Lizzo's Body Positive Movement Helps Crown Her TIME's Entertainer of the Year

Lizzo is ending 2019 on a high note as Entertainer of the Year.

By Samantha Schnurr Dec 11, 2019 2:28 PMTags
LizzoEmma McIntyre/Getty Images for MTV

In the words of Lizzo, "People were ready to hear."

After undoubtedly taking 2019 by storm, the 31-year-old powerhouse performer is ending the year on another high note. After garnering eight first-time Grammy nominations—the most of any artist at the upcoming 2020 Grammys—the songstress has just been named Entertainer of the Year by TIME, a first-time distinction from the magazine. 

As any fan of the the longtime performer knows, body positivity and self-love is at Lizzo's core and something she heavily injects into the eyes and ears of anyone she reaches. However, it took awhile before people opened them. 

"I've been doing positive music for a long-ass time," she told Time. "Then the culture changed. There were a lot of things that weren't popular but existed, like body positivity, which at first was a form of protest for fat bodies and black women and has now become a trendy, commercialized thing. Now I've seen it reach the mainstream. Suddenly I'm mainstream!" 

Six years since her debut studio album, "I just think that people were ready to hear and they're also ready to receive it from someone like me."

Watch
Lizzo Leads 2020 Grammy Nominations With 8

Of course, the "Good as Hell" star's unbelievable talent is also due major credit. The multi hyphenate sings, co-writes and produces her music and has majorly contributed to the flute's "renaissance."

Watch: Lizzo Responds to Twerking Courtside Haters

Now, with just weeks left in this decade, the breakthrough star is happy to see what is happening not only for herself, but for black women overall. 

"I was so excited about all the women in 2019," she told TIME. "Being a black woman is popping, but like right now in mainstream culture, we're finally getting a little bit more respect and getting our due."

As the honoree said, "To be one of those women out there speaking up for us is really incredible—and being heard."

That truth certainly doesn't hurt. 

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