Even those who seem like they're on top of the world can still have their moments of self-doubt and depression. After Lizzo's 2021 collaboration with Cardi B, "
Rumors," she received heaps of criticism. "I think it was because people hadn't heard from me since 'Cuz I Love You,'" she told Apple Music. "and this was their opportunity to attack me because I was visible, you know? But I turn my pain into music. I turn my pain into profit. I make it work for me."
So Lizzo went into the recording studio to create a self-affirming track that would remind her of her worth. "Special" was the result.
In the second verse, Lizzo set out to turn the tables on those who attack others, just like the same mirror she uses to check herself.
Could you imagine a world where everybody's the same
And you could cancel a girl 'cause she just wanted to change?
How could you throw f-----' stones if you ain't been through her pain?
That's why we feel so alone, that's why we feel so much shame
Lizzo said the message is essentially, "You attack people like they're the monster, but you've become the monster. No one's giving anyone the space to be themselves, to show their specialness and to grow."
Lizzo wrote "Special" with Theron Thomas and the song's producers Max Martin, Andrew Wansel, Ian Kirkpatrick, and Daoud Anthony. Daoud Anthony played many of the instruments (guitar, Rhodes, piano, keyboards, saxophone), Ian Kirkpatrick and Pop Wansel also played the keyboards. The other musicians are:
Michael Cordone: trumpet
Lemar Guillary: trombone
Donald Hayes: saxophone
Ricky Reed: bass
The self-love anthem serves as the title track and third single from Lizzo's fourth studio album of the same name. She was originally going to title the record In Case Nobody Told You, but after working with Max Martin, he told her the title should simply be Special.
Lizzo wondered why she hadn't thought of that before. "The album is so special, what else would I call it?" she told PopCrush Nights hosts Lauryn Snapp and Donny Meacham.
Lizzo teased "Special" for the first time on January 26, 2022, on a TikTok she posted on her account. She gave the song its full-length debut on the April 16, 2023 episode of
Saturday Night Live alongside "
About Damn Time." Lizzo performed the song in a stunning electric pink gown with exaggerated sleeves and a sweeping train.
The Christian Breslauer-directed video portrays a harassed waitress who secretly keeps people safe at night.
Lizzo performed "Special and "About Damn Time" at the Grammy Awards in 2023. The latter song won Record Of The Year at the ceremony.
Lizzo released a remix featuring SZA on February 9, 2023. SZA had wanted to jump on the song for a long time, but they struggled to find a window; Lizzo was busy working on Special and SZA on SOS, but they eventually found a mutual space in their diaries to do the collaboration. The new version has SZA on the opening verse with reworked lyrics where she refuses to be judged by her peers.
The chart-topping duo first performed their collaboration onstage at Lizzo's Live in Concert HBO Max special in November 2022 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California.
Lizzo's SZA-featuring remix of "Special" is an entirely different song to the "Special" that SZA recorded for her SOS album. When the remix entered the Hot 100 dated February 25, 2023, it meant SZA had charted with two entirely different songs titled "Special" within a space of a few months (her SOS track "Special" peaked at #37 on the chart dated December 24, 2022).
