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Everyone should listen to Lizzo. Such is her importance as an artist, according to this month’s The Listening Club host, Kathrine Warren. The Wilkinson Public Library program takes place at 6 p.m. at Telluride Music Co. Attendees are encouraged to sign up so library staff can order enough pizza.
The monthly program got its start during the pandemic as an online-only event intended to bring music lovers together — specifically those who prefer to listen on the vinyl format. Since its inception in 2020, hosts have chosen a range of albums to discuss including Prince, The Beatles, Tom Petty, Radiohead and The Waitresses, among many others, from mostly the rock world, but also classical, funk, soul and folk. Warren’s selection of Lizzo’s newest release and fourth studio recording, “Special,” is hands-down the most contemporary album to be discussed in The Listening Club’s successful run. Warren’s choice has everything to do with Lizzo’s message, which is one of self-love, body positivity and modern-day feminism.
“Her voice is important for women of all ages, shapes and sizes because her message is all about loving yourself, working on mental health and celebrating your friends and yourself,” Warren said. “Another important factor of her music is that it lifts up the other women in her life, and I think that’s a very important component, for women especially, to build each other up with love and support instead of trying to tear each other down.”
When Warren first heard about Lizzo, it was via a podcast, not — at first — her music.
“What I remember most from that podcast is that she got her start in Minneapolis, thanks in part to the one and only Prince, and the episode came out right after the police killing of Philando Castile,” she said. “They actually recorded an addendum to the podcast talking about social justice on top of the rest of her interview, and listening to her perspective as a black woman was really eye-opening to that injustice to me as a white woman.”
The year was 2016 and Lizzo’s single “Good as Hell” had just been released. Since then Lizzo — her given name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson — has experienced a stratospheric rise to the top. The rapper, singer and flautist has made waves not only for her music, which is inflected with positive messaging, but for her outspoken advocacy for women’s bodily autonomy, inclusivity for all and universal acceptance. It’s a message that Warren has readily embraced.
“Looking back to my 14-year-old self who played the flute in band and was made fun of by my classmates for being bigger than them and was wildly insecure in my changing body, I just wonder what it would have been like for my self-esteem to see someone like Lizzo on the scene at such a young and vulnerable age,” Warren said. “I probably would still be playing flute and would have far fewer insecurities than I do today in my 30s.
“She’s helping show women of all body shapes and sizes that they are beautiful and worthy of love and are allowed to exist in this world as they are in this very moment. That feels like feminism to me because the patriarchy for far too long has conditioned women who don’t fit a certain body standard to feel like they aren’t worthy of love and respect. But they are, obviously!”
Lizzo is also a flute player who features her instrument — named Sasha Flute — in her live shows and on her recordings. She made headlines last fall when she was offered an incredible opportunity to play a flute belonging to slave-owner and the United States’ 4th president, James Madison.
“That whole story was fascinating to me,” Warren said. “She was on her huge Special tour and the Library of Congress tweeted out their impressive flute collection and invited her to come see them during her DC stop on the tour. Lizzo is classically trained on the flute, and I would venture to say is now one of the most famous flute players today, so of course she’s going to say yes to such an awesome invite. She ended up playing James Madison’s 200-year-old flute, and even twerked as she played it. To see an African American woman who is presumably the descendent of slaves play the crystal flute of a slave-owning president is pretty freaking remarkable. Of course, there was some racist-tinged pushback, but I think it just shows how iconic Lizzo is and how she’s going to go down in history as an artist and activist.”
Warren had reservations about hosting The Listening Club, but it was after seeing Lizzo perform last fall that inspired her to agree to take on a session.
“She is a performer through and through,” Warren said. “She’s not only belting it out, but also playing her flute Sasha, and then dancing with her backup dancers. Her dancers, called the Big Grrrls are total stars during the show and their athletic prowess is something to behold. Both shows left me sore from dancing so much and with a sore throat from singing along at the top of my lungs. In fact, I was on such a natural high after that Halloween show that I agreed to this Listening Club.”
Warren’s taste in music is quite diverse. Raised on reggae and the Grateful Dead, what she loves listening to ranges from Greensky Bluegrass and the Infamous Stringdusters, to Lake Street Dive and Stevie Wonder, with some Beyonce and Fleetwood Mac in between.
Among the different aspects of Warren’s Monday night The Listening Club session, will be a look at Lizzo’s lyrics on “Special.”
“Her lyrics never cease to amaze me,” she said. “When I first listened to this album I remember gasping at lyric after lyric feeling as if I could have written them myself. Of course I know I am not a lyrical genius like her, but her message is so relatable for me personally, and for a lot of women in my life.”
And guys, don’t let Lizzo’s strong support of women’s self-image and confidence-pumping jams put you off. Lizzo is for everybody, Warren said.
“Men, and anyone regardless of their gender identity, should listen to Lizzo because she is singing about what it means to love yourself,” she said. “At the end of the day, no matter what we are facing in our daily human experience, I’ve learned through her music, and therapy of course, that the best thing we can do for ourselves in the present moment is give ourselves as much love as possible. As Lizzo sings in her song ‘2 Be Loved’ off the ‘Special’ album, ‘how am I supposed to love somebody else? When I don’t like myself.’”
Signing up for Monday evening’s 6 p.m. The Listening Club program is strongly encouraged. Wouldn’t want to miss free pizza, would you? And Lizzo. Visit telluridelibrary.org to sign up.
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