Dua Lipa wows on the cover of the December issue of Atтιтude magazine in which she discusses ‘heartbreaking challenges’ in the LGBTQ community and misogyny in the music industry.
Wearing a semi-sheer corset for her strong and fierce look, Dua, 25, touched upon the challenges young LGBTQ people face in the pandemic when forced into lockdown with trans/homo/bi-phobic families.
She said: ‘It really breaks my heart. It’s hard to put into words how that makes me feel, somebody not being able to continue with their life because of what’s going on around them.
‘That makes it difficult to digest. I can only imagine what that must feel like. To be able to use my platform to spread awareness, show support, talk about it, to make people feel seen, heard and safe, [to] communicate with charities and try to do my part as much as I can… I see that as my duty.’
While Dua is not afraid to experiment with her style, she is happier doing it on her own terms and discussed misogyny in the music industry.
She said: ‘You’re on a music video and the director goes, “I definitely think you need to wear a skirt” – because someone wants to see, you know, UK’s pop star in a cute outfit.
‘There are all these little things, but I think that’s maybe where we’re going wrong. For so long we’re so used to pushing it away and saying something to just turn it off and be, like, this isn’t a big deal.
‘I’ve always been someone to check [a person] straight away. If someone’s saying something [that I don’t agree with], “Well, I’m not going to do that, I’m going to do this.” It creates maybe a weird energy, but it’s something that has to be said and addressed.’
Dua also addressed her experience with working with Madonna, 62.
She said: ‘I said to my manager, “I know this is super-crazy… do you think we could reach out and see if Madonna’s into it?”
‘He was, like, “The worst they can say is, no.” All right, f*** it, let’s see. Madonna got back to us and she was into the idea, she loved it — and then she called me on the phone – I was nervous, but she was really nice.
‘We had a 20-minute conversation and we spoke about the song, we spoke about men, we spoke about everything that was happening in the world; the Black Lives Matter protests were happening in London.
‘I’d just gone to one, and she was going the next day. You know, there was a lot to talk about, but she was fun and bubbly, everything you could imagine her [to be].’
And on Miley Cyrus, 27, Dua said: ‘We started becoming really close because we were constantly texting and talking, and [the collaboration] just happened…
‘It’s the perfect mix of both of us; it’s got a lot of atтιтude, and it’s playful, Sєxy and cute. We had a blast doing it and shooting the video.’
Dua’s self-тιтled debut album is the most streamed album by a female artist in Spotify history.
The video for her breakout global #1 hit New Rules made her the youngest female solo artist to reach one billion views on YouTube, while the track became the first to spend a record 45 weeks on the Billboard Pop Songs Chart.
The full interview is available online from Thursday 5 November and in print from Friday 6 November