Robyn has praised Billie Eilish as a “great example” of an artist who doesn’t use her body to sell music.
The 46-year-old singer admitted it was difficult dealing with record executives when she was younger and “how grown-up men would talk about pictures and images, about styling, about sexuality” but was impressed with how Billie dealt with her fame.
She told The Guardian newspaper: “Fortunately, I never had any experiences that could be labelled as abuse. But there was an environment and a culture that was disgusting, and the language around my body, or how grown-up men would talk about pictures and images, about styling, about sexuality … It was extremely brutal and intimidating, and my way of dealing with it was just putting on armour. I didn’t want to show my body, I didn’t want to even experiment, which I think is sad.
“They were talking about how they wanted me to show my ‘youthfulness’, which meant more skin. But in those meetings, they weren’t even thinking about it as being embarrassing. There was no one on the other side that would defend my perspective, so my strategy was just keeping them at arm’s length.
“Of course, I look at it as, like, ‘Oh, that was great that I had the strength to do that.’ And Billie Eilish is a great example of how it’s still possible and needed to shut that down when you’re a young artist, if you want to keep your integrity. But it’s sad because you do have a sexuality when you’re 16. You do have a playful, sensual side as a young woman that can still be interesting and beautiful, but it wasn’t at all possible for me to explore that.”
Along with Billie, Robyn is also a huge fan of Charli xcx.
She said: “Whenever we meet, it’s not, like, ‘Oh, I got you, because you’re a girl and we have the same experiences.’ It’s never been that – it’s been a real personal connection.”
However, she doesn’t believe she has a lot in common with many of the current crop of pop stars.
She said: “Just the fact that people are not expecting female artists to be a certain thing is cool. You expect diversity and you expect expression. I love it, but I don’t relate to this very commercial layer of pop. I don’t want to sound like a snob. I’m not talking about Rosalía specifically, because I think she’s amazing, but I don’t see all us girls as the same thing. I’m not interested in commercial pop culture.”