After years of winning America over with her dazzling pop sensibilities and musical flair, Grammy Award-winning artist Lizzo is switching lanes — at least for the summer. On Friday (June 27), Lizzo channels her 14-year-old self and returns to her first musical love: rap. Once a member of the Houston hip-hop group Cornrow Clique, Lizzo is back in rare form, delivering swaggering bars and vivacious energy that would’ve made her middle school classmates scream.

“I think what 14-year-old Lizzo would be most proud of is that I can say more cuss words,” she chuckles during a Zoom interview with Billboard ahead of her new mixtape My Face Still Hurts From Smiling. “Back then, all I could say was n—a and hoe. I couldn’t say b–ch, I couldn’t say f–k, I couldn’t say sh-t. It was so satisfying for me.”

Across the 13-track set, Lizzo flexes both freedom and untethered wit. She teased her rap return last month by hopping on Pluto’s “Whim Whammie,” putting her lyrical dexterity on full display. While some were shocked by her unfiltered bars, it served as a reminder: Lizzo can — and will — do whatever she wants. Whether tag-teaming with bestie SZA on “IRL” or clowning hapless bachelors with Doja Cat on “Still Can’t Fuh,” she steamrolls her opps, while flashing her signature Colgate smile every step of the way.

Below, Billboard speaks to Lizzo about how Lil Wayne and Missy Elliott served as inspirations for her new mixtape, if she would do an all-rap Tiny Desk, quieting the outside noise and her sisterhood with SZA.

How you feeling about your new mixtape dropping?

I feel really excited. I did it really quickly. This is different for me. I’m usually in the studio for like two years and my music is turned in months in advance. Then, I’m like doing a slow promo rollout. This time, I did everything in a week and I just approved the master like 20 mins ago.

You’re moving like Wayne.

I was calling myself “Lizzo Wayne.” [Laughs.] 

What many people may not know is that you first started out in a rap group, Cornrow Clique. What creative elements from that era still show up in your music today, especially from an MC standpoint?

I think how fun and how off-the-cuff a lot of it was. I used to enjoy sitting and writing down my verse and everybody coming together like, “Who got the craziest verse?” and feeding off of that energy. What I think is one of the most [exciting] elements is my best friend Lexo, who was in Cornrow Clique. Her voice is on this project. I flew her in from Houston like day three when I was working on everything. I already had like 11 songs. I flew her in and I was like, “Ay. I need you to give me ad-libs. I need your voice on this track.” So you can hear her being like, “We outside, ho! We outside.” So it’s a full-circle moment. 

How is your creative process different when you’re in rap mode versus your pop/R&B bag? Does it unlock a different side of your pen or persona?

I think it does, but I also feel like it’s the same me. For instance, “About Damn Time” [starts rapping], that was like a freestyle that I did in the booth. And I think that’s how I start with everything. It’s like a freestyle and it’s typically kind of rappity, and then I add melodies. Then, I go in and adjust the lyrics like, “Can I say this? Can you say this in pop music?” With this project, I’m like, “Man. The first thing that comes out my mouth, I’m gonna say it. I’m not gonna edit myself.” But with pop, there’s a lot of editing. 

You’ve mentioned not being a hip-hop historian growing up, but clearly the culture still moved you. Was there anyone you studied or drew inspiration from while making this project?

I remember I kept saying Lil Wayne was the person I wanna be [like]. I wanna be like Mixtape Wayne when I do this, but I always have a little bit of Missy Elliott in me — at all times. She’s just a part of me. So I definitely tapped into Missy. 

I feel like you’ve had a little bit of Missy engrained in you, at least from a music video standpoint. 

Aw thank you. She’s my GOAT. She’s in my big three. She’s a living legend and one of the best rappers of all time, one of the best producers of all time, one of the best songwriters of all time and live performers.

We’re in a golden era for female rappers. Why do you think women have the momentum right now and what excites you most about being part of that wave?

This is like my dream come true. Like you said, you read interviews from me from 2014 and what was the No. 1 question they’d ask us? “How does it feel to be a female rapper in a male dominated industry?” No one gets asked that question anymore — and that was my dream. I was like, “One day. No one will have to hear this question, because it will be female-dominated, or women will dominate.”

It feels really, really good. I’m constantly inspired and in awe of all of the women doing their thing. Like I shout them out all on the mixtape, too. On “Gotcho Bitch,” that was me paying homage to all of the women are who killing it right now and bringing that unity and that love. I’m bigging all the women up because we’re truly doing our big ones. It’s incredible to me. When “Yitty on Yo Tittys” freestyle came out, the internet people were like, “Wait. I didn’t know Lizzo can rap?” And it was like, “Y’all didn’t know Lizzo can rap?”

It kind of pushed me back into those [rap] conversations [since] I have been in the pop conversation for a long time. So it feels good. It feels good to know that I can tap my toe in, say hello real quick and pop back out. 

What’s your favorite verse on the mixtape and what headspace were you in when you wrote it?

I got some many good verses, bro. I feel like my favorite that gets me every time is “Gotcho Bitch.” — that’s the song where I drop the names of all of the girls who are killing it. I know there’s way more too. I don’t want anyone to feel left out. I love all of us, but that was crazy to because I had these three beats. One was a Tay-Keith Beat and a Jasper Harris beat. I slid them altogether and I had three beat-switches. To be able to switch my flow up and go off on all of them was really, really fun to me. Oh my gosh. 

The other gag about this project is I wrote everything in four days. So like, my past albums, it takes weeks and sometimes months to finish the songs. So the lyrics are burned into my brain. This, the sh-t so was so off-the-cuff. Now, I’m like, “F–k. How do I perform these songs?” [Laughs.] I gotta remember everything, but I made a little mini-documentary of how it was all made too. I can’t wait to share all that. 

I think it’s crazy you knocked out a doc and mixtape in less than a week.

I set the cameras up. I record everything. I have Love in Real Life recorded, too. When I’m in the studio, I have the cameras going 24/7.

I’m curious. How do you plan to pivot back into album-mode for Love in Real Life coming out of this rap-centric / mixtape era?

I think what I learned from this mixtape I’m going to put into Love in Real Life. Really, what I learned from this is trust your vision, trust your instinct. Your first instinct is always right and double down on whatever it is you like. Nerd out on it. I nerded on rap. I nerded out in my Houston s–t and my Houston bag.

For Love in Real Life, I’m gonna keep it real with you: I’m gonna have to go back in and re-record some stuff. Because there’s some songs that I love, but — for instance. when I dropped “Still Bad,” “Still Bad” is an amazing, well-constructed pop song. The demo of it, the Animal Style demo, I liked the way that feels. So I have a lot of demo versions of songs that I might switch and swap or even put both on. Who knows? I’m feeling crazy these days. 

Your bond with SZA feels like a real sisterhood. What don’t we see on camera that makes that connection so strong both as women and as artists?

I think the beauty of what you don’t see on camera is that you don’t see it on camera. [Laughs.] I think there’s a lot of genuine support. She’s one of the only people that I can text at 3:00 in the morning when I’m crashing out. She’ll just get this one dark-ass text and she’s like, “Oh my gosh. Are you ok?” But I really appreciate her, because she understands — and I think it’s really hard for you to have someone in your life who actually f–ks with you and who’s known you for a long time who also understand the world that you’re in. I think that’s what I cherish the most about her. She gets me.

When you look back at “W.E.R.K.,” which was all about self-empowerment and positivity, how do you reflect on your own growth in a world filled with negativity and outside noise?

I think I might be a master at ignoring the outside noise now. I feel like I know too much to give a f–k about any external opinion. The only opinion that I truly care about [is from] my fans. Outside of my personal life, my friends, my family and loved ones, any external opinion on a professional level is just for my fans. That’s why I have my IRL pages, so I can talk straight to them — ’cause I do care about my fans and the people that really do care about me. They throw all of these words out there like “peer social” and all of this s–t, but I believe that I have a real relationship with my fans because I believe that they have a real relationship with me. They support me, they show up to my shows, they’re down for me, they ride for me and I ride for them.

So I think having my IRL pages and being able to talk directly to them and see how they really feel — and not like trolls and people trying to be mean for clout on the internet — is really healing. There are people who love me and they’re right here. It’s not an echo chamber — it’s love. You know what I mean? Actually, I think the negativity is an echo chamber. I think people like to just be negative and mean because you get rewarded for that behavior now and it’s just an echo chamber of hate. So I’ve created a little safe space that’s just filled with love. It’s a private page and you only can get in if you get approved. They’re my babies and I’m their baby.

You’ve always been a confident woman. After your weight loss, how has your confidence evolved and how is that evolution showing up in your new music?

I’m so confident and I think the thing that I’m most confident in now is me, my vision, and my creativity. I kind of lost trust in myself for awhile because when you get in the industry, there’s a lot of people that come in and think they’re the experts. It’s like, “No, they should know what they’re talking about, ’cause they’ve been doing this longer than you and they’re in this position.” But actually, no one knows what they’re talking about. No one knows what they’re doing. It’s art.

F–k who you f–k with over anyone else. F–k with yourself the most, ’cause when nobody was f–king with you, who was f–king with you? You. So don’t turn on yourself now. I think my confidence and what you’re seeing isn’t just a body transformation. That’s part of it, but my body is gonna transform again. I might get bigger. I might get smaller. I’m gonna get older. I think when you’re seeing that glow, it’s that confidence that’s truly being proud of who I am and not hiding who I am in all the aspects of it. If I want to do a rock and roll show, I’m gonna do a rock and roll show. If I wanna throw ass in two yitty thongs and do a rap show, I’m gonna go a rap show. I contain multitudes.

Would you consider doing a Tiny Desk, strictly bringing the rap side?

That’s a great idea. You know what? You’re on the team now. Listen, I’m gonna talk my s–t for a second — because I do feel like I have one of the most underrated Tiny Desks in the game. Because there are ones that are properly rated, highly rated and they deserve [the love]. Then, there are some underrated ones, and I do think mine is in the underrated [side]. I ate that s–t up. That s–t was hard and you know what? Nobody really didn’t know about me back then. So I’m ready for round two. 

When Ty Herndon wrapped his 10th and final Concert for Love and Acceptance on June 2, he delivered his first hit, the 1995 release “What Mattered Most,” then broke into an a cappella version of the classic hymn “How Great Thou Art.”

A gospel song isn’t necessarily expected at an event celebrating the LGBTQ community, but Herndon grew up singing church music in Alabama, and he had reason to be thankful. When he gave the first Love and Acceptance show in 2015, Billy Gilman was the only other gay artist on the bill. The rest of the lineup consisted of straight artists offering their support as allies. 

For the 2025 edition, the onstage contingent was much larger, and there were even more queer country artists in the audience. Over the 10-year run of Herndon’s annual show, the volume of out-and-proud gay country artists has increased significantly, as has the ability for them to earn a living while telling their authentic story.

“I was a shell of a human,” says queer artist Adam Mac, recalling life before he had publicly come out. He attended the first Love and Acceptance concert as a fan, and he found both the show and Herndon to be inspirational.

“I was masking all of the best parts of me, and it wasn’t until I came out that I really blossomed and really found myself and found my voice,” Mac says. “It wasn’t just [a change in] style, it was the songs I was writing. Everything kind of shifted for me once that happened.”

Herndon understands. He came out in November 2014 after consulting with Chely Wright, who in 2010 became the first country hitmaker to publicly proclaim herself a lesbian.

“I called her one day,” Herndon remembers, “and I said, ‘You know, I’ve been through too much and I’ve worked too hard to get to where I’m at to be quiet anymore.’ I said, ‘But I want to do it through music, and I want to do it through things that matter.’ And she says, ‘Well, that’s the only way to do it.’ ”

As Pride Month continues, country music is one of the areas where coming out may have some of the greatest significance in contemporary America. The genre’s fans skew conservative, but other artists have decided over the last decade that they — like Herndon — don’t want to be quiet anymore. That includes Brooke Eden, Sam Williams, Chris Housman, Lily Rose, Kalie Shorr, Bryan Ruby, Julie Williams, The Kentucky Gentlemen and Brothers Osborne’s TJ Osborne. And that’s just scratching the surface.

Coming out can be a difficult undertaking — gay people dread the potential loss of friends and family, grow anxious over possible job loss, and fear for their safety. Those concerns are heightened for queer artists, particularly because the public reveal is mostly irreversible.

“You can’t go back,” Housman says.

So far, the artists who’ve taken the risk generally feel they made the right move.

“I found a whole new demographic, a whole new audience of people that desperately needed to hear a country artist who was queer,” Eden says. “And it’s not only the queer people, but it’s the parents of the queer people and the family members and the best friends. It’s the allies.”

The process of coming out is often misunderstood. It’s not just a one-time action or something that occurs only within a short window of time. Even after gay people make the initial choice to be honest with others about their sexual orientation, they repeatedly make that decision throughout the rest of their lives. Each time they have a conversation with someone who doesn’t know, they have to evaluate whether it’s appropriate to clue the other person in: “Do I tell them?” “Is it safe?” “Will mentioning it sidetrack the conversation?” “Do I care that much about this person that it’s worth sharing?”

If they decide in that instance to stay hidden, they may later question whether they were dishonest for not sharing that information or feel guilty for not standing up on behalf of their community. It’s a lot to carry.

And those who don’t fit perceived stereotypes have to make those decisions on a regular basis since their outward appearance doesn’t offer many clues.

“It’s more of a coming-out-every-single-day kind of a thing,” Eden says, “because we could be hetero-presenting.”

Gays who are trying to pass as heterosexual have to stay vigilant about their demeanor and their conversation, forced to make quick decisions and adjustments in real time about details that others barely recognize. It’s compounded for closeted gay country artists because anything that might unmask them has consequences that can reverberate not just with one acquaintance, but an entire fan base. Osborne has said that prior to coming out, he was self-conscious about onstage movements that might be perceived as effeminate, and his concerns about that issue made him more reserved as a lead singer. The small words “he” and “she” could be large stumbling blocks in interviews.

“I was always telling very edited versions of my story and making sure that I was saying the correct pronouns, even though they were really the wrong pronouns,” Eden recalls. “I really did get stuck living in this double life.”

Runaway June’s Natalie Stovall, who attended the Concert for Love and Acceptance as an ally, has seen the results when a gay creative co-wrote in a scenario where they were not comfortable to come out to one or more people in the room.

“It felt like a confined space,” she says. “It just felt like they weren’t able to fully be who they were. And even within writing, it’s so weird when you have to write music a certain way and you can’t use the pronouns that you want to use to mean what you’re saying.”

The music business — particularly the country music business — has historically avoided gay artists or instructed them to remain in the closet. Shorr, for example, released “My Type,” a song that embraces her interest in women, on May 30, eight years after she wrote it. Her now-former management team discouraged her from performing it at that time.

“I was told if I wanted to release it, I should change the pronouns,” she remembers. “I was like, ‘That totally changes the meaning of the song.’ So I just sat on it, and now that I have a team that’s fully supportive of me being queer, I was like, ‘You know, it’s time we’re going to release it.’ And it feels great.”

While the volume of openly gay artists has increased in the country ranks, not all of them are officially out. Not everyone is ready to take the risk — some fear a large chunk of the country audience may reject them and prevent them from becoming a mainstream country act, while others may lack support in their professional team.

“If you’re at a place in your life where you have 10 [people seated] at the table and you don’t know [how they may react], you never want any of them to leave,” Herndon says. “I think that for artists that aren’t out, they’re really aware of who’s at their table.”

Alternately, some of the gay artists who are keeping their sexuality hidden from the public are simply drawing a line in their personal lives. It’s not much different from George Strait revealing little about his home life or Chris Stapleton declining to provide his children’s names to reporters.

“Part of it is a power move for them,” Shelly Fairchild says. “They’re like, ‘You don’t get to know this part of me. You don’t get to hurt it. You don’t get to attack it. It is precious. It is something that is not up for discussion.’ Just like if you have children — you don’t really see Shania Twain’s kid, you know? It’s because she’s like, ‘This is protected. You don’t get to be mean to my beautiful love of my life.’ ”

Herndon knows the negativity that comes with going public. During one meet-and-greet in the first year or two after he had come out, an angry fan stabbed the back of his hand with a pencil. Herndon still has a small scar that reminds him occasionally of that incident, though the country audience has proven itself to be far less hostile than country executives might have expected.

“I think [CMT/SiriusXM personality] Cody Alan’s coming out had such a great impact because he had such good existing relationships with artists on the charts like Dierks [Bentley] and Carrie [Underwood]and so many others who stepped forward immediately and supported him,” says Herndon’s manager, ZS Strategies president Zeke Stokes, formerly GLAAD vp of programs. “Every one of these folks who’s come out — it just gives others a little bit of a more of an open door.”

Subscribe to Billboard Country Update, the industry’s must-have source for news, charts, analysis and features. Sign up for free delivery every week.

Attitudes among the general population have changed dramatically as well, making the decision to come out less traumatic than it was in previous generations. A CNN poll published June 1, the first day of Pride Month, found that 72% of respondents see diversity “enriching American culture.” Even the historically conservative country audience seems to reflect that viewpoint.

“I’ve seen some of the most conservative people you can imagine just come up to Ty and give him a hug and say, ‘Thank you for being you,’ or ‘I love your music, man. The rest doesn’t matter to me,’ ” Stokes notes. “Country has a conservative reputation, but I think perhaps we don’t give the fans as much credit as they deserve for being, first and foremost, good people.”

In fact, as country has become more popular, its fan base has become more diverse, allowing a number of gay artists to be out and make their living fully from music. It has been tough at radio — no openly gay artist has had a top 10 airplay hit after they have come out — but that hasn’t prevented them from making connections with fans through streaming. The landscape seems to be in an upward transition for queer country acts, even if it’s an uneasy period.

“There’s certainly times that I can’t help but wonder if my career would look a little bit different if I hadn’t come out,” Housman concedes. “But at the same time, I would eventually look back on that and see a lack of integrity and authenticity. And even the songs that I’m writing, if I wasn’t out, I’d be writing the same stuff that everybody else is writing. So I kind of see it as an opportunity.”

Complicating the situation, the current presidential administration has taken a number of steps that harm the LGBTQ community: banning transgender people from the military, erasing gay and transgender content from federal websites and removing protections against discrimination. 

“It’s risky to be yourself,” Sam Williams says, “but, you know, it’s worthwhile.”

Thus, many of the country artists who have come out are able to make a living while also making a statement to a segment of the population that needs to hear it the most.

“World Pride was in Washington, D.C., this year, in front of the Capitol Building where the insurrection was,” says Eden, who notes that she performed there for 70,000 people. “To be in a place where so many things are happening right now, where so much backward progress is happening in a world where they’re trying to silence us again, trying to put us back in the closet again, in a world where trans youth and trans people in general are not safe, I think that it’s really important to be visible and to let people know that they’re not alone.”

Herndon’s Concert for Love and Acceptance is history for now, as he shifts some of his focus to other unannounced projects. But he also hopes that the next generation of gay country artists will carry the torch forward. In the meantime, that concert, and the decisions made by every country artist who has come out, have indeed made a difference over the last decade.

“We feel the impact of it every time Ty walks out the door,” Stokes says. “Invariably, someone will come up to him at a show and say, ‘You gave me the courage to come out,’ or ‘Your music gave me the courage to come out.’ Or a mother or father will say, ‘You know, seeing you come out helped me accept my son or daughter.’ The butterfly effect of it all is just immeasurable.” 

KATSEYE are ready to pull fans into their latest sonic universe.

The six-member girl group unveiled their highly anticipated second EP, BEAUTIFUL CHAOS, on Friday (June 28), marking a bold evolution from the dreamy, melodic pop of their debut.

Released via HYBE x Geffen Records, the project follows the viral success of lead single “Gnarly,” which hinted at the high-energy hyperpop and dance-infused direction that now defines the full EP.

The project arrives less than a year after the release of SIS (Soft Is Strong), which catapulted KATSEYE to No. 1 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart and spawned fan favorites like “Touch” and “Debut.” But BEAUTIFUL CHAOS is anything but a repeat—this is a new era, louder and more unapologetic.

In a joint statement ahead of the release, the group wrote: “We are so excited to invite you into this beautiful and chaotic world that we have built. Thank you for being here.”

The EP showcases the group’s global identity—with members from six different countries—and their ambition to break molds within the pop landscape. With producers like Justin Tranter, Andrew Watt, and John Ryan in the mix, BEAUTIFUL CHAOS balances shimmering production with emotional grit, offering an eclectic yet cohesive soundscape.

Rather than focusing on chart positions, KATSEYE are aiming for something more lasting. “We want KATSEYE to be timeless and to have lasting influence. Not just for now—we want forever,” the group said.

Listen to BEAUTIFUL CHAOS below.

Patience is a virtue, a fact that fans of New Zealand-born pop phenomenon Lorde have learned time and time again throughout her career. But luckily, patience is no longer required when it comes to the singer’s newest full-length project.

On Friday (June 27), Lorde unveiled her much-anticipated fourth studio album, Virgin. Released via Universal Music, the new album features 11 new songs, including its three previously released singles “What Was That,” “Man of the Year” and “Hammer.”

In a statement released alongside the album’s announcement back in April, Lorde compared Virgin to the color “clear” — and, more specifically, all the things that are clear. “LIKE BATHWATER, WINDOWS, ICE, SPIT. FULL TRANSPARENCY. THE LANGUAGE IS PLAIN AND UNSENTIMENTAL,” she explained of the record. “I WAS TRYING TO SEE MYSELF, ALL THE WAY THROUGH. I WAS TRYING TO MAKE A DOCUMENT THAT REFLECTED MY FEMININITY: RAW, PRIMAL, INNOCENT, ELEGANT, OPENHEARTED, SPIRITUAL, MASC.”

While the singer touted the importance of having some of the same sounds throughout the project, one thing that remains very different about Virgin is the producers the singer teamed up with; the LP boasts a series of new collaborators for the singer, including Jim-E Stack, Dan Nigro and Dev Hynes, while her Melodrama and Solar Power producer Jack Antonoff doesn’t make an appearance. While Lorde called Antonoff a “positive, supportive collaborator,” she added that “I just have to trust when my intuition says to keep moving.”

In the lead-up to the new project, Lorde also spoke extensively about how Virgin was inspired by her recent examination of gender. The singer said that a conversation with fellow pop star Chappell Roan prompted her to think more critically about her own gender identity. “I was like, ‘I’m a woman except for the days when I’m a man,’” she said. “I know that’s not a very satisfying answer, but there’s a part of me that is really resistant to boxing it up.”

Stream Lorde’s new album Virgin below: