Born in London to ethnic Albanian immigrants from Kosovo, Dua Lipa was always determined to make music. Queen of what she calls “dark pop”, she was the recent recipient of two Grammys and is now one of the most-listened-to musicians worldwide. Lipa shares her story and more for this month’s issue of Elle.
She starts by talking about her childhood and how certain events had an impact on her music and career. Lipa began attending the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School, where Amy Winehouse also studied. An instructor was impressed by Lipa’s raspy, older-than-her-years voice, and bumped her up to the class with the older kids.
“He was the first person who made me feel like I could do it. He would put me in uncomfortable situations where I would have to get up in front of the teenagers and sing. That’s how I started really believing in myself. People found it interesting that I was so little, but I had a husky voice”. She explained.
At 11, she had to move to Kosovo (Her parents’ birth-land). Despite the initial enthusiasm to move to her origin country where people pronounced her name correctly, the life as a marginalised-student speaking Albanian with english accent wasn’t easy. So she came back to England, where she finally started her career posting on Youtube and SoundCloud.
She spent nights and weekends at concerts, promoting herself to people in the audience, hoping they worked in music. “I was like, ‘If you like my covers and you like my voice, maybe we should work together.'”
At an Ed Sheeran concert, she met the songwriter-producer Marlon Roudette, who teamed up with her in 2013 to record a cover of Chance the Rapper’s “Cocoa Butter Kisses” and post it on SoundCloud. Soon after, producers started contacting Lipa on Twitter. Her career then really started.
It was the Grammy performance with St. Vincent that saw her career really take off. Then she won Best New Artist right after that. “I had crazy adrenaline. I was petrified waiting to hear what happened. When they called my name, I blacked out. I was so nervous. Lady Gaga was front row and blew me a kiss, and I was like, Oh my God, my brain isn’t working. But I managed to say something that meant a lot to me.” She said.
She also talked about a very important topic of the moment “being vocal about supporting women” as the Elle journalist shared. Lipa explained empowerment songs and singers have always existed, especially for female artists. Like when Janet Jackson sang “I have control over my body and my thing.” or when Whitney Cummings was doing stand-up. The difference is that now people listen to what they say.
Lipa is probably the future of pop music and we can’t wait to see what will be her next step in music industry. You can check out the full Elle interview here and have a look at some pics below!
#Peace.Love.DuaLipa&Elle
