friedoxygen / CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
(Melissa Viviane Jefferson)
American Singer, Rapper, Songwriter, and Flutist • born April 27, 1988 • Hip-Hop, R&B, Soul, Funk-Pop
Fast Facts
- Lizzo was named TIME’s entertainer of the year in 2019.
- “Lizzo is a combination of an early nickname, Lissa, and Jay-Z’s song ‘Izzo.’”*
- She sings. She raps. She dances. She’s also a classically trained flautist.
- Lizzo’s flute has its own Instagram account and 130,000 followers.
- “The day she released her now No. 1 Billboard single ‘Truth Hurts,’ Lizzo almost quit the music industry altogether”**
*“Lizzo: TIME’s Entertainer of the Year 2019” by Samantha Irby: https://time.com/entertainer-of-the-year-2019-lizzo/
**“Lizzo says she almost quit music the day she released her now No. 1 Billboard hit” by Jennifer Liu: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/09/lizzo-almost-quit-music-the-day-she-released-her-no-1-billboard-hit.html
Musician of the Month Project 
I created a short video to share Fast Facts with my students. The video uses the song, “Coconut Oil” and has one curse word early on that was silenced for the purpose of this recording. This video was produced in March 2022, and some facts may become outdated, such as Lizzo’s net worth. Feel free to use should you find it useful. The kids really enjoyed the song Coconut Oil! https://youtu.be/EMwTA7ySKmU
Another great Lizzo song not included in the unit is Lizzo and Caroline Smith’s song, “Let ‘Em Say” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd4aLl6A_o4 We used iconic body percussion cards and created various ostinatos to highlight the chorus/verse form of the song.