One of the biggest stories making headlines from Tomorrowland 2018 was a tweet from vocalist Dua Lipa, where she proclaimed herself the “first international female artist” to perform at the festival. The internet – and her peers – were quick to prove her very, very wrong.
Shout out to all the women who have played at Tomorrowland over the many years
— ALISON WONDERLAND (@awonderland) July 23, 2018
On July 24th, Dua Lipa responded to the backlash on her Twitter, responding in four parts:
Every woman in the industry ive seen do well gets built up to be brought down. If we worried about keyboard warriors who lash out because shit aint settled in their own house we wouldnt be doing as well as we are! https://t.co/jhLd5YfnyK
— DUA LIPA (@DUALIPA) July 24, 2018
I praise every woman killing shit cuz people will hate on you for no reason… but we good!
— DUA LIPA (@DUALIPA) July 24, 2018
Every woman full stop. Some people are animals and they need a minute to check themselves cuz all we did was breathe and they’re on our neckssss!! Byeeeeeee
— DUA LIPA (@DUALIPA) July 24, 2018
The most important lesson to learn from all of this, is that no matter what you do, or what your goal in life is. You should work hard for the things you love and make you happy. Everything else is irrelevant! LOVE ALWAYS AND BE KIND xx
— DUA LIPA (@DUALIPA) July 24, 2018
While her message of respecting women in music and spreading love and positivity are great, Dua Lipa seems to be missing the point of the fiasco to begin with. She seems to miss the fact that the people calling her out on Twitter were also women.
Dua Lipa is correct in that female artists aren’t nearly as well-represented at festivals as male artists. That much is true. However, her response is sadly misguided. Her tweet that brags about being the “first female international artist” harms other women, and follows a dangerous trend where women in entertainment find themselves fighting for the “best” or the “first” or the “most” in their titles.
In fact, Reddit’s /r/EDM community helpfully compiled a list of artists who also hold the title of “international female artist” who played Tomorrowland before Dua Lipa.
Their list is: Krewella, Rezz, Nervo, Vassy, Sara Hartman, Emma Hewitt, Rebecca & Fiona, Miss Djax, Ada, Dana, Nina Kraviz, Charlotte De Witt, Monika Kruse, ANNA, Nora En Pure, and Alison Wonderland, who played on the same stage just hours before Dua took the stage. There are likely others not mentioned, but these are just a few artists who she sadly overlooked.
The real trouble comes in Dua Lipa’s statement – instead of apologizing to the artists involved, she doubled down, calling her critics “keyboard warriors” and making broad statements about building up other women.
Building up women is a fantastic ambition. “Work[ing] hard for the things you love” is a stellar way of life. But to dismiss the women who she disrespected by playing defense against them on Twitter is downright sad.
It may be fun and exciting to declare yourself the “first” of anything, but when a misguided statement harms the people who came before you, correcting yourself seems only natural. Instead, Dua kept the tweet, and changed her title to “first international female singer” (which is also incorrect) before deleting it entirely.
And until Dua Lipa apologizes to every woman on the list mentioned here, the disrespect she showed at Tomorrowland 2018 will follow her work like a shadow.
In an industry where women are already struggling to book headlining sets, the last thing women need is to be stubbornly declaring themselves to be the “first” or the “best” ahead of each other.
In the words of Alison Wonderland:
If you don’t agree w someone… try to treat them respectfully at first, if you want to make a positive impact. Clear communication & transparency is key to opening minds 🙂
— ALISON WONDERLAND (@awonderland) July 23, 2018
Are there any artists we missed in the list of international female artists who played at Tomorrowland before Dua Lipa? Let us know in the comments!
FOR MORE UPDATES FOLLOW RESPECT MY REGION ON FACEBOOK & TWITTER.
