The Story Behind Lizzo Baring it All for the ‘Cuz I Love You’ Album Cover

When Lizzo released her album, Cuz I Love You, in 2019, she changed the face of music.

In a matter of months, she would be the artist on the radio, with her songs appearing in shopping malls, in Ubers, and in restaurants everywhere. It got to the point where television shows like Insecure were pointing out the ravenous audience in episodes. Indeed, Lizzo was one of the big cultural winners from then on.

The pop star is known today for her catchy hits like “Juice” and the way she breaks social barriers with force and care. For instance, the Cuz I Love You album cover, in which Lizzo bares it all.

Vulnerability and Missy Elliott

“It is vulnerable, but vulnerable doesn’t have to be scary, and vulnerable doesn’t have to mean insecure,” Lizzo told the Recording Academy of the move to pose naked. “Vulnerability and strength is what this album is all about. So the fact that I am the most comfortable when I’m naked and I’m sitting in this really comfortable position in a supposedly vulnerable state, it just kind of defines the album and sums it up.”

Lizzo credits Missy Elliott, who appears on the LP with empowering her while she was growing up. “I didn’t see myself at all in the media and music,” said Lizzo. “And she represented something that made me believe in myself. So it was extremely empowering to watch her music videos and to watch her put out albums and win Grammys and be at the top of the charts and to be a weird Black girl, a weird chubby Black girl like me.”

The Album

Released officially on April 19, 2019, Cuz I Love You marked Lizzo’s third studio LP. The album’s deluxe edition was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2020 Grammys. The single “Juice” has since gone double-platinum. For Lizzo, who for a year used to live out of her car as she tried to make it in music, the album made her a star.

On February 13, 2019, Lizzo shared the album cover with her fans, writing on Instagram, simply, “Cuz I Love You | 4/19/2019.” The image has since been “liked” on her page nearly 100,000 times.

“Fat, and especially fat and Black bodies are rarely treated with such care by photographers, let alone on album covers that will sit on Target and Walmart shelves,” Paper magazine wrote of the cover.

In the end, Lizzo showed off her strength, vulnerability, vision, marketing genius, and curves. Everybody wins, it would seem.

Photo by Gus Stewart/Redferns