Dua Lipa is convinced the public don’t want pop stars to be “smart” or “political”.
The 28-year-old singer insists she reads voraciously and has recently spoken out against Hamas’ bombardment of Israel, and has told how she thinks fans don’t want to see intellectual stars.
She said in a chat with Rolling Stone: “I don’t know if people believe that I like to read books, or people believe that these conversations are my own.
“I think it’s a thing of what people want from their pop stars.
“They don’t want you to be political. They don’t want you to be smart. Not that I’m trying to prove myself in that way, but there is so much more to me than just what I do.”
Dua has signed and supported a petition for a cease-fire to the Israel-Hamas war that has turned Gaza into a tragic battlefield and displaced millions of people.
She said: “My feelings on displaced people (are) very real and raw, and it is a difficult subject to speak about because it’s so divisive.
“But there is a world where you can feel for all lives that are being lost. And I have to say this: I don’t condone what Hamas is doing… every life is precious.”
Dua was born in London but moved with her family to Kosovo’s capital city of Pristina after the country declared independence in 2008.
Aged 15, she famously persuaded her family to let her leave Kosovo and moved back to London alone where she finished school, passed her A-levels, and began waiting tables and modelling while seeking out a label to get her music career off the ground – leading to her being signed before she turned 20.
Dua, who is now working on her third album, added about her stance on current affairs and global conflicts: “It’s probably easier to be apolitical. I think there’s no kind of deep discussion about war and oppression.
“It just is something that we’ve seen happen time and time again. I feel like just being a musician and posting about something doesn’t make enough of a difference, but hopefully, just showing solidarity, which is sometimes all you feel like you can do, is important.”