Second-graders’ remix of ‘Truth Hurts’ went viral — so Lizzo had to see it herself
Northern California elementary school students’ singalong to a revamped Lizzo hit went viral last month — and now the class has met the artist herself.
Dorothy Mallari’s second-graders at Los Medanos Elementary School in Pittsburg traveled to San Jose’s SAP Center for Thursday’s Poptopia concert, where the students got their own special meet and greet with the singer who was performing, according to the Pittsburg Unified School District.
The district thanked San Francisco Bay Area radio station 99.7 NOW for setting up the Lizzo meeting.
The radio station posted video on Facebook showing the class meeting Lizzo and performing their rendition for her as she dances along.
Video of a Northern California teacher leading her class in a Lizzo singalong delighted viewers across the U.S. after the school district posted it on social media in early November, even catching the attention of the singer herself.
Lizzo wrote on Twitter at the time that teacher Mallari’s rewritten version of hit single “Truth Hurts” was “the best thing I’ve watched today.”
Before the class got to meet Lizzo, an NBC Bay Area reporter shared video on Twitter showing Mallari reading some of her students’ fan mail for the singer.
“Dear Lizzo, I love your song. Can you come to our school? You are my hero — you will always be my hero,” one of the students wrote, asking for Lizzo’s autograph. “I want to be you one day.”
Mallari has worked at the Pittsburg school about 40 miles east of San Francisco for six years, according to NBC Bay Area.
“I think it worked well,” Mallari, 32, said last month of the rendition she rewrote, according to KTVU. “I just liked the beat.”
Mallari’s version is a bit more wholesome than the original, with kid-friendly lyrics and school-specific references.
“Let’s be great, ‘cuz I know we are great,” the second-graders sing in the 90-second clip, standing on chairs in their classroom. “I just took an ELA test, turns out I’m 100 percent that smart.”
Mallari recorded the clip herself and made edits in iMovie, then sent the footage to the Pittsburg Unified School District, which posted the clip online, according to KTVU.
“Ms. Mallari uses a Lizzo song to teach her students to be GREAT,” the district wrote in a post along with the video. “This video is less than 90 seconds long...and you’ll be glad you watched!”
The kids appear to love the song, too.
“When we get the rules in, like, a song, then it gets us focused,” 7-year-old Jefer Borrios said last month, according to KPIX. “It gets us ready.”
Another classmate agreed.
“It makes us feel happy in the morning and it makes us feel like a family,” 8-year-old Hayden Wiebe told KPIX.
It’s not Mallari’s first hit, either: Last year, she created a song set to the tune of a Drake single, according to KTVU.
District spokeswoman Nicky Mora called Mallari “such a good teacher” and said that “she uses these songs to inspire,” KTVU reported.
Some material in this story appeared in a previous article by the author.
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Second-graders’ remix of ‘Truth Hurts’ went viral — so Lizzo had to see it herself."
