{"id":2017317,"date":"2026-06-29T15:43:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T12:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2017317"},"modified":"2026-06-29T15:43:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T12:43:28","slug":"lizzo-talks-disappointment-of-bitch-album-failing-to-chart-i-based-my-success-and-my-worth-on-a-number","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2017317","title":{"rendered":"Lizzo Talks Disappointment of \u2018Bitch\u2019 Album Failing to Chart: \u2018I Based My Success and My Worth on a Number\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/lizzo-swiftology-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tLizzo is not mincing words about how demoralizing it was that her new album, Bitch<\/em>, failed to chart on the Billboard 200 album tally upon its release earlier this month. In a chat with the Swiftologist<\/em> podcast, Lizzo described her attempt to boost the LP\u2019s profile in the weeks leading up to its June 5 release, but when the reaction was tepid at best, the singer said it made her reassess her focus on the parameters of success.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tLizzo\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\u201cIt dropped, and I was like, \u2018Oh, OK, this isn\u2019t what I thought it would be,’\u201d she told host Zachary Hourihane in this week\u2019s episode. \u201cI didn\u2019t think it would be crazy, but I also didn\u2019t think it would be this. There was, like, 24 hours of my life where I based my success and my worth on a number, and I think that was soul-crushing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe follow-up to Lizzo\u2019s Grammy-winning 2022 Special<\/em> album \u2014\u00a0which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 \u2014\u00a0sold just 2,649 copies according to Rolling Stone<\/em>, a major comedown from Special<\/em>\u2018s 39,000-copy debut. Similarly, the previous album\u2019s lead single, \u201cAbout Damn Time,\u201d hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 charts and won the record of the year Grammy, while the Bitch<\/em> singles \u201cDon\u2019t Make Me Love U\u201d and the title track also failed to significantly impact the charts; Bitch<\/em> is also Lizzo\u2019s first album not to chart on the Billboard 200 since her 2015 sophomore effort Big Grrrl Small World<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n\tLizzo said she was \u201creally stressed\u201d and sad for a few days after the album\u2019s release because she truly thought it was some of her best work to date.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI had to reframe and be like, \u2018But aren\u2019t you proud of yourself?\u2019 And I was like, \u2018Yeah, I actually am proud of myself.\u2019 Aren\u2019t you excited to sing these songs? Aren\u2019t you glad they\u2019re out?\u2019 Yeah,\u201d the singer said about her internal pep talk following the album\u2019s disappointing debut and her belief that her true fans will eventually find it. She added that prerelease was curious to see how Bitch<\/em> would land, because it was originally supposed to be released in 2025, and could have even come out in 2024. <\/p>\n

\n\tAfter Special<\/em>, Lizzo wrote and produced some songs on SZA\u2019s breakthrough SOS<\/em> album and appeared on the Barbie<\/em> movie soundtrack with the song \u201cPink.\u201d In early 2025 she began teasing a project she referred to as LIRL<\/em>, later releasing the title track to her then-planned fifth album, Love in Real Life<\/em>. While that album did not manifest \u2014\u00a0she told Billboard<\/em> in May that LILR<\/em> was not shelved, but just retitled \u2014\u00a0she did release her third mixtape, My Face Hurts From Smiling<\/em>, last June.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWith pop and with music, timing is everything,\u201d she said. \u201cSo right now, I\u2019m just letting it live,\u201d she told Hourihane, reminding him that she\u2019s a show-er not a \u201cgrower,\u201d alluding to the 14 weeks it took for \u201cAbout Damn Time\u201d to find its audience. \u201cI\u2019m not afraid of failure anymore because I\u2019ve already won,\u201d Lizzo said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that the general public may not believe or understand about me \u2026 once they hold people to this standard like, \u2018you just have to keep doing it like you did it and if you don\u2019t break the Beatles\u2019 record then you are not a real pop artist.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the lead-up to the album\u2019s release, Lizzo lamented in a May 12 TikTok that some haters were already coming at her saying, \u201c\u2018Oh, she\u2019s just mad she\u2019s flopping,’\u201d while claiming that real people in the music industry were thanking her for speaking out about the current state of social media music marketing. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe algorithm-based way that social media functions now is destroying the music industry,\u201d she told her followers. \u201cIf your algorithm is super serving you things out of order of when they\u2019re happening, then the general public has no idea when music is actually coming out. Back in the day, which was maybe even just five years ago, we used to get things [on our feeds] chronologically. Music marketing relies heavily on social media, but now, ever since the algorithm has been showing us things out of order, there\u2019s actually no way to successfully promote an album where everyone knows your album is coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLizzo, though, said she\u2019s not looking to break anyone else\u2019s chart peaks, as she\u2019s focused on competing only with herself and trying to reach her core lesbian audience \u2014\u00a0the \u201cLizzies\u201d \u2014\u00a0and her other day ones, citing Taylor Swift\u2019s hardcore fandom as an inspiration. \u201cI always talk bout Taylor for doing that for such a long time,\u201d she said of her belief that Swift did not purposely set out to create a global Swiftie army, but rather built it organically. \u201cAnd I just think that it was so genius and so smart to have that force.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe also gave props to SZA for reaching out to her with words of wisdom and support during a trying time. \u201cShe just called me and was like, \u2018you\u2019re on my mind. I was like, [crying] \u2018am I a failure???\u2019 and she was like, \u2018Oh my God, no! \u2026 She\u2019s so sweet.\u201d At present, Lizzo has just one show on her touring roster this summer, a July 7 gig at the Filene Center in Vienna, Va.<\/p>\n

\"Billboard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/pop\/lizzo-talks-bitch-lp-failure-to-chart-sza-support-swiftology-1236283526\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/lizzo-swiftology-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Lizzo is not mincing words about how demoralizing it was that her new album, Bitch, failed to chart on the Billboard 200 album tally upon its release earlier this month. In a chat with the Swiftologist podcast, Lizzo described her attempt to boost the LP\u2019s profile in the weeks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2017317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2017317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2017317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2017317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2017317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}