In a strongly worded Instagram post, many believe Lana Del Rey just threw some major
shade at her fellow pop stars like Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Ariana Grande, and many
others and the internet is not happy.
What’s up? It’s Sussan Mourad here with Clevver News and Lana Del Rey just claimed
that some of her fellow female pop stars haven't experienced the same level of criticism she
has for writing about topics like sex, love, and power.
Lana took to Instagram to seemingly respond to accusations that her music romanticizes
abusive relationships.
In the lengthy post she wrote quote, “I’m fed up with female writers and alt singers
saying that I glamorize abuse when I’m just a glamorous person singing about the realities
of what we are all seeing are now very prevalent emotionally abusive relationships all over
the world.”
She went on to say “I think it's pathetic that my minor lyrical exploration detailing
my sometimes submissive or passive roles in my relationships has often made people say
I've set women back hundreds of years. There has to be a place in feminism for women who
look and act like me.”
But she didn’t only talk about her own work, she threw some of her peers under the bus
too, so to speak, writing quote, “Now that Doja Cat, Ariana, Camila, Cardi B, Kehlani
and Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing
no clothes, f - - king, cheating, etc — can I please go back to singing about
being embodied, feeling beautiful by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect,
or dancing for money — or whatever I want — without being crucified or saying that
I’m glamorizing abuse?”
And the timing of Lana’s post doesn’t seem to be coincidental.
Doja Cat, Nicki, Beyoncé, and Megan Thee Stallion together made Billboard 100 history
just last week by becoming the first Black women to hold the No. 1 and 2 spots with their
remixed songs, “Savage” and “Say So.”
Kehlani recently celebrated her album “It Was Good Until it Wasn't” making the highest
first-week sales in her ten-year career. And Ariana Grande's song with Justin Bieber,
"Stuck With U," debuted at number one and raised money for our current global crisis.
Many fans are upset, saying not only did Lana make all of it about her own career, but she
brought these women down rather than praising their power.
Additionally, many people are calling Lana out for why she would slam a group of mostly
African-American female artists.
One person tweeted quote, “think Lana’s post would have been fine if she hadn’t
compared herself to a group of mostly black women with the clear tone that she thinks
she’s been treated worse by the media when that’s observably untrue”
Another fan called Lana out saying quote, “Beyoncé was threatened to get lynched
because she dared to sing about police brutality, Ariana got death threats for the death of
her boyfriend that she had no control over. Kehlani got death + rape threats for a breakup
song. All the women Lana mentioned have been through hell”
And this person agreed chiming in with “Lana could’ve made her point without name dropping
the successful women she did. She did not have to compare her music to theirs. Let’s
be real here, every artist she named gets mad backlash for the music they make. Lana’s
whole post just seemed really bitter and ignorant to me”
And another person raised an interesting question about who Lana called out and whose names
she didn’t mention.
They tweeted, “She aimed her question to "the culture" and then proceeded to name black
women specifically (and Ariana/Camilla) who make R&B, Hip Hop and Urban music. Why is
that? Why not Taylor? Billie? Adele? Gaga? Katy? Dua?... Why specifically the "urban"
girls?”
But others are coming to Lana’s defense, thanking her for her vulnerability in her
music like this fan who wrote quote, “So glad you speak the truth and are not afraid
to stand up for yourself! Millions of people love you and relate to you! You and ur music
have saved me and I’ve never related to an artist like you, and you just get me. I
can never thank you enough for all you have done for me and millions of people”
Another fan chimed in writing quote, “I’ve been on a social media break for the past
month, but I couldn’t help but comment on this wonderful post. At risk of sounding like
a 90s groupie, “you go girl!!” Always so endlessly proud of you for speaking your
mind & standing up for what you believe in so fearlessly.”
And another fan agreed adding quote, “What lana said is so true. I’m so fed up with
the media and people who just don’t WANT to open their eyes and see the reality. Many
female singers are praised and it’s opposite with Lana. art is freedom and everyone has
the liberty to write and sing whatever they desire, it’s 2020 and i think it’s finally
time to accept that.”
And in the end, it seemed like the purpose of Lana’s letter overall, was to announce
her new album, which she revealed is set to be released on September 5th.
She said that she would be further exploring these topics in both her upcoming poetry books
and her fall album.
Lana hasn’t spoken out about her post again since she shared it, but I want to know what
you guys think about all of this.
Do you think Lana’s statements were problematic? Or do you agree with her sentiment?
Let me know down in the comments below and share your thoughts.
For more on Lana and her recent break up, click right over here for another Clevver
News video.
I’m your host, Sussan Mourad, bye guys!