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Lizzo drops new single “Luv It,” announces “Lizzobangers” rerelease

by Ellie Fuqua

May 20, 2014

Lizzo, Minneapolis’s rising rap star, just dropped the third single, “Luv It,” from her debut album Lizzobangers. TIME (yes, TIME) premiered the song on Friday. “‘Luv It’ is an open book to my experience as a Houstonian,” the Minnesota transplant told the magazine. “I wrote it to pay homage to my earliest rap memories of free styling in the cafeteria, banging on desks. It’s a raw depiction of my rap DNA.” (Scroll down to hear the new song.)

Chosen as one of TIME's “musical acts to watch in 2014,” Lizzo has lived up to the hype. Following widespread domestic praise of Lizzobangers (2013), the artist has announced plans to rerelease the album on Minneapolis label Totally Gross National Product (US) and Virgin/EMI (internationally). The new release, for which a date has not yet been announced, will supplement the album's original 13 tracks with “Luv It” and “Paris,” a song premiered on HBO's Girls and first performed live at the Current's ninth birthday party in January.

Before heading overseas to appear at Glastonbury and other festivals, Lizzo will appear at a variety of Minnesota gigs. She's headlining the Memory Lanes Block Party in Minneapolis this weekend with her group GRRRL PRTY at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday the 24th. Lizzo will also be part of a packed Soundset lineup, performing with Lazerbeak during the Memorial Day weekend festival. Additionally, GRRRL PRTY will appear on the Bastille Day Block Party lineup this July 13.

“I am trying to be an international artist,” Lizzo told the Current's Andrea Swensson in January. “And I never want to lose support, because a part of me belongs to Minneapolis, always. I have this fear of people being upset and thinking that somebody’s changed and being hurt by it. I can’t promise that I’m not going to change, I can’t promise that GRRRL PRTY’s not going to change. Everybody changes. But realizing that change is a good thing, and that growth is a good thing, and appreciate it, and knowing that I always love Minneapolis for what they’ve done, is the most important thing that I always want to put out there.”

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/141726292" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]

Ellie Fuqua is a freshman at Macalester College. She plans to double major in international studies and media and cultural studies, and hopes to pursue journalism as a career.

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