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Friday 23 Lifestyle | Features Friday, November 22, 2019 ountry rapper Lil Nas X on while at No 1. Lil Nas X later said he had US rapper Frank Ocean, who says he Wednesday became the first openly feared a backlash, particularly given his has dated men and women, was nomi- Cgay rap artist to be nominated in country-music fan base. “I know the peo- nated for best new album, record of the top categories at the Grammy Awards, the ple who listen to this the most, and they’re year and best new artist in 2013. The highest honors in the music industry. The not accepting of homosexuality,” he told Grammy Awards will be handed out in 20-year-old rapper, who came out as gay TIME magazine. Los Angeles on Jan. 26 in a ceremony in June, scored nods in the biggest awards While an increasing number of stars hosted by Alicia Keys. — Reuters categories: album and record of the year, have come out in recent years, country as well as best new artist. Lil Nas X has al- music is often associated with Christianity ready made music history this year, be- and conservative views on gender roles coming the first openly gay man to receive and sexuality. In total, Lil Nas X received a Country Music Association award in a six nominations, tied with singer Billie Eil- genre known for its conservatism. ish and just behind rapper Lizzo, who led In this file photo US rapper Lil Nas X Born Montero Lamar Hill, the rap star the field with eight nominations. In 2015, poses with the Song of the Year Award in divulged his sexuality on social media in openly gay British singer Sam Smith be- the press room during the 2019 MTV Pride month, becoming the first musical came the first out artist to win a Grammy Video Music Awards at the Prudential artist across genres to come out as gay for best pop vocal album. Center in Newark, New Jersey. — AFP ot that long ago, Lizzo was on Boost from Prince perpetuate positivity, and also art is for- artist as “so badass.” the verge of quitting music, The 31-year-old artist born Melissa ever. Be eternal.” “You’re s’posed to hold me down, dispirited by the lack of recog- Viviane Jefferson debuted in 2013 but but you’re holding me back / And that’s Nnition she was getting for her did not achieve mainstream success ‘Everybody has the sound of me not calling you back,” unique pop-rap blend sprinkled with until the release of her third studio different packaging’ Lizzo emphatically sings in the infec- classical flute riffs. But it’s now difficult album “Cuz I Love You,” which is in the Lizzo’s perseverance to reach the tious hit originally released in 2017, to envision the music world without her running for Album of the Year Grammy top has included letting herself get vul- which soared to the top of the US songs effervescent stage presence. honors. The Detroit-born, Houston- nerable on body image. Her music cel- chart when it was re-issued on a deluxe Lizzo is dominating the concert raised performer with a big voice devel- ebrates her blackness and size with version of her latest album. Lizzo’s rise scene, streaming playlists and social oped a hankering for hip-hop as a unfettered determination, including to celebrity has not been without indus- media feeds, seducing legions of fer- pre-teen but originally aspired to a ca- lyrics like “I’m just as thick as my skin try drama, as a legal dispute concerning vent fans with her soulful self-love an- reer as a professional flutist. is” and “No, I’m not a snack at all / songwriting credits brews over “Truth thems, zesty raps and even the She relocated to Minneapolis in 2011 Look, baby, I’m the whole damn meal.” Hurts.” Two brothers, who Lizzo has occasional twerk. She capped a banner — an ultimately career-changing move “I got backfat and I got a belly,” the su- sued, hold they were key to an early year-which included her album drop, that led her to encounter the Midwest’s perstar told Rolling Stone in 2018. songwriting session that developed the topping the hot songs chart and a favorite son Prince, who co-signed her “Everybody looks different. Everybody hit’s signature line: “I just took a DNA In this file photo US singer cameo in the hit film “Hustlers”-by to work with him. “When you’re an has different packaging,” she added. test, turns out I’m 100 percent that Lizzo performs on stage jumping ahead of this year’s Grammy artist, your career isn’t defined by “I do this... so little girls in the future b****.” during the 2019 MTV Video pack on Wednesday to lead the field trends or age,” she told Rolling Stone of don’t have to worry about this body Music Awards at the with eight nominations, including nods working with the late legend who shaming. This body shaming in the mass Music goddess Prudential Center in in all four major categories. changed the course of pop. “That’s the media is holding us back, but it ain’t The Grammy Awards-music’s Newark, New Jersey. biggest lesson I learned from Prince: holding me back.” She penned her song biggest night on January 26 — could “My Skin” after being asked to name see a rager of a performance from her favorite physical characteristic and Lizzo, who routinely slings back tequila realized her skin, which she had just from the bottle onstage. Fashion watch- scraped in an incident, stood out. “That ers will also be on red alert for the bois- was the first time I’d ever discovered my terous star’s latest ensemble-she body love,” she told NPR. “I wrote this donned a fluffy, hot pink Marc Jacobs song to celebrate that moment because jacket to this year’s Met Gala, which she it literally changed my life,” she said, proudly wore as she strutted through a noting that as a black woman, “the thing New York airport the morning after. But that I like about myself the most is the no matter the gown, there’s no doubt thing that’s weaponized against us.” Lizzo will be unabashedly herself. “I didn’t have enough women to look Truth Hurts up to and they weren’t given enough The uninhibited artist shut down this space in the industry to carve out a lane year’s Black Entertainment Television for big girls that are brown and black and awards with a viral performance of her want to sing and dance without getting... sleeper smash “Truth Hurts.” “Why men body shamed,” she told Vogue in May. “I great ‘til they gotta be great?” rapped want to be a music goddess and I’m out Lizzo, sporting a lacy bridal corset, here trying to make that happen for my- sneakers and bling, bringing the crowd self.” — AFP to its feet including an exuberant Ri- hanna, who has praised the breakout.