Lizzo turns to Taylor Swift's 'genius' strategy after new album flops

Lizzo is taking a page right out of Taylor Swift’s book as she navigates a career low.

On Sunday, June 28, the Grammy-winning musician, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, sat down with Zachary Hourihane, a.k.a. Swiftologist, for an episode of his Proto Pop podcast, where the two talked about the current state of pop music.

After her latest album, Bitch, flopped, the 38-year-old said she’s no longer chasing mass appeal, much like Reputation-era Taylor Swift.

“Now it’s just like, who’s my fanbase? Who’s my community? Who am I talking to?” Lizzo reflected.

“I’m talking to the Lizzbians,” she continued. “I’m talking to my people. I always talk about Taylor for doing — she’s been doing that for such a long time.”

“I just think it was so genius and so smart,” she explained. “I don’t even know if she had the foresight to do that. I think she just built it organically, and now she has her own community around her to back her up.”

The conversation comes shortly after Lizzo's new album did not chart on the Billboard 200 or produce a Billboard Hot 100 hit.

Looking back, she admitted the album's performance affected her more than expected.

“It dropped, and I was like, ‘Oh, OK, this isn’t what I thought it would be,’” Lizzo said. “I didn’t think it would be crazy, but I also didn’t 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.”