Long before she was topping charts with hits like “Truth Hurts” and “About Damn Time,” Lizzo was rapping circles around the competition. Raised in Houston and sharpened in Minneapolis, she came up in cyphers, house shows, and DIY venues, carving out space as a witty, confident emcee in an often male-dominated scene. She was a standout in groups like GRRRL PRTY and The Chalice, where her punchlines, rapid cadences, and mic presence made her a local legend. Her debut album, Lizzobangers, served as a warning shot. From boom-bap to experimental beats, Lizzo proved she had bars to spare.
After taking over the pop realm, she decided to drop off a hard-hitting mixtape, MY FACE HURTS FROM SMILING, that introduced the world to Lizzo Wayne — a no-filter alter ego that taps into the spirit of turn-of-the-century mixtape culture and the fearless energy of Lil Wayne. Over trunk-rattling production, she’s funny, raw, braggadocious, and more lyrically unhinged than we’ve seen in some time.
These five standout verses — from her indie-rap era to her current evolution — are a reminder that Lizzo’s pop superstardom didn’t erase her Hip Hop roots. If anything, it gave her a bigger stage to spit.
1. YITTY ON YO TITTIES (FREESTYLE) – MY FACE HURTS FROM SMILING
“B**ch, it’s Lizzo, call me Lizzy, I been fat and I been skinny, b**ches still ain’t f**kin’ with me...”
Produced by Zaytoven, prxdbyjai, and One Play Mike, this freestyle is pure mixtape-era magic — raw, unfiltered, and cocky. Lizzo delivered two full verses over a remix of PLUTO and YKNIECE’s “WHIM WHAMIEE,” transforming a TikTok-teased snippet into a full-fledged anthem. She name-dropped Kendrick, flexed her Grammys, clowned ex-friends and dusty men, and proudly shouted out her YITTY brand — all while keeping the flow tight and the bars vicious.
In a nutshell, Lizzo rapped like she has something to prove, but also like she doesn’t care if you’re convinced. This is Lizzo Wayne fully realized: Funny, stylish, technically sharp, and deeply rooted in Southern rap bravado. The viral rollout and her public clash with TikTok over the video’s audio muting only added more fuel to its fire.
2. Batches & Cookies – Lizzobangers
“Sixpence and none on the richer, cut a n**ga up and hung him like Jack the Ripper, undo your zipper, get on your knees, and get ready for the industry in a nutshell...”
If anyone needs a reminder that Lizzo can rap her ass off, this cult classic is it. Produced by Lazerbeak and featuring her longtime collaborator Sophia Eris, “Batches & Cookies” was Lizzo in full underground-rap beast mode — absurd, hilarious, and razor-sharp. Her verses jumped from Scooby-Doo punchlines to music industry takedowns, all delivered with an elastic flow that twisted through each beat like she was making up new rules as she went.
The song was inspired by random life moments — a joke about “batches and cookies,” a bar conversation about relationships, and offhand brilliance that turned into hook gold. Lizzo rapped with the urgency of someone who knew she’d been slept on, flipping thrift store brags, body confidence, and dark comedy into bars that still feel fresh.
3. W.E.R.K. – We Are The Chalice
“I need to remind you that you talkin’ to The Chalice, I am woman, hear me roar, Queen of the Wonderland, not Alice.”
Released as a bonus track on The Chalice’s We Are The Chalice, this early Lizzo cut is packed with lyrical fireworks. Over minimalist production by 2% Muck, she weaved together biblical metaphors, feminist declarations and off-kilter punchlines with breathless precision. Her bars swung from playful (“ Sweet like diabetes”) to mythic (“Slingshot David and Goliath on them boys”) without ever losing momentum. The track’s mantra-like hook flipped gender norms into a powerful chant: “Look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, but work like a boss.”
While she’d later revisit the concept with a louder, solo version on Lizzobangers (“W.E.R.K. Pt. II”), this original remains the blueprint by showcasing a young Lizzo building her identity through confident, unapologetic bars.
4. Tempo – Cuz I Love You
“Thick thighs save lives, call me little buttercup, all means necessary, my a** is not an ‘accessorary.’”
Lizzo’s verse on “Tempo” isn’t just catchy — it’s a sharp, swagger-filled celebration of body confidence delivered with punchline precision. Over a bounce-influenced beat co-produced by Ricky Reed and Lizzo herself, she blended humor, sex appeal, and feminist flair into a tightly wound performance that set the stage for the iconic Missy Elliott to follow. The chorus — “slow songs, they for skinny h**s” — instantly became a viral mantra, while lines like “twerk skills up on legendary” reminded everyone that Lizzo wasn’t new to this, she was true to this.
While “Tempo” almost didn’t make the album, it became a career-defining single after Missy jumped on the track, creating a full-circle moment for Lizzo, who cited the Virginia Hip Hop veteran as one of her earliest inspirations.
5. My Skin – Big GRRRL Small World
“I wear my flaws on my sleeve and my skin like a peacoat, I see someone like me ashamed to be, and honestly, I'm really, really... I’m fed up wit’ it.”
Produced by Bionik, “My Skin” contains one of Lizzo’s most emotionally raw and lyrically vulnerable rap verses to date. Built around themes of race, body image, and identity, her performance walked the line between poetic, melodic spoken word and confessional Hip Hop. The third verse in particular was packed with biting metaphors and unfiltered frustration, as Lizzo painted a picture of survival through pride, resistance, and generational beauty: “A Black girl mixed with a little bit of Sacagawea, I pocket subpoenas, I swallow my pride and my ego.”
The track began and ended with intimate monologues, which effectively placed her bars in the center of a larger personal and political reflection. This wasn’t about punchlines as much as it was about power.