Lizzo Preaches Radical Self-Love on Cuz I Love You Too Tour: "We Are Done With the F*ckery"

Updated on 11/2/2019 at 12:40 PM

POPSUGAR Photography | Slade Warnken

The Cuz I Love You Too US tour officially ended at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on Monday, Oct. 28. It was the second night Lizzo performed at the auditorium alongside her DJ, Sofia Eris, as well as opener Empress Of. Rising behind a pulpit placed at the center of stage, Lizzo left the auditorium feeling more like a mega church than a music venue. Even though Lizzo's name was carved into the pulpit, this wasn't a Kanye-esque worship of self — instead, Lizzo preached a sermon of learning to love thy self.

"This is self-care for me," Lizzo told the screaming crowd. "By empowering yourself and your identities, you're uplifting the whole damn world."

While to many Lizzo is a necessary force of change within a music industry that has often excluded women of color who don't fit into Eurocentric standards of beauty, Lizzo's path to success was not an easy one. Even her song "Truth Hurts" — which recently spent seven weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 — received little to no attention when it was originally released in 2016. Calling the song's failed release one of her darkest days, Lizzo has made it to where she is now due to sheer determination and her incredible musical talent.

Lizzo showed off this will to persevere when she sat down, overcome with emotion, during the title track of her album, Cuz I love You. Head in her hands, it almost felt like someone was going to come escort her off stage in James Brown fashion. But unlike the godfather of funk, Lizzo didn't need any one to help her up — when Lizzo's down, she gets back up looking better than ever. Ahead, see more highlights from her show in SF.

Opening up with "Heaven Help Me", Lizzo was quickly joined by her dancers who were, of course, in badass Lizzo style, all women of different body types and mostly women of color. Lizzo has always been upfront with the fact that her music is made to center and uplift Black women, cisgender and non-cisgender.

"This music is medicine and I'm trying to get it to my sisters. It's so exciting to me to finally be at a level where I have exposure to my Black sisters, my big sisters, my Black trans sisters," she said in a profile by Essence Magazine. "It's not about being poppin', it's not about being famous or fashion — it's about being better and making sure that this world can hear us and respect us."

But as we all know, the message Lizzo preaches of self-care, championed by Audre Lorde, is not just about relaxing and indulging in the finer things in life. In the words of Ms. Lorde, "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare." In the words of Ms. Lizzo, "We are no longer dealing with f*ck boys. No f*ck boys, no f*ck girls, no f*ck thems, no f*ck theys. We are done with the f*ckery."

Lizzo went on to include that if she did not cover your identity, then, "Bitch, do you! Do your thing and run the whole damn world."

A great example of how artists can include gender-inclusive language in any topic or conversation with their fans, Lizzo kept it up the whole night as she transitioned into her song "Like a Girl". Finishing the song a cappella she sang a modified version of the hook with the crowd, "If you feel like a girl then you real like a girl. If you feel like a boy then you real like a boy. Do your thing, run the whole damn world" .

No Lizzo concert would be complete without the jazz-flutist-turned-pop-star showing off her original instrument of choice. The flute, which she's since nicknamed Sasha Flute, has become so iconic that it even has its own Instagram page, @sashabefluting. Lizzo took a step back behind the pulpit to give an ethereal flute solo that slowly developed into the melody of her hit song "Juice," which was the final song of the night. Lizzo knows how to give a finale, and later strutted off the stage with Sasha at her side.

Now that her US tour has finished, Lizzo is off to bring her talents across the pond for the European leg of the Cuz I Love You Too tour. Theres no place in the world that doesn't need a lesson on radical self-love, and hopefully Lizzo is able to spread her gospel far and wide. No borders could contain Lizzo's message just as no genre can define her. We can't wait to see what's next for the superstar and won't be surprised if she takes a break for her own self-care after the world tour officially ends.