The Singles Bar: Lizzo, ‘Water Me’
Lizzo’s new anthem makes a bid for Song of the Summer.
Welcome to The Singles Bar, a review series focused on new single and song releases.
The biggest thing I’ve learned this year is taking care of myself first and foremost. I’ve cut out plenty of negativity ⎯⎯ whether that was quitting a job which put me in a consistently-damaging headspace or ending a long-standing but toxic friendship ⎯⎯ and that’s OK. We all need to move on at some point and, well, be rather selfish about our own wants and needs. “I just snap and pivot,” singer and rapper Lizzo affirms about self renewal, body positivity and mental health on her fierce new anthem “Water Me,” produced by today’s hit man, Ricky Reed. “I don’t get dehydrated / I moisturize it daily / I am my inspiration,” she later coaches, urging me time above all else. The bumpin’ and bubbly no-fucks footprint follows last year’s EP, Coconut Oil.
“‘Water Me’ is a labor of love. I pride myself on how quickly I can finish a song but this took seven months. It’s about needing nourishment; it’s about being loved for who you are,” she explained, also dropping the accompany visual, directed by Quinn Wilson and Asha Efia. “We’re celebrating black beauty and the meaningful freedom of water.”
The video (below) features a bevy of people of color: from a toddler soaking in a bath to a young teenager basking in the cool shower of a lawn sprinkler and a buff 20-something going for a run. It’s all about finding what rejuvenates your soul and shutting out the world. “Love you so, but if you don’t, I’ll have to leave,” she prompts in the thick of robust beats and gospel-soaked backing vocals, flickering between heavy club-floor sensuality and intoxicating liberation. “I’m free, yeah, yeah,” she chants. Music can do wonders for your heart, from bringing you out of crippling depression, fueling you inner most badass and making your problems seem not as insurmountable to teaching you exactly what it means to feel truly alive. “Water Me” is undoubtedly all of the above (and more).
Grade: 4.5 out of 5
Watch below:
Photo credit: Jabari Jacobs
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