Over the weekend, Lana Del Rey spoke out to clarify the intentions behind her controversial
post from last week where she name-dropped fellow female artists like Ariana Grande,
Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat, Cardi B, and Kehlani.
What’s up?
It’s Sussan Mourad here with Clevver News and Lana Del Rey just took to Instagram again
to defend her post that caused a firestorm across the internet last week.
In case you missed it, Lana shared a lengthy post about her frustrations with the music
industry and she addressed how her music has been reviewed over the past decade in comparison
to other top female artists like Beyoncé, Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, and more.
Her post said quote, “Now that Doja Cat, Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello, 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??????”
The post resulted in thousands of negative comments and someone actually releasing Lana’s
private phone number because they were so upset by it.
These fans accused Lana of being “racist” for calling out mostly black women in her
post writing things like “I 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”
And another fan agreed writing quote, “Agreed.
Also there's weird superiority undertones to saying that black women's music is about
"cheating and fucking" but when she does it it's about "embodiment and feeling beautiful”
But Lana has spoken out multiple times now since this post, including a recent lengthy
video where she addresses all the backlash.
OK, let’s start with her first, follow up post where she made it clear that her statement
was not about race and that these other women are actually some of her favorite artists.
Lana said quote, “Making it about race says so much more about you than it does about
me.
You want the drama … my aim and my message are clear.
That I have control of my own story.
If the women I mention don't’ wanna be associated with me that’s absolutely fine by me.”
And in a comment on her first post she further clarified writing quote, “when I said people
who look like me – I meant the people who don’t look strong or necessarily smart,
or like they’re in control etc. it’s about advocating for a more delicate personality,
not for white woman – thanks for the Karen comments tho.
V helpful”
And in her recent 6 minute long video that she shared to IG, she further clarified the
point of her original post.
Lana started off by saying quote, “Hey, so I don’t want to beat a dead horse and
I don’t want to, you know, go on and on about this post thing, but I just want to
remind you that in that post -- my one and only personal declaration I’ve ever made,
thanks for being so warm and welcoming -- you know, was about the need for fragility in
the feminist movement.
It’s gonna be important.”
And then she got into what she meant when comparing herself to these other female artists,
even name dropping FKA Twigs in her explanation.
And Lana went on to say quote, “I’m reminded constantly by my friends that lyrically there
are layers and complicated psychological factors that play into some of my songwriting, but
I just want to say, you know, the culture is super sick right now.
And the fact that they want to turn my post, my advocacy for fragility into a race war,
it’s really bad.”
She also added, “You can call me whatever.
I'm sorry that I didn't add one Caucasian, 100% Caucasian person into the mix of the
women that I admire.
It really says more about you than it does about me.”
And then Lana got into the backlash she received and how her post led to hundreds of thousands
of negative comments and someone releasing her private phone number.
But she said that none of this is going to stop her.
Lana said “It's not gonna stop me, period.
Unfortunately.
when you have a good heart, it doesn't always shine through, and you trudge on anyway.
You make those personal reparations to heal your own family karmic lineage and the sickness
of this country.
Domestic abuse, mental health problems, the second epidemic that's arising out of this
time.
It's a real thing.
That's what I was talking about.”
And she ended her video mentioning her forthcoming poetry projects and revealed the title of
her next album, which she previously announced would be released on September 5th.
Her album title is Chemtrails Over the Country Club and Lana said quote, “I'm not the enemy,
and I'm definitely not racist, so don't get it twisted.
Nobody gets to tell your story except for you, and that's what I'm gonna do in the next
couple books.
So God bless and, yeah, f--- off if you don't like the post.”
And even after Lana’s multiple clarifications, fans are still torn over all of this online,
possibly even more so than before.
Some people are upset with how Lana name dropped FKA Twigs and used her as an example like
this person who wrote quote, “twigs wrote an entire album on how many wronged women
in history have had their narratives warped n devalued by men n how she’s also been
subject to that n she didn’t have to drag down a single other female artist to do it
so i think lana del rey should shut the fuck up”
Another person chimed in with “lana del rey touched a pole in 2012 for one music video,
while fka twigs (who is a professional dancer) learned and pole dances outside of music videos.
twigs uses the art form as an extension of her music not as a plot device to further
appropriate chola culture”
And another said quote, “all the people saying op missed lana’s point...
LANA is missing OUR point.
she shouldn’t have to name other women (who clearly don’t want to be called out or dragged
into her bullshit) for doing what she wants to do but successfully.
that does not come from a place of admiration”
But other fans are defending Lana saying things like this person who wrote quote, “So fu*****g
true... you say one personal thing about yourself and you get fu****g attacked.
I don't get it.
People have been begging to get personal insight out of you for years.
It's sad.
Im in your corner and I respect you and hear you.
@lanadelrey”
Another fan added quote, “I feel for @LanaDelRey now.
Her words were twisted and now people believe what other people are saying of what she said.”
And another Lana stan said quote, “are we done with cancel culture yet? or "if you disagree
with my view you are over"? so glad @LanaDelRey survived a cancel attempt...she didn't have
to apologize multiple times for a few snowflakes…”
So clearly the internet is still divided on this issue, but I want to know what you guys
think.
Did Lana’s responses clarify her point for you or do you think she further complicated
it by bringing FKA Twigs into it?
Let me know down in the comments below.
And if you want more on Lana’s original post, click right over here for another Clevver
News video.
I’m your host Sussan Mourad, bye guys!