Written by: Melissa ‘Lizzo’ Jefferson and Ricky Reed Produced by: Ricky Reed Album: Coconut Oil UK release: March 2016 UK chart peak: 7
One of the most successful and buzzworthy stars of this last year of the decade has – without question – been Lizzo. But the twist, of course, is that a lot of her newfound mainstream success has come courtesy of songs that have been kicking around for aeons. Good As Hell – which is just this month hitting chart peaks on both side of the Atlantic – is the lip sync track that sent Monet X Change home on her first Drag Race season in 2018, and it was already two years old then.
Truth Hurts perhaps has better lyrics and Juice cleverly parks her tanks on Bruno Mars’s lawn, but Good As Hell just feels like the perfect Lizzo calling card. Driving home her core message of self-love in the face of whatever fuckery life may throw, it never at any point sounds trite or contrived – despite its Boots-advert-ready production. Long may the Lizzo reign continue.
I’ll be writing about my favourite 100 pop songs of the decade; one a day for the last 100 days of 2019. They’re in no particular order, except the Top 10 – which will (obviously) come in late December.
