UC Santa Cruz

The purpose of this dissertation is to consider an alternative methodological framework for studying popular music and musicians particularly within historically marginalized groups. I explore the parasocial relationships between online fan audiences and musicians with Lizzo the artist as a case study. I chose Lizzo as a case study because of her platform online, where she communicates with fans to shape her musical culture and the art she produces. Moreover, Lizzo was faced with online “cancel-culture” due to sexual assault allegations that are complicated through her background as a marginalized woman of color. Through the social media platforms Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok, this dissertation examines how online communities are mediated through an appreciation of Lizzo’s music. I also consider the implication of technology and a lack of shared geographical location, to question the imagined community’s authenticity for fans. I investigate negative responses to Lizzo both before and after the public allegations made in the lawsuit against her and examine the relationship of this negativity of bias to race, gender, and body.Using an interdisciplinary approach in popular music studies, cultural studies, and fan studies, I analyze intersecting background factors on this cultural formation including race, gender, and body-positivity representation. While there is no specific framework that fits this research, I was able to utilize a blend of work provided by Angela McRobbie, Patricia Hill Collins, sometimes in parallel with Judith Butler and Jessica Mason, and Stacy Wolf for my analysis. I collected data from online comment sections in the above-mentioned social media platforms, using the top three most popular comments from each post starting December 1st, 2022, and ending November 30th, 2023. I also collected data in this time frame from fan interactions directly with the artist Lizzo as well as posts made by the artist herself which had moments of virality. I found that fans had varying relationships with the star, changing based on insider knowledge, online participation, and reactions to the sexual assault allegations. Using intertextual analysis, I found that fans created an online culture unique to the Lizzo fandom which included reflection and connection, in music, memes, and art. Moreover, I determined that the Lizzo fandom functions asynchronously and is affected by a historical legacy of violence against marginalized groups.The implications of this research in the cross-cultural musicological field, and beyond, provide advancement in the understanding of non-traditional archival material that can be used for cultural studies. Rather than universalizing claims, I concentrated on individual reactions to the music and culture by Lizzo. My work supports existing research on the centering of marginalized groups by addressing a Black, plus sized, and body positive musician traversing the popular music space. My research indicates the future importance of continuing to study individualized approaches to popular music and the communities created around the music by its dedicated fans. I focus on fans in this music and culture while they traverse relationships with a star that they may or may not have connection to and look toward research which directs attention to cultural development across the boundaries of time and space.