Song You Need to Know: Lizzo, ‘Bye Bitch’

If you don’t love Lizzo, you must not be paying attention. Arguably the most likable pop music figure to come around in recent years, the rapper/singer/flautist has put out a consistently thrilling body of work and collaborated with legends like Prince and Big Freedia.

More recently, Lizzo has become a bit of a viral social media star. After years of playing and studying the flute, she started playing the instrument on her Instagram and during her shows. One video in particular showed her transitioning from some light flutin’ into the popular BlocBoy JB shoot dance. The caption asked a very reasonable question: “HAVE U EVER SEEN A BITCH PLAY FLUTE THEN HIT THE SHOOT ?!”

Judging by the response, no one had seen a bitch play flute then hit the shoot.

Building off the viral success of her #FluteAndShootChallenge as well as a series of videos with her saying “Bye bitch” and “Hi bitch” in various locales, Lizzo dropped “Bye Bitch.” The track is a reworking of Kendrick Lamar’s Black Panther soundtrack cut “Big Shot” that increases the stakes of the slightly slower original into the type of banger worth hitting the shoot to.

Of course, this barely scrapes the surface of what Lizzo is capable of as an artist and perform. If you’re a new fan brought to her Instagram and Twitter through these deliciously wacky viral moments, say “Hi bitch” to her full discography; songs like the funky Prince-inspired “Boys,” trappy “Fitness,” savage “Truth Hurts” and hilarious “Phone” are easy entrypoints. It’s high time for her to become the megastar she has long deserved to be.