Music

Lizzo Has Hit Back At Accusations That She’s Paying For Her Old Music To Chart

"The people are making these calls...not the label."

by Michelle Rennex  28 November 2019

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It has been quite a year for musical powerhouse, Lizzo. Her 2017 track ‘Truth Hurts’ became the longest-running number one rap single by a female, earning her a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year.

However, this nomination has been highly contested with concerns around the eligibility of a song that’s two years old. But the Grammy’s explained that if any song that “first achieved prominence during the eligibility year” it is, well, eligible for the award.

Beyond ‘Truth Hurts’, Lizzo’s ‘Good As Hell’ also charted in the Top 10 this year despite being released in 2016. Both of these older songs charted higher than any songs off her current album, Cuz I Love You. 

This, in combination with the 2017 track ‘Water Me’ trending at 15 on the iTunes chart, made people start to question the legitimacy of Lizzo’s charting.

Twitter users started accusing Lizzo’s record label, Atlantic, of using payola and bots to boost the position of her tracks on the charts. Payola, the act of a label paying broadcasters to play certain songs, has been a widespread issue throughout the music industry.

Lizzo then took to Twitter to hit back at these accusations and explain exactly why ‘Water Me’ was climbing so quickly. After being featured in a Black Friday commercial for Walmart and in the #dealdropdance challenge, the song began to gain traction.

She continued, “Y’all think it was the plan for all my old ass songs to be number one? I have a whole album the world hasn’t even heard yet,” Lizzo tweeted. “When it’s your moment, it’s your moment.”

She then subtly addressed the conversation around payola and bots by replying to a fan, saying “the PEOPLE are making these calls… not the label.”

By these calculations, it means that we can expect to see some justice for ‘Juice’ in 2021.