A couple weeks ago Lizzo announced her anticipated return by teasing her first new music since 2019’s Cuz I Love You. Today, her new single “Rumors” is officially out, and it includes a feature from Cardi B and a video that represents the two massive pop stars as proper goddesses. If you’re a fan of the animated Hercules film, then this is the music video for you! There’s a nod to the singing narrators that tell the ancient Greek myth. It’s definitely campy and over the top—territories the two musicians are not afraid to dabble in.
The actual song confronts the abuse that Lizzo has experienced from both the major media outlets and plebeian social media users. “Rumors” is her reaction to the utter bullshit she has to deal with in a society that scrutinizes body types and doesn’t value Black women—let alone Black women who do so much for pop culture. Whatever hideous insults or stories you hurl at her, she doesn’t care. She’s not going to waste her energy on dispelling them. “All the rumors are true, yeah / What you heard, that’s true, yeah / I fuck him and you, yeah / If you believe, I do that,” she raps at one point. Later, she shames the world for making her existence a problem itself: “Spending all your time, tryin’ break a woman down / Realer shit is going on, baby, take a look around.”
Watch the video in all its golden glory below.
