“I think it’s a thing of what people want from their pop stars. They don’t want you to be political,” says Dua Lipa in a new interview.
Dua Lipa has called for a ceasefire in Gaza and urged for world leaders to “take a stand” in a new interview.
The British Albanian singer, whose second album ‘Future Nostalgia’ made our list of the 30 Best European Albums of the 21st Century, is on the cover the February issue of Rolling Stone. She spoke to the publication about her eagerly anticipated new album, and opened up about her stand over the Israel Hamas war, calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire”.
“My existence is kind of political, the fact that I lived in London because my parents left from the war,” said the singer, who was born to Albanian parents in London.
“I feel for people who have to leave their home. From my experience of being in Kosovo and understanding what war does, no one really wants to leave their home. They do it for protection, to save their family, to look after the people around them, that kind of thing, for a better life. So I feel close to it.”
“My feelings on displaced people (are) very real and raw, and it is a difficult subject to speak about because it’s so divisive,” she added.
“I feel so bad for every Israeli life lost and what happened on Oct. 7,” she said of the Hamas terrorist attacks.
“At the moment, what we have to look at is how many lives have been lost in Gaza, and the innocent civilians, and the lives that are just being lost. There are just not enough world leaders that are taking a stand and speaking up about the humanitarian crisis that’s happening, the humanitarian cease-fire that has to happen,” Lipa further told Rolling Stone.
Lipa previously joined the likes of Jessica Chastain, Michael Stipe, and Cate Blanchett in signing an open letter to US President Joe Biden calling for a ceasefire and “an end to the bombing of Gaza and the safe release of hostages”.
Dua Lipa on the cover of Rolling Stone’s February 2024 issueDua Lipa on the cover of Rolling Stone’s February 2024 issueRolling Stone
The interview also addresses a 2021 incident where she and other celebrities faced accusations of antisemitism for supporting Palestinian liberation.
At the time, she wrote on her Instagram page that she stood in solidarity with all the oppressed people and also shared that she rejected all forms of racism.
“I feel like when I do want to speak about something, I hope that people will see it for what it is and that there is no malicious intent,” she added.
Dua Lipa also shared that her decision to speak up on contentious issues might come as surprise to some critics, since they “don’t want you to be smart”.
“I think it’s a thing of what people want from their pop stars. They don’t want you to be political,” she said.
Elsewhere in the interview, Lipa shared that her upcoming album is “psychedelic-pop-infused” and was inspired by the likes of Primal Scream and Massive Attack.
“This record feels a bit more raw. I want to capture the essence of youth and freedom and having fun and just letting things happen, whether it’s good or bad. You can’t change it. You just have to roll with the punches of whatever’s happening in your life,” Lipa told Rolling Stone.
There is no release date as of yet for Dua Lipa’s third album, which features the hit single ‘ Houdini ’, and she will be touring Europe this summer during the festival season.
