Special (Lizzo album)

Special
Standard cover
Studio album by Lizzo
Released	July 15, 2022 (2022-07-15)
Genre	Funk disco hip hop pop
Length	35:16
Label	Nice Life Atlantic
Producer	Ricky Reed Blake Slatkin Max Martin Ilya Pop Wansel Benny Blanco Peter Svensson Emily Warren Ian Kirkpatrick Savan Kotecha Phoelix Nate Mercereau Terrace Martin Omer Fedi Joseph McVey Mike Dean Daoud Anthony Mark Ronson Thomas Brenneck Jon Bellion Michael Pollack Stefan Johnson Jordan K. Johnson Kid Harpoon Quelle Chris
Lizzo chronology
Cuz I Love You (2019) Special (2022)
Alternative cover
Target-exclusive cover Target-exclusive cover
Singles from Special
"About Damn Time" Released: April 14, 2022

Special is the fourth studio album by American singer and rapper Lizzo. It was released through Nice Life and Atlantic Records on July 15, 2022. It was preceded by the lead single "About Damn Time", released on April 14, 2022.

Background and promotion

Lizzo released her third studio album and major-label debut studio album, Cuz I Love You, on April 19, 2019. The album was met with critical acclaim and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 chart. The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, contributing to Lizzo receiving the most nominations at the ceremony. The album also won the award for Best Urban Contemporary Album.

In October 2020, Lizzo announced that her fourth studio album was nearing completion, saying she had "a few more songs to write". In January 2021, American singer SZA confirmed to have heard new material from Lizzo. In August 2021, Lizzo announced "Rumors", her first song after two years, which was released on August 13. The standalone single features American rapper, singer, and songwriter Cardi B.

During her keynote speech at the South by Southwest festival in March 2022, Lizzo announced that her album was finished, saying "It’s done so it’s coming very very soon…and it’s good. I worked real hard on it, so it better be good."

In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1 in April 2022, Lizzo explained that the album was originally titled In Case Nobody Told You until Max Martin helped her "restructure" the hook of the song "Special", which she then changed the title of the album to.

On March 21, 2022, Lizzo previewed the single "About Damn Time" on The Late Late Show with James Corden, with a release date of April 14. Shortly after the release of the song and its accompanying music video, Lizzo formally announced Special, with a release date of July 15.

On June 10, "Grrrls", the first promotional single from the album, was released.

On July 6, Lizzo revealed the tracklist of Special on her Instagram account by showing the back cover of its vinyl packaging.

In another interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 in July 2022, Lizzo talked about the origins of the track "Coldplay", with Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin appearing in the interview as well. The track features a monologue by Lizzo where she talks about a recent vacation in which she "was with somebody, and I was just looking at the stars. And I was with him, and I was singing ["Yellow"]."

Tour

Main article: The Special Tour

On April 25, 2022, Lizzo announced a full arena tour in support of the album, starting on September 23, 2022 in Sunrise, Florida and ending on November 19, 2022 in Inglewood, California. Latto will open for the tour.

Controversy

The song "Grrrls" earned controversy for its use of the word "spaz" in its lyrics "I'mma spaz / I'm about to knock somebody out". Disability advocates viewed the use of the term "spaz" as an offensive ableist slur and called for Lizzo to remove the song. Shortly afterwards, Lizzo issued an apology and released an updated version of the song, stating, "I never want to promote derogatory language." The updated song lyrics replace "I'mma spaz" with "Hold me back".

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
The Daily Telegraph
Evening Standard
The Guardian
The Independent
The Line of Best Fit	6/10
NME

Special received widespread acclaim from music critics upon its initial release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 81, based on 6 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". At the time of Special's release, it was her highest rated album on the site.

Writing for Evening Standard David Smyth states that "This time she'll sweep an older generation into her gang too. Many of the biggest tunes channel Seventies disco and Eighties synthpop" and added "It's clear she isn’t an outsider any more. This is her world, and we're lucky to live in it." In an article for The Independent, reviewer Helen Brown pointed that Special is overflowing with love and gratitude to friends, family, lovers and fans and added that [Lizzo's] rap flow has a terrific tensile strength and said that when singing, she delivers as both a belter and a breathy balladeer. Special is good as hell." NME contributor Nick Levine gave the album four out of five stars, observing that "Lizzo's overwhelmingly positive message, Special is sometimes a bit cheesy," before concluding that "Lizzo knows exactly who she is as an artist and what she wants to achieve: she's the bad bitch with an incredible talent for making people feel good".

In a more mixed reception of the album, Sam Franzini of The Line of Best Fit believed that for "most songs on Special, there is a rawer, more real iteration somewhere else in Lizzo’s catalog," and that having the "glossiest pop sheen steamrolled over them, erasing any wrinkles or mishaps" removed "the exact thing that made [Lizzo's songs] endearing to begin with."

Track listing

Special track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"The Sign"	Melissa "Lizzo" Jefferson Theron Thomas Eric Frederic Nate Mercereau Michael Ball	Ricky Reed Phoelix	2:45
2.	"About Damn Time"	Jefferson Thomas Frederic Blake Slatkin Malcolm McLaren Ronald Larkins Larry Price Stephen Hague	Reed Slatkin Terrace Martin[a]	3:11
3.	"Grrrls"	Jefferson Thomas Max Martin Ilya Salmanzadeh Benjamin Levin Slatkin Andrew Wansel Adam Horovitz Rick Rubin	Slatkin Pop Wansel Martin ILYA Benny Blanco	2:01
4.	"2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)"	Jefferson Savan Kotecha Peter Svensson Martin Salmanzadeh	Martin ILYA	3:07
5.	"I Love You Bitch"	Jefferson Mike Dean Omer Fedi Slatkin Joseph McVey	Slatkin Fedi	2:28
6.	"Special"	Jefferson Thomas Martin Wansel Ian Kirkpatrick Daoud Anthony	Wansel Kirkpatrick Daoud Martin	2:54
7.	"Break Up Twice"	Jefferson Leon Michaels Mark Ronson Thomas Brenneck Nicholas Movshon William Bell Booker T. Jones Lauryn Hill	Ronson Reed[a]	2:56
8.	"Everybody's Gay"	Jefferson Thomas Frederic Wansel Kirkpatrick James Johnson	Wansel Kirkpatrick Reed Mercereau[a]	3:35
9.	"Naked"	Jefferson Emily Warren Kirkpatrick Wansel Anthony Frederic Robert "Kool" Bell Ronald Bell Claydes Charles Smith Dennis Thomas George Brown Richard Westfield Alton Taylor	Wansel Kirkpatrick Reed[c]	3:00
10.	"Birthday Girl"	Jefferson Thomas Jonathan Bellion Michael Pollack Stefan Johnson Jordan Johnson	The Monsters and the Strangerz	3:07
11.	"If You Love Me"	Jefferson Amy Allen Kid Harpoon Mercereau	Kid Harpoon Mercereau	3:11
12.	"Coldplay"	Jefferson Frederic Mercereau Gavin Tennille Chris Martin Guy Berryman Jonny Buckland Will Champion	Reed Quelle Chris Chris Keys	2:55
Total length:				35:16

Apple Music bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"A Very Special Message from Lizzo"	Jefferson	1:39
Total length:			36:55

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer
• ^{^[c]} signifies a co-producer
• "About Damn Time" samples the song "Hey DJ" performed by The World's Famous Supreme Team, as written by Malcolm McLaren, Ronald Larkins, Larry Price and Stephen Hague.
• "Grrrls" samples the song "Girls" performed by Beastie Boys, as written by Beastie Boys and Rick Rubin.
• "Break Up Twice" interpolates the song "Doo Wop (That Thing)", as written and performed by Lauryn Hill.
• "Birthday Girl" samples the song "Summer Madness" written & performed by Kool & The Gang.
• "Coldplay" samples the song "Yellow" performed by Coldplay, as written by Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, and Will Champion.
• "Coldplay" samples the song "Sudden Death" performed by Quelle Chris & Chris Keys, as written by Quelle Chris & Chris Keys

Personnel

Musicians

• Lizzo – vocals (all tracks), flute (track 2)
• Phoelix – bass, programming (1)
• Thomas Pridgen – drums (1, 8)
• Nate Mercereau – electric guitar (1, 2, 8, 9, 11); acoustic guitar, bass, drums, piano (11)
• Lemar Guillary – horns arrangement, trombone (1, 6, 8)
• Ricky Reed – programming (1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 12), bass (2, 6, 8); additional vocals, horns arrangement, glockenspiel, guitar, synthesizer (2); instrumentation, keyboards (8, 9)
• Michael Cordone – trumpet (1, 2, 6, 8)
• Blake Slatkin – programming (2, 3), additional vocals (2); instrumentation, keyboards (3)
• Chawntá Van – additional vocals (2)
• Doshiniq Green – additional vocals (2)
• Myke Wright – additional vocals (2)
• Shelbeniece Swain – additional vocals (2)
• Victor Indrizzo – drums, percussion (2, 8)
• Jesse McGinty – saxophone, trombone (2)
• Terrace Martin – vocoder (2)
• Benny Blanco – instrumentation, keyboards, programming, vocals (3)
• Ilya – instrumentation (3), programming (3, 4); arrangement, background vocals, bass, drums, guitar (4); additional programming (6)
• Max Martin – instrumentation (3, 6), programming (3, 4, 6); arrangement, background vocals, bass, drums, guitar (4)
• Rickard Göransson – bass, guitar (4)
• Peter Carlsson – drums, guitar (4)
• Pop Wansel – instrumentation, programming (3, 6, 8, 9); keyboards (6, 8, 9)
• Johan Carlsson – organ, piano (4)
• Jasper Harris – piano (5)
• Daoud – guitar (6, 9); instrumentation, keyboards, piano, programming, Rhodes solo, saxophone (6)
• Ian Kirkpatrick – instrumentation, keyboards, programming (6, 8, 9)
• Donald Hayes – saxophone (6, 8)
• Nick Movshon – bass (7)
• Larry Gold – conductor, string arrangement (7)
• Tommy Brenneck – guitar (7)
• Leon Michels – keyboards (7)
• Mark Ronson – keyboards, string arrangement (7)
• Ian Hendrickson-Smith – saxophone (7)
• Raymond J. Mason – trombone (7)
• Dave Guy – trumpet (7)
• Jonathan Kim – viola (7)
• Yoshihiko Nakano – viola (7)
• Blake Espy – violin (7)
• Chris Jesel – violin (7)
• Emma Kummrow – violin (7)
• Gared Crawford – violin (7)
• Luigi Mazzocchi – violin (7)
• Natasha Colkett – violin (7)
• Jerry Hey – horns arrangement (10)
• Jordan Johnson – instrumentation, keyboards, programming (10)
• Stefan Johnson – instrumentation, programming (10)
• Michael Pollack – keyboards (10)
• Dan Higgins – saxophone (10)
• Andy Martin – trombone (10)
• Wayne Bergeron – trumpet (10)
• Kid Harpoon – drum programming, Mellotron, pianosynthesizer (11)
• Quelle Chris – additional vocals (12)
• Jon Kubis – string arrangement (12)
• Ray Chew – string arrangement (12)
• Adrianne Woods – cello (12)
• Ryan Cross – cello (12)
• Chris Woods – viola (12)
• Jarvis Benson – viola (12)
• Jonah Sirota – viola (12)
• Leah Katz – viola (12)
• Charlie Bisharat – violin (12)
• Daphne Chen – violin (12)
• Jenny Takamatsu – violin (12)
• Marissa Kuney – violin (12)
• Melissa Reiner – violin (12)
• Radu Pieptea – violin (12)
• Richard Adkins – violin (12)
• Songa Lee – violin (12)

Technical

• Michelle Mancini – mastering
• Manny Marroquin – mixing (1, 2, 7–12)
• Serban Ghenea – mixing (3–6)
• Ricky Reed – mixing (7)
• Bill Malina – engineering (1, 2, 6, 8, 12)
• Patrick Kehrier – engineering (1–9, 12), engineering assistance (10, 11)
• Benny Blanco – engineering (3)
• Ilya – engineering (3)
• Damien Lewis – engineering (6, 8, 9)
• Ian Kirkpatrick – engineering (6, 8, 9)
• Jacob Ferguson – engineering (7)
• Jeff Chestek – engineering (7)
• Jens Jungkurth – engineering (7)
• Stefan Johnson – engineering (10)
• Jeremy Hatcher – engineering (11)
• Bryce Bordone – mix engineering (6), mixing assistance (3–5)
• Andrew Hey – horns engineering (10)
• Anthony Vilchis – mixing assistance (1, 2, 7–12)
• Trey Station – mixing assistance (1, 2, 7–12)
• Zach Pereyra – mixing assistance (1, 2, 7–12)
• Chad Gordon – engineering assistance (1)
• James Kirk – engineering assistance (2)
• Piéce Eatah – engineering assistance (2)
• Trey Pearce – engineering assistance (2)
• Nate Ramer – engineering assistance (11)
• Tom Peltier – engineering assistance (11)
• Ira Grylack – engineering assistance (12)

Release history

Release dates and formats for Special

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
Various	July 15, 2022	Cassette CD digital download streaming vinyl	Nice Life Atlantic