Lizzo is back, and she brought company. The 37-year-old singer released her new single ‘Don’t Make Me Love U’ on Friday along with a music video that is as emotionally layered as the song itself, marking the beginning of what she describes as a new musical chapter.
The video features Lizzo alongside an alter ego she calls Lizzy. One version appears in the present day, with a short blonde bob, while the other represents her past self. The two share a dinner table, stand face to face and eventually embrace in a moment that directly echoes the cover art of her 2019 album Cuz I Love You. She first previewed the song when she performed it as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live in April 2025.
The video is a visual reckoning with growth and self-reflection
Directed by Tanner K. Williams, the video offers a surreal and cinematic look into the experience of confronting a former version of yourself. It is as sincere as it is satirical, moving through a range of emotional registers and swinging between vulnerability and defiance before arriving somewhere closer to acceptance.
The song is built around an ’80s R&B-influenced production and carries the surface appearance of a romantic breakup anthem. Lizzo pushed back on that reading during a recent appearance on ‘The Jennifer Hudson Show,’ explaining that the subject is more complicated than it first sounds. The song is about the relationships in her life that test the limits of her emotional investment, not a single romantic partner.
Produced by longtime collaborators Ricky Reed and Cheche Alara, ‘Don’t Make Me Love U’ arrives on the heels of a fully sold-out run of 12 performances at Blue Note Jazz Club locations in Los Angeles and New York. Earlier this month, she performed to a sold-out crowd of more than 70,000 at the Houston Rodeo, her largest solo appearance in years.
‘Don’t Make Me Love U’ opens the door to her fifth album
The single is the first release tied to Love in Real Life, Lizzo’s upcoming fifth studio album, which she finished recording last year. It follows Special, released in 2022, which produced ‘About Damn Time,’ the track that won Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards.
The new album arrives during a period that has not been without its difficulties. In 2023, three former dancers filed a lawsuit against Lizzo alleging sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. She denied the allegations. In December, a judge dismissed the fat-shaming claims from the lawsuit. Lizzo said at the time that there was no evidence supporting the claim that the dancers were dismissed for reasons related to their weight, and that the terminations stemmed from an unauthorized recording shared with former employees.
She addressed the broader experience in a 2024 conversation with Keke Palmer, saying she felt hurt by the accusations given the professional opportunities she had extended to those involved, and maintained that she had done nothing wrong.
A children’s book and a full creative resurgence
Beyond the music, Lizzo is expanding into new territory. Her first children’s book, Lil Lizzo Meets Sasha B. Flootin’, is set for release on September 8, 2026, through Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. The story follows a young girl who wants to belong and a flute searching for its sound, sending them both on an adventure through places filled with music.
The release of ‘Don’t Make Me Love U’ is her most prominent musical moment since the lawsuit became public, and the themes running through both the song and its video suggest she has spent considerable time working through what the past few years have meant. The song does not answer every question, but it makes clear that Lizzo is no longer waiting to tell her side of the story.
Love in Real Life does not yet have an official release date.
