Lizzo

No one said, 'This is the best female rapper.' It's more like, 'Lizzo can really rap.' I think its because I'm not that sexy girl. I'm that beast girl.

I enjoy female rappers, not because they're female but because I can connect to them more.

When we're on stage doing a song about positive body image or another about female empowerment, everyone out there is super into it and right there with us. It's been awesome. I feel like we fit right in.

My formative years were in Houston. I was in middle school, and everyone was dropping the last half of their names and adding an 'o' to the end. My little crew that I had, we were an all-female rap group, and everyone had an 'o' at the end of their name. I was Lisso. Then this dude started getting lazy with it, saying Lizzo.

I knew a lot of girls who just wanted to be famous, and if that's your goal, that's awesome; that just wasn't enough for me.

First Avenue is one of my favorite places to play. All along, they've treated me with respect.

I spent a lot of time star-gazing, writing, and learning languages when the other kids were doing cooler things in Detroit.

My mother and father taught me about black excellence and dynasty. They experienced racism personally, and when something like that happens to you and not around you, you develop a different perception than someone who has never experienced racism a day in their lives.

Every time I rap about being a big girl in a small world, it's doing a couple things: it's empowering my self-awareness, my body image, and it's also making the statement that we are all bigger than this; we're a part of something bigger than this, and we should live in each moment knowing that.

Minneapolis just embraced me. There are a lot of weirdos here. It's awesome, because I'm a weirdo. Thankfully, the city embraced me with open arms. A lot about Minneapolis helped carve my musicality and open my eyes. The whole town is so open-minded compared to like, you know, Texas.

I'm glad I'm a woman; I'm glad I'm a rapper because I get to speak to these people who did not get spoken for in this genre.

Everyone looks to an artist for something more than just the music, and that message of being comfortable in my own skin is number one for me.