One California classroom received Lizzo‘s seal of approval after they remixed her hit song Truth Hurts.
DorothyHoney Mallari, a teacher at Los Medanos Elementary School in Pittsburg, Calif., near San Francisco, put pen to paper and rewrote the lyrics to motivate her Grade 2 students.
Mallari, 32, set up a camera to record her students singing the song. She herself gets up on the desks to dance, directing her students as they belt out the revamped lyrics to Lizzo’s music.
READ MORE: Who is Lizzo? — Everything you need to know about the ‘Truth Hurts’ singer
Lizzo fans will recognize that one of the singer’s most famous lyrics — “I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100 per cent that b—h” — has been changed to something more age- and school-appropriate: “I just took an ELA test, turns out, I’m 100 per cent that smart.”
The new lyrics deal with powerful themes like the importance of friendship, positivity and perseverance — even in the face of troubles at school.
Mallari’s lyrics continue:
Let’s be great ’cause I know we are great.
I just took an ELA test, turns out,
I’m 100 per cent that smart even when I’m feeling lazy.
Yeah, I got math problems that’s the student in me.
Buzz, buzz then I solve them, that’s the worker (bee) in me.
You want to have a good friend, who’s committed
Help you with your homework, just a little.
You know I’ll hold you down because you got my back
And that’s the sound, of the yellow and black.
Lizzo, who performed at the 2019 Video Music Awards, caught wind of the energetic performance and retweeted the footage on Twitter.
READ MORE: Lizzo denies ‘Truth Hurts’ plagiarism accusation
NBC news anchor Raj Mathai first shared the video, which has since garnered over 1 million views, on Wednesday.
“Best thing you’ll watch today,” he wrote above the video. “Teacher in Pittsburg (40 miles east of San Francisco) uses @lizzo to inspire and teach her kids.”
Lizzo shared his Tweet, writing: “Ur right.. this IS the best thing I’ve watched today.”
The powerful performance has taken the internet by storm, with one person commenting: “Teachers and CEOs need to swap salaries.”
“Someone get this class a pizza party,” one person tweeted, while another said: “I don’t know what she is being paid, but I know it’s not even close to what she deserves!”
Mallari writes a class song every year, she told Fox KTVU. She chooses the beat based on what music her students like that year. They performed a Drake song last year.
READ MORE: Teacher brings class to tears by asking students to leave ’emotional baggage’ at the door
“We were talking about flexible seating and classroom culture,” she told the broadcast station.
“I think it worked well. I just liked the beat.”
Nicky Mora, a spokesperson for the Pittsburg Unified School District, described Mallari as “such a good teacher,” adding: “She uses these songs to inspire.”
In a message played on Good Morning America on Friday, Lizzo can be heard saying: “Hey kids, it’s Lizzo. I saw the wonderful video that y’all made. Your teacher is very cool.
“I wanna thank you so much for supporting me and I wanna let you know that you are 100 per cent the future,” she continued. “You’re so bright and so beautiful and so talented so keep it up and I hope to see y’all one day.
“I wanna drop in on your class so hopefully we can make that happen. In the meantime, stay bright.”
While appearing on the show, Mallari emphasized the importance of finding a song that resonated with her students.
“As soon as I saw them dancing to it, I was like, ‘Ah, I’m going to do this song,'” she shared.
If all goes well, it sounds like Mallari’s class will be getting a visit from Lizzo herself sometime soon.
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