Female artistes around the world have achieved much in the industry. Some remarkable and some less remarkable, women artistes never make the viewer disappointed and discouraged through their work. They portray the fact “Men are strong but that doesn’t mean women are weak”. Well ,living in the 21st century and challenging others in the industry is Dua Lipa, another amazing female artiste who dominated the world.
Having a mesmerising mezzo-soprano vocal range she describes her style to be ‘dark pop’ although it makes people dance and sing along. Critics have often described her voice as complex. It falls under a series of genres such as R and B, Synth-Pop, Dance-Pop, and Dream-Pop. She sees Chance the Rapper, Pink, Nelly Furtado, Kendrick Lamar and others of that ilk as her inspirations.
Hip Hop artistes
Dua Lipa was born in London on 22 August 1995, to Albanian parents, Dukagin Lipa and Anesa Lipa. She gets her musical talent from her father who had been the lead vocalist in the rock band ‘ODA’. Being the eldest, Lipa has one younger brother and a younger sister. It’ is not widely known that she grew up with a Muslim background. Dua Lipa showed a keen liking towards Hip Hop artistes and this resulted in their influencing her career as a musician. During her pre teen years , she began posting YouTube covers of artistes such as Pink and Nelly Furtado. Her impact in recording and posting came from the discovery of Justin Bieber.
However, a year later she started studying at the Sylvia Theatre School while living at a friend’s home to achieve success in her musical career. During this time she had to work in various part time jobs at restaurants and night clubs, in order to fund her music lessons. Hoping to meet people who could help her in the industry she enrolled herself for an online catalogue as a model, but ultimately, she l gave up modelling after a manager from the company told her to lose weight needlessly.
Record deal
In 2015, she was offered a record deal by the Warner Music Group. It was a lucky chance. During this time, the Warner Company did not have a major female pop artiste. Therefore, within the first days it was easy for her to gain attention. Dua Lipa launched her first single Nuevo Love in August, followed by her second single Be the One launched in October which was an European success. It was able to reach the number one slot in Belgium, Poland i and Slovakia. In November 2016, she made the long list of Sound of 2016. Her very first tour began in January 2016 and ended in November 2016. During her tour she also released three singles, Last Dance, Hotter Than Hell, and Blow Your Mind all of which were commercial successes. With the last song she made her debut in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Her fashion sense was widely popular and she was featured on the cover of Elle.
January 2017 was a good start for her. Her collaboration with Martin Garrix, Scared to be lonely reached number 14 in the UK. The singer released her first self-titled debut studio album in June. New Rules, the sixth single of the album received a high profiled recognition and acceptance in UK. She became the first female solo artiste to reach the top in the UK since Adele’s Hello in 2015. The album topped the charts in Australia, Canada and the USA. She also authored a song about the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire in London named Troubled bridge over water. At the end of the year, she was crowned the ‘Most Streamed Woman Artiste of 2017’ in the UK by Spotify.
Good and bad
The year 2018, brought her both good and bad. In the first month she faced criticism for her cover of Smoke, Drink, Break Up in which she can be heard saying the N-word with unclear audio. She responded to the criticism with a public apology. Within the year, Dua won many accolades and nominations. Surprisingly, , she was nominated in five categories at the ‘Brit Awards’, making her the ‘Most Nominated Female Artiste of the Year’. Lipa won the titles ‘Best British Female Solo Artiste’ and ‘British Breakthrough Act’ at the ‘Brit Awards’. DJ whethan joined forces with the singer for High to the sound track of Fifty Shades Freed. Her big hit One Day was released on April 6. In September, she was endorsed by the British car brand Jaguar’s I-PACE.
She closed the year with an official collaboration featuring All-Girl K-Pop group ‘BLACKPINK’ for the song Kiss and Make Up.
All in all, 2018, was very good year for her and 2019 continued to be a busy one. Her release of her second Album Future Nostalgia with the singles Don’t Start Now (Lead), Physical and Break My Heart. In the same year ,she started collaborating with the clothing brand ‘Pepe Jeans London’. In August 2020, she was named as the global ambassador for the French mineral water brand ‘Evian’. On October 2 her Levitating featuring American rapper DaBaby was released. Later ,she was featured in Fever by Miley Cyrus.
Future Nostalgia
Future Nostalgia was the most streamed album by a woman on Spotify in 2020. Lipa has been dating American model Anwar Hadid since June 2019. Her philanthropy is very important too . She co-created the ‘Sunny Hill Foundation”, to help people in need. She was also a part of the campaign ‘Go Blue’ in support for Children’s Right on the Children’s Day organised by UNICEF along with Millie Bobby Brown, Orlando Bloom and Liam Neeson.
Dua Lipa’s efforts to seek success shows that she has what it takes. She has been one of the most inspirational female artiste’s in the world