10 Essential Albums From 2019 You Need To Hear

For many R&B aficionados, Lizzo has been a name to be paying attention for a few years now. With Cuz I Love You, she has brought her unmistakable voice and turned it into a force to be reckoned with.

From the first second of the opening track, Lizzo commands the mic and demands your utmost musical respect. Whether she is belting out her emotion on the title track, delivering funk on "Juice," or slowing it down on "Jerome," Lizzo shows that she has clearly learned from the greats like soul belters of old like Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige.

Her vocals are an example of a throwback style brought into a completely different context in the modern age. Listeners may hear hints of Rhianna or Alicia Keys here and there, but you ain't gonna mistake Lizzo's voice for anyone else once you hear it. While many pop divas are channeling the voice of someone like Ariana Grande, Lizzo relies on the sheer power of her voice to shape these tracks into extraordinary pieces of pop. What fans are left with is a true blue R&B record that you end up loving more and more with repeated listens.