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Lily Allen · S6 E2
Sheezus
Taking on Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Gaga — was it brave or naive?
It's the first week of May 2014, and every music journalist in Britain is writing the same headline: has Lily Allen lost her mind? She has named her album Sheezus, and the title track takes on Beyonce, Rihanna, and Katy Perry by name.
"URL Badman" by Lily Allen (2014). Lily takes on internet trolls with the same fearlessness she brings to pop royalty. The video captures the absurdity of online culture: everyone's a tough guy behind a keyboard, and Lily isn't having any of it. Same confrontational energy that drives the entire Sheezus album.
The Name
Kanye West releases Yeezus in June 2013, an album built on the idea that he is so talented, so important, that comparing himself to Jesus isn't arrogance but simple fact. The record sells millions and nobody bats an eye at the title. Lily Allen hears that silence and wonders: what happens when a woman tries the same thing?
URL Badman, Lily Allen (2014)
'URL Badman' is Lily at her most sardonic, mocking the keyboard warriors who spent years telling her she's finished. Listen for how the beat drops out entirely during the spoken-word sections, leaving nothing but Lily's voice and the silence where a troll's courage used to be. Kurstin keeps the instrumentation deliberately cheap-sounding: tinny synths and a beat that could have been programmed on a laptop, matching the low-effort world of internet commentary. It's a comedy track with real teeth.
“Why is it that when Kanye says he's a genius, it's news but it's accepted? When a woman does it, she's either joking or insane. I wanted to test that.”
— Lily Allen, interview with The Guardian (April 2014)
TAP TO REVEAL: Which four artists does Lily name-drop in the opening verse of 'Sheezus'?
KOKO, Camden Town, London
One of North London's most storied music venues, and a room Lily Allen has known since her teenage years in the Camden scene. When you name your album after Kanye West and call out Beyonce in the first verse, there's only one way to prove you mean it: stand on a stage and back it up.
Sheezus: The Numbers
Our Time, Lily Allen
'Our Time' is the optimistic flip side of the Sheezus swagger. Where the title track picks fights with pop royalty, this one is simply about being present: enjoying a moment without worrying about critics, chart positions, or whether you deserve to call yourself a genius. It's the Lily Allen who doesn't need to prove anything to anyone.
Our Time, Lily Allen (2014)
Read the lyrics while you listen. After the bravado of the title track, 'Our Time' reads like a deep breath. The words are simple, the sentiment is honest, and for three minutes Lily sounds like someone who got everything she wanted and is just trying to enjoy it.
Which producer worked with Lily Allen on both It's Not Me, It's You AND Sheezus?
The 'Hard Out Here' video has been called both feminist satire and racist in the same sentence. Next episode: the clip that forces Lily Allen to defend everything she thought she stood for.
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