Single review: Lizzo – 2 Be Loved

Cleo Gravett reviews Lizzo’s single, ‘2 Be Loved’.

From the new album Special, released in July of this year, ‘2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)‘ is about what it says on the tin. It weighs the tug of war between Lizzo wanting to try a relationship with someone she’s really sweet on and her desire to keep working on herself. Ultimately, the song suggests that it’s good to be realistic and view improving your self-love as a lifelong project, rather than something that is mutually exclusive with a romantic relationship. The ‘Lizzo’ of this song knows that she’s not perfect, but she knows she still deserves ‘2 Be Loved’.

The Lizzo of this song knows that she’s not perfect, but she knows she still deserves ‘2 Be Loved’

It’s a single that sounds almost like a voice note from a friend. With coy nods to her past in the lyrics (e.g. “that truth it hurts”, after ‘Truth Hurts’, the single that propelled her to fame, with the music video for ‘2 Be Loved’ also acting as a continuation of the Truth Hurts music video), Lizzo treats the listener as a confidente. We know her by this point, so she builds upon this familiarity by leaving no holds barred, starting the track with the jokey admittance “Girl, I’m bout to have a panic attack”.

The driving beat of the drum machine, accompanied by simple keyboard notes and chirpy backing vocals is very 80s sounding, with echoes of ‘Take On Me’ by a-ha but fresher. The key change in the final movement adds to the energetic and chaotic vibe of the song, slipping into an ending that leaves both Lizzo and the listener in a different place from the start: lifted.