Dua Lipa attended this year’s Grammys ceremony after winning Best New Artist in 2019. The singer celebrated the success of her friends Lil Nas X, Lizzo, and Rosalía by attending an after-party at a strip club. The four artists were recorded having a good time and tipping the sex workers. But, the next day, Lipa woke up to the hashtag #DuaLipaIsOverParty trending on Twitter. Fans were trying to “cancel” her for attending the establishment altogether. Lipa has finally spoken out about the incident, citing sexism in the music industry.
In a recent interview with The Times, Lipa addressed her new record Future Nostalgia and the situation following the Grammys: “You know, artists are people, and we learn from mistakes and apologize when it’s due. But, also, if I stand by my actions, I just won’t comment,” Lipa said. “I never do anything to be mean or degrading. Everything has a good intention, and if things get taken a wrong way, I’ll apologize. But I can’t live my life being scared in case someone tries to cancel me for something silly.”
Lipa continued that she often feels like an “object” in the eyes of the paparazzi: “There is a lot less scrutiny of male pop stars. Maybe we’re more fun to write about?” Lipa said. “I don’t know, but the way women are described compared to men, it’s, like, she is wearing shorts? ‘She puts on a leggy display!’ I just feel I’m here because I do music, but when people write articles like that about me, it takes it away from my talent and makes me a thing. An object. People like to just objectify women.”
The singer also addressed her Future Nostalgia track “Boys Will Be Boys” where she croons the lyrics “It’s second nature to walk home before the sun goes down / And put your keys between your knuckles when there’s boys around.” Lipa said she hopes the track will start “a conversation.” “Because these are real things I have gone through,” Lipa said. “Getting home from school, scared of boys, I put keys between my knuckles. We constantly change the way we are so we don’t get harassed. Cover our bodies so boys don’t say things. From when we are kids we are told the way boys act towards us is completely normal.”
Revisit Uproxx’s review of Future Nostalgia here.
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music Artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.