Dua Lipa’s New Album ‘Future Nostalgia’ Has Made Her the “Quarantine Queen”
By Ana Wilmer and Kate Kissell
Nostalgia is generally the feeling of being stuck in time. A lot of times people tend to find themselves bound to their past by things of their present. Jumping in and out of one’s personal history, such as Manic sprints through your iPhone camera roll and pulling up extremely old Google Chats, is indeed the future of nostalgia.
About two years ago, when singer Dua Lipa decided to name her second album Future Nostalgia, she had absolutely no idea that she was also putting words to our current moment. This is truly what it feels like to be alive during this Quarantine time period, constantly dreaming about the future while the present has been put on pause.
In late March, Dua released Future Nostalgia while the US and Europe continued their paused daily lives. However, Lipa’s decision to release this new album did not go exactly as planned. The album was leaked by her fans! Dua Lipa spoke with Highsnobiety from an Airbnb in London, where she goes on to talk about doing grown-up things with her boyfriend Anwar Hadid, like reading, listening to podcasts, and conversing about tupperware.
Lipa chose to celebrate her successful album release with fans on Instagram Live in addition to YouTube. The singer also performed with her band on James Corden’s late-night talk show via Zoom, and took part in some of the first socially-distant photoshoots of this era. Such activities have led Dua to be, as Vulture declared, our “Quarantine Queen.”
When pondering the extent of Lipa’s new fame, it is not too hard to understand how she has risen to this height. The upbeat and fun songs she creates and produces for the world to hear attracts large varieties of ages and definitely seems to be taking over people’s choices to reject other artists and their songs. However, the way Lipa creates her song can be similarly referenced to multiple other artists’ techniques and the little accents they choose to add to their singing. For example, in Lipa’s song “Break My Heart”, her voice seems to chase a rapid guitar line similar to the song “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson. Lipa’s years as a teenager and the memories she has of her parents playing artists like Prince, Blondie, Jamiroquai, Madonna, alongwith British rock stars can be illustrated throughout the High-vis spider web between her tracks in her album Future Nostalgia.
It is not quite clear who might be some of Lipa’s inspirations as an artist, as well as if she has any base as a model for herself. However, if you were to listen to the first 30 seconds of her album Future Nostalgia, the phrase she sings, “You want a timeless song / I want to change the game”, shows her striving to make different and new music that has not been seen.
Lipa’s ear for production and her amazing songwriting talent has allowed her to become an outstanding Grammy-winning singer. Her uniqueness has allowed for a twist in the already rigid music business, the rules have definitely been changed. Out of fear for being a little too nostalgic, Lipa chose to get rid of a series of sessions she had recorded with Rogers last year. As she breaks new records for different streams and records all around the world, she has attained the most streamed album in Spotify history.
When asked about her being called “Quarantine Queen” Lipa said, “I mean, it’s interesting. When I first wanted to put the music out, I imagined it being played in pubs and bars and for going out. Being called “Quarantine Queen,” I don’t know — it’s funny, I guess [laughs]. I hope that it brings back happy memories of the time we’re spending indoors.”
Lipa’s new able title seems to resonate with our current situation, when talking about the title she said, “There are days that have been a lot harder than others — where you’re just, like, ‘What is happening?’ I’ve realized it’s a learning experience, too. This is a time to do things I don’t normally get to do. I think we all live a life where it’s always like, ‘What’s next? What am I doing tomorrow? Where am I going?’”
As the pandemic continues, it was quite brave for Lipa to release her album at this time to let her fans focus on things other than the tragedy around them. “I was really happy about the music coming out now. If it brings people a little bit of happiness or a moment of joy, that’s kind of all I can ever hope for. That one fact makes me really happy, even if I’m not really able to promote it. I’m so happy that it can serve as a fun moment in a day of monotony” she said. Lipa also added, “It just shows the importance of that connection that you have with the people around you. I really like the closeness that I think we all feel collectively as humans together. How that impacts us and will impact us once this is done. We will appreciate that contact even more in the moments that we speak to each other and open up to each other. This showed me the importance of how you share yourself and wanting to be open.”
Lipa lastly decided to talk about her decisions to not care what people think and instead speak out for what she cares about and her beliefs. “People are always like, ‘Don’t talk about American politics because you’re British! It has nothing to do with you!’ Or they’re like, ‘I can’t believe you would support abortion rights!’ I find it crazy that people don’t think the same way that I do, but I really stand by my beliefs. I don’t shy away from the things that I’m very passionate about. I only ever talk about these things if I feel that it’s about a much bigger picture — if it’s about people’s actual lives, or about people that are less fortunate than me” said Lipa.
Global Citizen’s Musical Response to a Global Pandemic
By Natalie Wexler
Nicer weather outside and the emergence of summer usually means thousands of fans descending upon festivals from Coachella in California to Governor’s Ball in New York City to Lollapalooza in Chicago and everywhere in between. But this summer is different because of the coronavirus. Many summer festivals have postponed or canceled their events to keep people safe. As of May 6th, 2020, Lollapalooza has not made any announcements about canceling the festival scheduled for July 30th-August 2nd but has not posted a lineup yet. Coachella, which was supposed to take place in April, has postponed the festival until October. Governor’s Ball, which was supposed to take place in June, has canceled their 2020 festival but are still scheduling a festival for June 2021.
Music fans who were looking forward to seeing their favorite artists live can still see them from the comfort of their home, thanks to Global Citizen. Global Citizen is a group whose mission is “to build a movement of 100M action-taking Global Citizens to help achieve our vision of ending extreme poverty by 2030.” In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization and the United Nations asked Global Citizen to “bring the world together through music and inspire everyone to take action,” according to the group’s website. =
One World: Together at Home was created to bring people together digitally during an uncertain, isolating time with exciting performances from artists such as Beyonce, Ellie Goulding, Liam Payne, Jessie J, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Elton John and more. The series also has talks from Bill and Melinda Gates, Former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, Priyanka Chopra in conversation with the World Health Organization, Kerry Washington, and more to keep people informed about the pandemic. Global Citizen is also celebrating community health workers and what they are doing to keep people safe.
Global Citizen is selling merchandise on its website, with all proceeds going towards the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization. Viewers also have the chance to take action for the fight against coronavirus with different action tasks on the Global Citizen website.
To take action with Global Citizen in the fight against coronavirus, check out the website here. To watch the musical performances and listen to speakers, check out the Global Citizen Instagram here.
