the Z Z O
Ain't got no time for the C3P0, wookie
Never knock nookie, but I'd rather stack cookies
Looking at the sunset the color of Snookie
Woman of the year, huzzah, huzzah, huzzah, give her three cheers
Cuttin' all these niggas, better sew up, stitch (yeah)
Will Smithin' these hoes, you know how I work
Punch a nigga out and say "Welcome to Earth" (word)
Drop a mil', take off a scarf
Locs on my face like "I make this look good", ugh
Capitalize your capital with a capital G (oh)
Giving out my secrets, man, ya'll better pay me
Sucky people marry suckers and they suck
Then they have sucky kids, they grow up, then what? (Yeah)
They attend all the sucky universities (word)
And take our money like it grows on trees (that's right)
Siphon to the authorities then get confused when we
Conglomerate to the inner cities
Perched on streets, being super sketchy
Skid marks on their knees (word), their hands in their pockets
(They walking by real fast in case we got that rocket)
Boom, slam the door to they apartment
That sucky wife is pregnant with another sucka ass kid
I'm askin' (word)
"When will it end? ", Waiting on that meteor shower
To rain down and bring all these suck niggas to they final hour (yup)
Don't tell us to slow it down, we won't listen
We're twenty-somethings and it's 20-something
Greenrooms, drugs and liquor and Hip Hop
We're twenty-somethings and it's 20-something
(It's the end of the world)
Rumors that the world gon' end don't faze me
I'ma get faded, I'ma get faded
Rumors that the world gon' end don't faze me
I'ma get faded, I'ma get faded
Rumors that the world gon' end don't faze me
(I'ma get faded) I'ma get faded (faded)
(Yeah, more faded, don't even say it) Yeah, faded
Faded, faded (I'ma get faded)
It don't phase me (faded)
No (no, faded)
Ohh, ayy (faded, faded)
The lyrics to Lizzo's "Faded" are a commentary on society's tendency to prioritize material possessions and superficial pleasures over deeper connections and social issues. Lizzo begins the song by proclaiming her own status and dismissing those who prioritize money and status, rather than genuine human connection. She mocks those who attend "sucky universities" and take our money like it grows on trees, alluding to a culture of consumption and greed that pervades American society.
She then shifts the focus to end-of-the-world rumors, which she seems to remain completely unbothered by, choosing instead to get "faded." The final line of the song, "No (no, faded)," seems to suggest a resistance to larger societal problems, a willingness to turn a blind eye to those things that may be uncomfortable or difficult to confront.
In essence, the song is a critique of the shallow and consumeristic aspects of millennial culture, but also reflects a kind of weariness or apathy towards larger issues. Lizzo seems to be suggesting that, in the face of such insurmountable problems, the only option may be to "get faded" and ignore them altogether.
Line by Line Meaning
(I'm faded, faded, faded, faded)
I am intoxicated.
(I'm faded, fa-faded)
I am heavily drunk.
It's that L to the I to the Z Z O
I am Lizzo.
Ain't got no time for the C3P0, wookie
I don't have time for robots and sci-fi creatures.
Never knock nookie, but I'd rather stack cookies
I don't criticize sex but I'd rather focus on making money.
Looking at the sunset the color of Snookie
I am watching the sunset.
Woman of the year, huzzah, huzzah, huzzah, give her three cheers
I am celebrating my achievement as the Woman of the Year.
Killin' everyone up in the coven, witch
I am outperforming everyone in my group.
Cuttin' all these niggas, better sew up, stitch (yeah)
I am defeating all my opponents and leaving them wounded.
Will Smithin' these hoes, you know how I work
I am wooing the women just like Will Smith does in his movies.
Punch a nigga out and say Welcome to Earth (word)
I am defeating the men and claiming my power.
Drop a mil', take off a scarf
I am spending one million dollars and removing my scarf.
Locs on my face like 'I make this look good', ugh
I am wearing sunglasses and looking good.
Capitalize your capital with a capital G (oh)
I am making money with a capital G.
Giving out my secrets, man, ya'll better pay me
I am sharing my business secrets, but people need to pay me for them.
Sucky people marry suckers and they suck
The bad people marry other bad people and they cause problems.
Then they have sucky kids, they grow up, then what? (Yeah)
Their children also end up being bad people, then what?
They attend all the sucky universities (word)
They go to mediocre colleges.
And take our money like it grows on trees (that's right)
They take our money for granted.
Siphon to the authorities then get confused when we
They pass our money to the government, then get confused.
Conglomerate to the inner cities
They create congestions in the urban areas.
Perched on streets, being super sketchy
They loiter on the streets and behave suspiciously.
Skid marks on their knees (word), their hands in their pockets
They have dirt on their clothes and their hands in their pockets.
(They walking by real fast in case we got that rocket)
They are walking quickly, afraid of being attacked.
Boom, slam the door to they apartment
They quickly enter their apartment and close the door.
That sucky wife is pregnant with another sucka ass kid
The bad wife is pregnant with another bad child.
I'm askin' (word), 'When will it end?'
I am asking when this cycle of bad people and problems will end.
Waiting on that meteor shower
I am waiting for a rare event to happen.
To rain down and bring all these suck niggas to they final hour (yup)
This event will punish all the bad people and end their cycle of ruining things.
Don't tell us to slow it down, we won't listen
People should not tell me to stop being successful or productive.
We're twenty-somethings and it's 20-something
I am in my twenties, enjoying my life.
Greenrooms, drugs and liquor and Hip Hop
I am enjoying green rooms, drugs, alcohol, and hip-hop music.
(It's the end of the world)
This may be the end of the world.
Rumors that the world gon' end don't faze me
I am not worried about rumors that the world may end.
I'ma get faded, I'ma get faded
I am going to get drunk.
(I'ma get faded) I'ma get faded (faded)
I am continuing to get drunk.
(Yeah, more faded, don't even say it) Yeah, faded
I am going to drink more and don't tell me otherwise.
Faded, faded (I'ma get faded)
I am drunk, drunk.
It don't phase me (faded)
Being drunk doesn't affect me at all.
No (no, faded)
No, being drunk doesn't matter.
Ohh, ayy (faded, faded)
Oh yeah, I'm really drunk.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Aaron Matthew Mader, Melissa Viviane Jefferson, Ryan Olson, Aaron Mader, Melissa Jefferson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jae Havoc
I honestly can't understand the amount of hate on Lizzo's videos. If you have the audacity to say you appreciate hip hop and then go on to say not that you don't like this woman's music, but to say that it's bad? Please excuse yourself from any intelligent conversation about music in the future.
Lisa Basinger
I don’t get it. 😢😢😢😢
Jae Havoc
@Darren Ringertbh any “__ is the __ of _____” is typically automatically a bad take and this is nooo exception 🤣
Darren Ringer
I mean. It's the Nickelback of hip hop. You do you.
Jae Havoc
@Nell Rose oh there are plenty of people, unfortunately
Nell Rose
who hates lizzo???!!! she's great!
Matt H
I just saw her live and she was AMAZING!! Go LIZZO!!
Kiernan
Oh boy
Kymberlyn Reed
I'm a metalhead, but Lizzo is one of the few rappers I totally dig! She's awesome, she's positive, she spits out rhymes that make me laugh and uplift. This song kicks ass. The video is interesting, especially how it starts. Oh and those bitching about her weight, unless you're taking care of her bills, food and clothes - please take several seats, preferably in the nosebleed section.
sparklejumpropequeen
I personally think this is wonderful. Seriously, how many rap songs like these have you heard before? Lizzo's talent is undeniable (check her out on New Eyes by Clean Bandit)