Before artist Lizzo won four Grammys and sold out major stadiums, she had role models who encouraged her to dream big.
Lizzo, who is currently promoting her new book “Lil Lizzo Meets Sasha B. Flootin’,” reflected on the elements of her upbringing that led her to success during a conversation with host Willie Geist on TODAY’s Sunday Session, Oct. 4. He said his late father, Michael Jefferson, to whom the book is dedicated, was a notable influence.
“When I started playing the flute, I was so nervous that it wouldn’t be accepted by my family because my family is so cool, you know? And so I took the geek route,” Lizzo, 38, explained to Willie. “My father was actually extremely supportive of my flute playing. And he actually had bigger dreams for me than I did.”
The new book is about the adventures of Lil Lizzo, the character who discovers her love of the flute, from the orchestra room to places such as the sea and space.
The artist told Willie that Lil Lizzo’s love for the instrument stems from her own passion, which was nurtured by her father, who passed away in 2009.
Lizzo described how her father invited her to perform “Carnival of Venice,” the classic song made famous by composer Niccolò Paganini, for his friends.
“I would play and he’d say, ‘Look how talented he is,'” Lizzo reminded Willie. “’He’ll play in big stadiums one day.’”
Lizzo, who performed the same song at New York City jazz club The Blue Note in March, said it was important for her to pay tribute to her biggest fan.
“I dedicated this (book) to him because I wanted him to know that he was right,” he added.
During her conversation with Willie, she also called out another important person from her childhood: her fifth-grade band director and teacher. He said he incorporated hip hop and R&B into his lessons even before embracing the blended genre as his signature sound.
“He would write all the big songs of the day and transcribe them and put them in sheet music for us,” Lizzo explained. “So instead of the traditional ‘Hot Cross Buns’ or something like that, we would get handwritten sheet music that he would Xerox and put on our music stands.”
Lizzo said she eventually took her style with her.
“Even in high school, I was writing all the big rap songs for our marching band so we could play at football games and be a really cool band, because we were always playing nerdy stuff,” he said.
Lizzo said she also drew inspiration for her book from her own journey as an artist.
“I think you have to make a choice as a writer about what kind of book you want to create,” said Lizzo, who later crowned herself the “Sure of children’s book writers.” “I guess I’m a rapper. So I wanted it to feel like rap. If you played a beat, you could sing Sasha B. Flootin’ and Lil Lizzo over a beat and it would be a song.”
And so he said his writing in the story mirrors elements of his songs.
“I know we kids love iambic pentameter. So that was really important to me when I was writing the story,” he told Willie. “I knew what the story was going to be, but I thought, ‘How can I bring it to life?’ “I think”
Willie praised the artist for “being able to rhyme ‘jam’ with ‘ham’ and not rhyme ‘jam’ with a different kind of food, which is ham.”
“Thank you for having me,” Lizzo said.