Lizzo salutes Serena on new song "Like a Girl"

Lizzo, one of music's rising stars, can't seem to get enough of Serena Williams.

After recently shouting out Serena upon sporting a tennis ball–colored frock to the GLAAD Media Awards, the singer (born Melissa Jefferson) has done so again.

Her new album Cuz I Love You's second track, "Like a Girl," includes a salute to the 23-time major singles champion, coupled with a wink at another hall of fame performer: "Lauryn Hill told me everything is everything/Serena Willy showed me I can win Wimbledon."

"We wanted take the old cliché and flip it on its head," Lizzo told Apple Music, "shaking out all the negative connotations and replacing them with something empowering. Serena Williams plays like a girl and she’s the greatest athlete on the planet, you know? And what if crying was empowering instead of something that makes you weak? When we got to the bridge, I realized there was an important piece missing: What if you identify as female but aren't gender-assigned that at birth? Or what if you're male but in touch with your feminine side? What about my gay boys? What about my drag queens? So I decided to say, ‘If you feel like like a girl/Then you real like a girl,' and that's my favorite lyric on the whole album."

Lizzo and Serena have this in common also: What they do next will have the media and entertainment worlds watching with rapt attention.

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