Dua Lipa on female artists breaking through in music: “As women, we have to work harder to be heard”

“I feel a duty to be a voice for my fans”

Dua Lipa has spoken out on the difficulties she faced breaking through in the music industry as a new female artist.

The ‘New Rules’ pop star, who recently bagged the Best British Single BRIT Award for ‘One Kiss‘, was in discussion at ILMC’s Futures Forum event on International Women’s Day last week (March 8).

During the chat, the singer touched on the earlier days of her career while addressing struggles young female acts can be met with compared to male musicians.

“As women, we have to work harder to be heard and appreciated,” she said (via iq). “It’s just one of those things – when you’re a female artist, unless you’re playing a piano or a guitar people think you’re manufactured, and you have to take some time to show people your stories and what you’ve gone through.

“Sometimes it just takes a little bit more explanation and a little more time, but it’s something I’m willing and ready to do to be heard.”

Explaining that she tries “to use my platform to speak out” on these issues, Lipa added: “I’ve always been quite outspoken and never been afraid to say things that are true to me. I feel a duty to be a voice for my fans, because they’ve given that [platform] to me.”

Elsewhere, the singer also recalled struggling to fill a venue at one of her early gigs. “There was no one there,” she said. “My manager had to ask [a group of people] if he bought them a drink, would they come and see his show?

“It wasn’t so bad, because I wasn’t expecting anyone to be there anyway – and it definitely managed my expectations.”

Meanwhile, Dua Lipa’s Madame Tussauds waxwork has recently been unveiled at the London attraction. Captioning a series of images of herself standing beside the new piece, Lipa described the moment as “totally surreal”.