Lizzo appeared on the On Purpose With Jay Shetty podcast and took the opportunity to explain why she took a “gap year” from her music career.
She noted that being “quiet” for a while felt like going back to a version of herself that she had worked to move away from, but ultimately it was necessary to “sit back and be quiet and observe.”
“When I said I was on a gap year, I was in the middle of it,” the singer told host Jay Shetty. “I think people were like, ‘Oh she’s about to take a whole year off.’ No, I was just in the middle of it. I just hadn’t expressed myself, really. And to be honest with you, I don’t feel like I’ve expressed myself fully in the last two years, like how I want to.
She continued, “I feel like I’ve been kind of holding my tongue and like staying to myself, but I think that it’s for the best because you know, running your mouth these days. Sometimes it’s just unnecessary and sometimes it can get you into some stuff you wasn’t even trying to get into because people will misinterpret it and run with it. I found when I was like, ‘I’m taking a gap year, I’m protecting my peace.’ But like, people were like, ‘Wait, so what’s that supposed to mean?’”
Elsewhere during the lengthy conversation, Lizzo addressed the blowback after a harassment lawsuit brought by three of her former dancers in August 2023. The singer said the public perception around that was difficult for her to process.
“I think when it was out of my control and someone else could tell a story about me that wasn’t true and people believed it, it crushed me,” she said. “I think what I learned about fame is, even if that’s really me, it just becomes kind of like a, a fictional story that you, it’s a character, it’s a brand, it’s a thing that now doesn’t belong to you anymore.”
She added, “Whoever Lizzo is to the world is not really even me. And that disconnect is depressing. And I think the only remedy to that is continuing to be myself. That’s the time. I just have to continue to be me and people will see me for who I am.”
The singer noted that all of these obstacles haven’t deterred her. “I’m never gonna stop,” she said. “If anything, I’m more careful now. I can’t just let any author into my life who can make me a villain. I can’t do that anymore. ’cause I’m the author and I. Taking back my narrative by continuing to tell my story from me, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to do that.”
Lizzo is gearing up to release her new album, Love in Real Life. She has previewed the LP with two singles, “Love in Real Life” and “Still Bad.” During her recent show in Los Angeles, the singer revealed she had been in “such a dark depression” before coming back.
“I was so heartbroken by the world, and so deeply hurt that I didn’t want to live anymore, and I was so deeply afraid of people that I didn’t want to be seen,” she said at the show. “Eventually, I got over that fear, I went to a concert, kind of like this… and as I was walking through the crowds and something miraculous happened: someone I didn’t know, looked at me and said, ‘Lizzo, I love you.’”
