Olivia Rodrigo has no time for sexist criticism of her songs—or the songs of her fellow women artists, for that matter.
In a new interview with The Guardian, the “deja vu” singer opened up about some of the not-so-nice comments she’s received about her music. While she admits that she doesn’t try to look at negative criticism too often, she’s noticed that some people have accused her of “only writing songs about boys”—a similar critique aimed at the likes of Taylor Swift, who happens to be Olivia’s favorite artist.
The whole thing is “BS in my mind,” according to Olivia. “I’m a teenage girl, I write about stuff that I feel really intensely – and I feel heartbreak and longing really intensely – and I think that’s authentic and natural,” she told The Guardian. “I don’t really understand what people want me to write about; do you want me to write a song about income taxes? How am I going to write an emotional song about that?” FWIW we think Olivia could make any topic into a killer bop and she could have us singing about income taxes if she wanted to!
Olivia also shared that her debut album Sour will encompass a range of emotions that are all completely relatable. “Something I’m really proud of is that this record talks about emotions that are hard to talk about or aren’t really socially acceptable especially for girls: anger, jealousy, spite, sadness, they’re frowned-upon as bitchy and moaning and complaining or whatever. But I think they’re such valid emotions.”
The singer is emphasizing the validity of these emotions by admitting her own feelings, which allows her fans to normalize those themes within their lives—a really powerful move for someone who has a huge (and ever-growing) platform. “I think there’s a lot of strength in saying: I don’t know anything and I feel so insecure and unwanted,” she said. “If I were a younger person looking up to my favorite songwriter, I’d be really moved by that so I hope I can provide that.”
Olivia has some big things ahead. Not only is her first album Sour weeks away from its release (May 21, fam!), the singer-songwriter will make her SNL debut as the musical guest on the May 15th episode. It’s safe to say that Olivia is just getting started, and we can’t wait to see what else her future has in store.