''Special'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper and singer

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo (), is an American singer and rapper. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of ten. After college, she moved to Minn ...

, released by Nice Life and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

on July 15, 2022. It was preceded by the lead single "

About Damn Time "About Damn Time" is a song by American singer and rapper Lizzo, released on April 14, 2022, by Nice Life Recordings and Atlantic Records as the lead single from her fourth studio album '' Special'' (2022). The song reached number one in the U ...

", released on April 14, 2022, which reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and the top ten in twelve other countries. ''Special,'' has been described by critics as a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, and R&B album. It received positive reviews from music critics. The album peaked at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, becoming, at the time, the highest-charting album by a female artist in 2022, as well as the largest week by units earned, among all albums released by women in 2022. It reached the top ten on the UK, Australian, Canadian, Hungary, and New Zealand album charts. At the

65th Annual Grammy Awards The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year – October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022 – as de ...

, the album received nominations for Album of the Year and

Best Pop Vocal Album The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality vocal pop music albums. Awards in several ...

, while “About Damn Time” won

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

, with additional nominations for Song of the Year and

Best Pop Solo Performance The Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guides, the Best Pop S ...

Background

Lizzo released her third studio album and major-label debut studio album, ''

Cuz I Love You ''Cuz I Love You'' is the third studio album and major label debut studio album by American rapper Lizzo. It was released through Nice Life and Atlantic Records on April 19, 2019. The album features guest appearances from fellow American rappers ...

'', on April 19, 2019. The album was met with positive reviews and peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the

62nd Annual Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Ali ...

, contributing to Lizzo receiving the most nominations at the ceremony. The album also won the award for Best Urban Contemporary Album. In October 2020, Lizzo announced that her fourth studio album was nearing completion, saying she had "a few more songs to write". In January 2021, American singer

SZA Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA ( ), is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her diaristic lyrics and genre explorations, she has been credited as a prominent figure in influencing contemporary R& ...

confirmed to have heard new material from Lizzo. In August 2021, Lizzo announced "

Rumors A rumor (American English), or rumour (British English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences; derived from Latin 'noise'), is an unverified piece of information circulating among people, especial ...

", her first song after two years, which was released on August 13. The standalone single features fellow American rapper

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Cephus (; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper. Noted for her unfiltered public image and lyrics, Cardi B is one of the most successful female rappers. From 2015 to early 2017, she ga ...

. During her keynote speech at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

festival in March 2022, Lizzo announced that her album was finished, saying "It’s done so it’s coming very very soon…and it’s good. I worked real hard on it, so it better be good."

Production and recording

Recording for "Special" began in 2018, but the tracks that made up the album only started to be recorded in September 2021 and was finished by March 2022. In an interview with

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reed Lowe (born 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence through pr ...

for

Apple Music 1 Apple Music 1, previously branded as Beats 1, is a 24/7 music radio station owned and operated by Apple Inc. It is accessible through iTunes or the Apple Music app on a computer, smartphone or tablet, smart speaker (such as the Apple HomePod), a ...

in April 2022, Lizzo explained that the album was originally titled ''In Case Nobody Told You'' until

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
AllMusic known professional ...

helped her "restructure" the hook of the song "Special", which she then changed the title of the album to. In another interview with

in July 2022, Lizzo talked about the origins of the track "Coldplay", with

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

lead singer

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the vocalist, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Martin went to University Colleg ...

briefly appearing in the interview as well. The track features a monologue by Lizzo where she talks about a recent vacation in which she "was with somebody, and I was just looking at the stars. And I was with him, and I was singing

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

"]."

Promotion

On March 21, 2022, Lizzo previewed the single "About Damn Time" on ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'', with a release date of April 14. Shortly after the release of the song and its accompanying music video, Lizzo formally announced ''Special'', with a release date of July 15. On July 6, Lizzo revealed the tracklist of ''Special'' on her

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

account by showing the back cover of its

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

packaging..

Singles

" was released on April 14, 2022, as the lead single of the album. The song was a commercial success peaking at the top of the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

in the US as well as reaching top 3 in 7 other countries. On July 18, 2022 "

2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) "2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)" is a song by American singer and rapper Lizzo, from her fourth studio album ''Special'' (2022). It was released to Italian radio on July 18, 2022, as the album's second single, while in the United States, it impacted ...

" was released to Italian radio as the album's second single. In the United States the song impacted

hot adult contemporary radio Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, ...

on August 1, 2022, and

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

, as well as

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...

radio on August 2, 2022. The

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

was released on January 13, 2023, as the album's third single. While "Special" was rumored to have a remix featuring American singer

dating back to November 2022, it was finally confirmed by Lizzo on her social media accounts when she announced the official remix. The "Special" Remix featuring

was released on February 9, 2023.

Promotional singles

"Grrrls" was released on June 10, 2022, as the album's first promotional single.

Tour

On April 25, 2022, Lizzo announced a full arena tour in support of the album, starting on September 23, 2022, in

Sunrise, Florida Sunrise is a city in central-western Broward County, Florida, Broward County, Florida, United States, and is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 97,335 at the time of the 2020 census. History Early history In ...

and ending on June 2, 2023, in

Thousand Palms, California Thousand Palms is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 7,967 at the 2020 census, up from 7,715 at the 2010 census. Geography Thousand Palms is located at . It ...

Latto Alyssa Michelle Stephens (born December 22, 1998), known professionally as Latto (formerly known as Mulatto), is an American rapper and singer-songwriter from Atlanta. She first appeared on Jermaine Dupri's reality television series ''The Rap G ...

opened for the tour.

Critical reception

Reviews

''Special'' received generally positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

upon its initial release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 78, based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Writing for ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'' David Smyth states that "This time she'll sweep an older generation into her gang too. Many of the biggest tunes channel Seventies disco and Eighties synthpop" and added "It's clear she isn’t an outsider any more. This is her world, and we're lucky to live in it." In an article for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', reviewer Helen Brown pointed that ''Special'' is overflowing with love and gratitude to friends, family, lovers and fans and added that izzo'srap flow has a terrific tensile strength and said that when singing, she delivers as both a belter and a breathy balladeer. Special is good as hell." ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' contributor Nick Levine gave the album four out of five stars, observing that "Lizzo's overwhelmingly positive message, ''Special'' is sometimes a bit cheesy," before concluding that "Lizzo knows exactly who she is as an artist and what she wants to achieve: she's the bad bitch with an incredible talent for making people feel good". In a more mixed reception of the album, Sam Franzini of ''

The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...

'' believed that for "most songs on Special, there is a rawer, more real iteration somewhere else in Lizzo’s catalog," and that having the "glossiest pop sheen steamrolled over them, erasing any wrinkles or mishaps" removed "the exact thing that made izzo's songsendearing to begin with." ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' published two contrasting reviews of the album, with John Amen scoring the album 7/10 and commenting that "''Special'' is as much a celebration of the Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook cosmos as it is an in-person, post-Covid bacchanal." while Nick Malone scored the album 4/10 and wrote that "''Special'' is such a disappointment because you can hear the better album Lizzo is capable of making."

Controversy over word choice

The song "Grrrls" earned controversy for its use of the word "

spaz In medicine, the adjective spastic refers to an alteration in muscle tone affected by the medical condition spasticity, which is a well-known symptomatic phenomenon seen in patients with a wide range of central neurological disorders, including s ...

" in its lyrics "I'mma spaz / I'm about to knock somebody out". As Australian

disability advocate The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all disabled people. It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocates, around t ...

Hannah Diviney Hannah Diviney is an Australian actress, activist, and author. Diviney plays Norah in the 2024 black comedy ''Audrey''. For that role she was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress in Film at the 14th AACTA Awards. She w ...

pointed out, the word is an

ableist Ableism (; also known as ablism, disablism (British English), anapirophobia, anapirism, and disability discrimination) is discrimination and social prejudice against physically or mentally disabled people. Ableism characterizes people as they are ...

slur, and other fans agreed. Some internet users claimed that "spaz" is used differently in

African-American Vernacular English African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is the variety of English natively spoken, particularly in urban communities, by most working- and middle-class African Americans and some Black Canadians. Having its own unique grammatical, voc ...

and is synonymous with "freaking out," but disability organizations in the UK and the US have criticized its use. Shortly afterwards, Lizzo issued an apology and released an updated version of the song, stating, "I never want to promote derogatory language." The updated song lyrics replace "I'mma spaz" with "Hold me back".

Commercial performance

In the United States, ''Special'' debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with 69,000 equivalent album units sold in its first week, becoming Lizzo's highest-charting album to date. It was the highest-charting album by a female artist in 2022, as well as the largest week by units earned, among all albums released by women in 2022 until it was surpassed by

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

's ''

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

'' and later by

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

's ''

Midnights ''Midnights'' is the tenth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on October 21, 2022, by Republic Records. She conceived ''Midnights'' as a concept album about nocturnal ruminations inspired by her sleepl ...

''.

Track listing

Notes

* signifies an additional producer * signifies a co-producer * "About Damn Time" samples the song " Hey DJ" performed by

The World's Famous Supreme Team The World's Famous Supreme Team was an American hip hop radio show duo and recording group active from 1979 to 1991. The original members were Sedivine the Mastermind (Larry Price) and Just Allah the Superstar (Ronald Larkins Jr.). Career The g ...

, as written by

Malcolm McLaren Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English fashion designer and music manager. He was a promoter and a manager for punk rock and new wave bands such as New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and ...

, Ronald Larkins, Larry Price and

Stephen Hague Stephen Hague (born 1960) is an American record producer most active with various British acts since the 1980s. Early life Hague was born in Portland, Maine, in 1960. Early career Hague started his musical career in the mid-1970s as a session ...

. * "Grrrls" samples the song "

Girls A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. While the term ''girl'' has other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.com, "Girl"'' Retrieved January 2, 2008. ''daughter'' or ''girlfriend'' regardless of age, ...

" performed by

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

, as written by Beastie Boys and

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

. * "I Love You Bitch" samples the song "I Hate You Bitch" performed by

Z-Ro Joseph Wayne McVey (born January 19, 1977), better known by his stage names Z-Ro and the Mo City Don, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. He was named one of America's most underrated rappers by ''The New York Times'' in 2007. Early life ...

, as written by Z-Ro and Mike Dean. * "Break Up Twice" interpolates the song "

Doo Wop (That Thing) "Doo Wop (That Thing)" is a song by American rapper and singer Lauryn Hill from her debut solo studio album, '' The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill'' (1998). It was written and produced by Hill. The song was released to radio as her solo debut and ...

", as written and performed by

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American musician. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the popular music, m ...

. * "Naked" samples the song " Summer Madness" written and performed by

Kool & The Gang Kool & the Gang is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964. Its founding members include brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell (musician), Ronald Bell (also known as " ...

. * "Coldplay" samples the song "

" performed by

, as written by

Guy Berryman Guy Rupert Berryman (born 12 April 1978) is a Scottish musician, songwriter, producer, businessman and designer. He is best known as the bassist of the rock band Coldplay and electronic supergroup Apparatjik. Raised in Kirkcaldy, he starte ...

Jonny Buckland Jonathan Mark Buckland (born 11 September 1977) is a British musician and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Raised in Pantymwyn, he started to play guitar at an early age, taking ins ...

, and

Will Champion William Champion (born 31 July 1978) is an English musician and songwriter. He is best known as the drummer and percussionist of the Rock music, rock band Coldplay. Raised in Southampton, he learned to play numerous instruments during his yout ...

; and "Sudden Death" performed and written by

Quelle Chris Gavin Christopher Tennille (born October 19, 1984), known as Quelle Chris, is an American record producer, rapper and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. He has released over 15 albums as a solo act and with his collaborative projects. Career Te ...

& Chris Keys.

Personnel

Musicians

– vocals (all tracks),

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

(track 2) * Phoelix – bass,

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

(1) *

Thomas Pridgen Thomas Armon Pridgen (born November 23, 1983) is an American drummer, best known for his role as the drummer of The Mars Volta from 2006 until 2009. He is touring with rapper Residente and is the drummer for hardcore punk band Trash Talk, as w ...

– drums (1, 8) * Nate Mercereau – electric guitar (1, 2, 8, 9, 11); acoustic guitar, bass, drums, piano (11) * Lemar Guillary – horns arrangement, trombone (1, 6, 8) *

Ricky Reed Eric Burton Frederic (born January 15, 1982), known professionally as Ricky Reed, is an American record producer, singer, songwriter, and the founder of Nice Life Recording Company. In 2005, he formed the musical project Wallpaper., which las ...

–

(1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 12), bass (2, 6, 8); additional vocals, horns arrangement,

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( ; or , : bells and : play) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the v ...

, guitar, synthesizer (2); instrumentation, keyboards (8, 9) * Michael Cordone – trumpet (1, 2, 6, 8) * Blake Slatkin – programming (2, 3), additional vocals (2); instrumentation, keyboards (3) * Chawntá Van – additional vocals (2) * Doshiniq Green – additional vocals (2) * Myke Wright – additional vocals (2) * Shelbeniece Swain – additional vocals (2) *

Victor Indrizzo Victor Indrizzo (born September 23, 1967) is an American session musician, primarily known for playing the drums, as well as a songwriter and producer. Indrizzo was born in Freeport, Long Island, New York. He has toured, recorded and worked wit ...

– drums, percussion (2, 8) * Jesse McGinty – saxophone, trombone (2) *

Terrace Martin Terrace Jamahl Martin (born December 28, 1978) is an American musician, rapper, singer, and record producer. He is perhaps best known for producing records for several prominent artists in the music industry, including Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dog ...

–

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''vo''ice and en''coder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder wa ...

(2) *

Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer and songwriter. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall ...

– instrumentation, keyboards, programming, vocals (3) *

Ilya Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, Ilija, or Illia ( , or ; ; ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/ Jah." It comes from the Byzantine Greek pronunciation of the vocative (Ilía) of the Greek Eli ...

– instrumentation (3), programming (3, 4); arrangement, background vocals, bass, drums, guitar (4); additional programming (6) * Chris Keys - Instrumentation (12) *

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
AllMusic known professional ...

– instrumentation (3, 6), programming (3, 4, 6); arrangement, background vocals, bass, drums, guitar (4) *

Rickard Göransson Rickard Bertil Göransson is a Swedish songwriter, producer, and musician. He was the lead guitarist for American alternative rock band Carolina Liar. He has written and produced for artists including Ariana Grande, Jessie J, Nicki Minaj, Avril L ...

– bass, guitar (4) * Peter Carlsson – drums, guitar (4) *

Pop Wansel Andrew "Pop" Wansel (born April 27, 1988) is an American songwriter and record producer from Philadelphia. The son of Philadelphia soul musician Dexter Wansel, Pop grew up in the music industry and began writing and producing his own music at t ...

– instrumentation, programming (3, 6, 8, 9); keyboards (6, 8, 9) * Johan Carlsson – organ, piano (4) * Jasper Harris – piano (5) * Daoud – guitar (6, 9); instrumentation, keyboards, piano, programming,

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

solo, saxophone (6) *

Ian Kirkpatrick Ian Andrew Kirkpatrick (born 24 May 1946) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. Described as "supremely athletic, fast, fearless and with an uncanny sense of anticipation", Kirkpatrick is widely regarded as one of the greatest flankers ...

– instrumentation, keyboards, programming (6, 8, 9) * Donald Hayes – saxophone (6, 8) *

Nick Movshon Nicholas Anthony Movshon (born March 17, 1982) is an American bass guitarist, drummer and songwriter, best known for his considerable contributions to the New York funk and soul revival. A frequent contributor to the recorded output of Brooklyn- ...

– bass (7) * Larry Gold – conductor, string arrangement (7) * Tommy Brenneck – guitar (7) *

Leon Michels Leon Marcus Michels () (born 1982) is an American Record producer, music producer, Music executive, record executive, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist best known as the leader of the eclectic soul project El Michels Affair and co-founder of ...

– keyboards (7) *

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

– keyboards, string arrangement (7) *

Ian Hendrickson-Smith Ian Hendrickson-Smith (born February 10, 1974) is an American jazz saxophonist. He is best known for being a former member of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings from 2004 to 2010 and playing with The Roots on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''. ...

– saxophone (7) * Raymond J. Mason – trombone (7) *

Dave Guy David Anthony Guy (born December 9, 1978) is an American trumpet player. Since 2014, he has played with The Roots, including on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''. Over his more than two decade career, he has been part of the groups Shar ...

– trumpet (7) * Jonathan Kim – viola (7) * Yoshihiko Nakano – viola (7) * Blake Espy – violin (7) * Chris Jusell – violin (7) * Emma Kummrow – violin (7) * Gared Crawford – violin (7) * Luigi Mazzocchi – violin (7) * Natasha Colkett – violin (7) *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', '' Rock with Y ...

– horns arrangement (10) * Jordan Johnson – instrumentation, keyboards, programming (10) *

Stefan Johnson The Monsters & Strangerz are an American production and songwriting team from Miami, Florida. The team features The Monsters: Alexander " Eskeerdo" Izquierdo, Stefan Johnson, and Jordan K. Johnson and The Strangerz: Marcus "Marc Lo" Lomax and Cla ...

– instrumentation, programming (10) * Michael Pollack – keyboards (10) *

Dan Higgins Dan Higgins (born January 28, 1957, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States) is an American saxophone and woodwind player. He has worked with such artists as John Williams, Seth MacFarlane, Aerosmith, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Al Jarreau, M ...

– saxophone (10) *

Andy Martin Anthony Robert Martin-Trigona, usually known as Andy Martin (born 1945) is an American perennial candidate who has never been elected to office, running as both a Democrat and a Republican. He is a vexatious litigant who has filed over 250 po ...

– trombone (10) *

Wayne Bergeron Wayne Bergeron (born January 16, 1958) is an American trumpeter. Bergeron rose to prominence as a member of Maynard Ferguson's band in the 1980s. Since then, he has worked on over 500 TV and motion picture soundtracks. As a lead and studio pla ...

– trumpet (10) *

Kid Harpoon Thomas Edward Percy Hull (born 20 April 1982), known professionally as Kid Harpoon, is a British songwriter, record producer, and musician. In 2023, he won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and the Brit Award for Songwriter of the Year for ...

– drum programming,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

, pianosynthesizer (11) *

– additional vocals (12) * Jon Kubis – string arrangement (12) *

Ray Chew Ray Chew (born 7 September 1958) is an American musician who plays keyboards and is a contemporary and orchestral arranger. He has been the music director of ABC's ''Dancing with the Stars'' since 2014. Biography Chew grew up in the Grant Hous ...

– string arrangement (12) * Adrianne Woods – cello (12) * Ryan Cross – cello (12) * Chris Woods – viola (12) * Jarvis Benson – viola (12) * Jonah Sirota – viola (12) * Leah Katz – viola (12) *

Charlie Bisharat Charlie Bisharat (born March 15, 1963) is an American violinist known as a member of Shadowfax and for his work in film and with other new age jazz artists. Life and career He was born in Inglewood, California, in 1963 to Palestinian parents w ...

– violin (12) * Daphne Chen – violin (12) * Jenny Takamatsu – violin (12) * Marissa Kuney – violin (12) * Melissa Reiner – violin (12) * Radu Pieptea – violin (12) * Richard Adkins – violin (12) * Songa Lee – violin (12)

Technical

* Emerson Mancini – mastering *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...

– mixing (1, 2, 7–12) *

Serban Ghenea Serban Ghenea () is a Canadian audio engineer and mixer. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award a total of 45 times and has won 21 times. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Romania, and in 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. H ...

– mixing (3–6) * Ricky Reed – mixing (7) * Bill Malina –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

(1, 2, 6, 8, 12) * Patrick Kehrier – engineering (1–9, 12), engineering assistance (10, 11) * Benny Blanco – engineering (3) * Ilya – engineering (3) * Damien Lewis – engineering (6, 8, 9) * Ian Kirkpatrick – engineering (6, 8, 9) * Jacob Ferguson – engineering (7) * Jeff Chestek – engineering (7) * Jens Jungkurth – engineering (7) * Stefan Johnson – engineering (10) * Jeremy Hatcher – engineering (11) * Bryce Bordone – mix engineering (6), mixing assistance (3–5) * Andrew Hey – horns engineering (10) * Anthony Vilchis – mixing assistance (1, 2, 7–12) * Trey Station – mixing assistance (1, 2, 7–12) * Zach Pereyra – mixing assistance (1, 2, 7–12) * Chad Gordon – engineering assistance (1) * James Kirk – engineering assistance (2) * Piéce Eatah – engineering assistance (2) * Trey Pearce – engineering assistance (2) * Nate Ramer – engineering assistance (11) * Tom Peltier – engineering assistance (11) * Ira Grylack – engineering assistance (12)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Lizzo 2022 albums Albums produced by Benny Blanco Albums produced by Blake Slatkin Albums produced by Ilya Salmanzadeh Albums produced by Max Martin Albums produced by Omer Fedi Albums produced by Quelle Chris Albums produced by Ricky Reed Atlantic Records albums Lizzo albums Obscenity controversies in music