Entertainment
Lorde's Thoughts On Everything, From Lana Del Rey To Taylor Swift To Feminism
It's hard not to love Lorde. The 18-year-old two-time Grammy winner (feel inadequate yet?) is insanely talented, sure, but she's also refreshingly honest and real. She's one of the few pop stars who feels comfortable speaking her mind — no matter how controversial the topic. Lorde isn't afraid to take a critical look at the world, and definitely is afraid to talk about how she sees it. Click through to read about all of the things that Lorde has taken a stand on, from Lana Del Rey to Complex Magazine.
On Lana Del Rey
From an interview with Fader on dangerous statements in music:
“[Lana Del Rey] is great, but I listened to [her] record and the whole time I was just thinking it’s so unhealthy for young girls to be listening to, you know: “I’m nothing without you.” This sort of shirt-tugging, desperate, don’t leave me stuff. That’s not a good thing for young girls, even young people, to hear.”
On Nicki Minaj and Drake
From Interview Magazine about the inspiration behind “Royals”:
“Around the middle of last year I started listening to a lot of rap, like Nicki Minaj and Drake… They all sing about such opulence, stuff that just didn’t relate to me—or anyone that I knew. I began thinking, “How are we listening to this? It’s completely irrelevant.” I basically just wrote what we were all thinking.”
On Selena Gomez
From an interview with Rolling Stone, on Gomez’s pop song “Come and Get It:”
“I’m a feminist and the theme of her song is, ‘’When you’re ready, come and get it from me.’ I’m sick of women being portrayed this way.”
On Women Who Don't Call Themselves Feminists
“A lot of girls think it’s not shaving under their arms and burning bras and hating boys, which just seems stone age to me,” she told The Huffington Post.
On Taylor Swift
Swift and Lorde are besties now, but before they were, Lorde had this to say about the “Shake It Off” singer’s image:
“Taylor Swift is so flawless, and so unattainable, and I don’t think it’s breeding anything good in young girls. ‘I’m never going to be like Taylor Swift, why can’t I be as pretty as Lorde?’ That’s fucking bullshit.”
On Apologizing For Her Words About Taylor Swift
From her blog:
“I am very, very new to this whole thing. I will probably never be the kind of role model for my fans that [Taylor] is for hers. I admire her very much for this reason. Basically, this is an apology for not thinking too hard before I speak.”
On Diplo's Taylor Swift Diss
After Diplo dissed Lorde’s pal Taylor Swift (he said someone should start a petition to get Swift a “booty,” because maturity) Lorde tweeted at the celeb that maybe they should deal with his “tiny penis” as well. Want some ice for that burn, bro?
On Tweeting About Diplo's Taylor Swift Diss
Annnnd then she defended her comment in the coolest way ever to Fader:
“I love Wes and he’s a big brother to me and one of my first friends in the industry, and part of having a friendship with someone like that is not letting them say stupid shit. Taylor’s my friend as well, and I’m a girl, and if I see some weird body-shaming on my feed I’m going to be like, “Hey man…” We do still love each other, hopefully.”
On Journalistic Integrity
Lorde took to Tumblr to stand up for Iggy Azalea after Complex Magazine gave the artist a poor review:
“Bugs me how publications like Complex will profile interesting artists in order to sell copies/get clicks and then shit on their records? It happens to me all the time- Pitchfork and that [like] being like “Can we interview you?” after totally taking the piss out of me in a review. Have a stance on an artist and stick to it. Don’t act like you respect them then throw them under the bus.”
On Being A Sex Positive Person
From an interview with V Magazine:
“People like to paint me in a certain way, but I’m a hugely sex-positive person and I have nothing against anyone getting naked. For me personally I just don’t think it really would complement my music in any way or help me tell a story any better. It’s not like I have a problem with dancing around in undies—I think you can use that stuff in a hugely powerful way. It just hasn’t felt necessary for me.”
On Being Honest About Music
From an interview with MTV News:
“I think there’s a funny culture in music that’s only happened over the last 15 years, that if you have an opinion about something in music that isn’t 100 percent good, you’re a ‘hater.’”
On Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke's VMA Performance
From an interview with Q Magazine:
“There are a lot of shock tactics these days. People trying to outdo each other, which will probably culminate in two people fucking onstage at the Grammys. I try to keep blinkers on and focus on making music.”
On Why Young People Need To Control Music
From her interview with V Magazine:
“The power and control is with the young people now. It seems like for a while the pop industry has been run by a bunch of 40-year-olds. I feel like maybe that’s about to change. There are young people doing such incredible things creatively at the moment. It feels good.”
On Feminism
From an interview with Rookie Magazine:
“I’m speaking for a bunch of girls when I say that the idea that feminism is completely natural and shouldn’t even be something that people find mildly surprising, it’s just a part of being a girl in 2013.”
On Why People Are Wrong About Feminism
From her interview with Rookie Magazine:
“I find a lot of feminist reading quite confusing and that often there’s a set of rules, and people will be like, “Oh, this person isn’t a true feminist because they don’t embody this one thing,” and I don’t know, often it can be a gray area and it can be a hard thing to navigate. But I don’t know. I just like, it’s just something that I’d assumed was natural for a long time. It’s not some crazy kind of alien concept to me.”
On Justin Bieber
“I feel like the influences that are there in the industry for people my age, like Justin Bieber or whatever, are just maybe not a very real depiction of what it’s like to be a young person.”
On Morality In Music
“I have pretty strong morals and opinions being in pop music, and I can’t help but express those, which I think people appreciate. I mean, I don’t think I say anything that isn’t backed up. Most of the time I will stand by things that I’ve said.”
