While Lizzo lines up a September children’s book about a girl bonding with a flute and steps into the Sister Rosetta Tharpe role for a biopic she is co-producing with Forest Whitaker, she has also dropped her first 2026 release. ‘Don’t Make Me Love U’ arrives with its music video already out, coming after the 2023 album Special and the lawsuit that followed from former staff citing sexual harassment and a difficult work environment. In 2025, she released ‘Love in Real Life’ and ‘Still Down Bad’, setting up the still-unscheduled Love in Real Life album.
The video brings Lizzo face-to-face with the version of herself from the Cuz I Love You era. Tension builds as present-day Lizzo, with blonde hair, stares down her past self. The meeting acts as a bridge between eras, placing past and present in the same frame so the song carries the weight of time without losing its message of embracing the past to move forward. Its emotional core and Lizzo’s ability to explore her authenticity through music are exactly what we’d expect from this release.
This single shows Lizzo treating her career as one continuous project that stretches across formats. The music keeps moving forward as the film and book sides expand, building toward whatever comes next on the announced album. The combination is a natural extension of how she has always worked, keeping listeners tuned in across every lane she occupies.
Watch ‘Don’t Make Me Love U’:
