Lizzo debuts new song in beautiful Super Bowl ad for Google Pixel 6

"If You Love Me" was used to promote the phones' new Real Tone feature to capture darker skin tones.

February 14, 2022 at 1:00PM
(Courtesy Google Pixel/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Dr. Dre-led Halftime Show crew weren't the only hip-hop stars to make a strong impression during the Super Bowl telecast Sunday night.

Lizzo harnessed the undeniable marketing power of a new Google Pixel commercial during the big game to debut a dramatic new song — and to further tout her self-love and Black-is-beautiful messaging.

The ex-Minnesotan singer/rapper's new tune, "If You Love Me," was rather perfectly paired with an ad for Google's Pixel 6 phone (video posted below). Specifically, the commercial touted the phone's distinctive feature Real Tone, which promises to take photos that more accurately capture people with darker skin tones.

"If you love me / You love all of me / Or none of me at all," Lizzo sings in the new ballad — presumably another one to be featured on her long-awaited follow-up to 2019's Grammy-winning breakthrough album, "'Cuz I Love You." She first teased the new record by releasing the Cardi B collaboration "Rumors" in August.

A photo of Lizzo scrolled across the screen toward the end of the 60-second spot after a series of beautifully lit pics of other women, men and children of color. The ad aired during the game's third quarter not long after the Half-Time Show with Dre, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent.

"If You Love Me" sounds like a sequel to one of the best tunes Lizzo recorded while still living in Minnesota, 2015's "My Skin." In that one, she sang, "I woke up in this, in my skin / I can't wash it away / So you can't take it from me / My brown skin."

about the writer

about the writer

Chris Riemenschneider

Critic / Reporter

Chris Riemenschneider has been covering the Twin Cities music scene since 2001, long enough for Prince to shout him out during "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)." The St. Paul native authored the book "First Avenue: Minnesota's Mainroom" and previously worked as a music critic at the Austin American-Statesman in Texas.

See More