A month ago, I started writing about 16-year-old pop music phenom Lorde. Lorde breaks the mold of what we think of teenage pop acts and teenage celebrities – she writes (or co-writes) all of her songs, she isn’t “handled” by an overzealous label, nor is she pimped out by a spotlight-seeking momager. Lorde has her own thoughts about the state of music, about feminism, about politics and about how she should correctly present herself to the world. Again, she’s only 16. It’s rather remarkable.
That being said, I am starting to wonder if Lorde has developed this kind of blunt-truth-telling, borderline insulting persona which seems designed to shade her competition and elevate her own status. Lorde has a lengthy new interview with FasterLouder.com which you can read here. There’s an extensive personal history (which is interesting but would have been more interesting if they kept it to one page) and Lorde also talks more about feminism, how she hates super-producer David Guetta, and what she thinks about the claims that “Royals” is a racist song. Some highlights:
She loves clothes, hates makeup: “I really like that kind of thing”, gesticulating to the racks of clothing. “I don’t care about hair and makeup.”
Her manager pulls her aside to inform her that David Guetta wants her on his next album: “No,” she says sharply. “F–k no. He’s so gross.” [Editor’s note: Guetta is one of the most successful producers working right now, right up there with Calvin Harris.]
She was a gifted kid who loved school: “I loved school. I absolutely loved school when I was a kid,” says Ella. She always took it very seriously. “I’m a crazy perfectionist, so it’s important to me that everything I hand in has to be the absolute best thing I can hand in.”
On the criticism that “Royals” is racist: “I mean, I was 15 when I wrote that song,” says Ella, a little sadly. “I wasn’t thinking about anyone’s cultural aspirations. I was being a bit silly. I don’t know. I can understand [the response] now, and it’s probably not my place to even comment on it. It’s just one of those kind of uncomfortable grey areas.”
Her feminism: “Absolutely. Wholeheartedly,” she says. “I think women who say, ‘No, I’m not a feminist — I love men,’ I think that is just… You don’t know what it means. You think it means that, ‘I don’t shave under my arms, I burn my bras. F–k men!’ How could you be so uneducated, and so unwilling to learn about something which is so important to you?”
Her motto: “You’re never going to appeal to everyone. You might as well have some sort of belief system.”
I actually winced a little when she breezily labeled David Guetta “gross”. Granted, I don’t know much about Guetta the man, but I happily listen to many of his songs (my favorites are his collaborations with Sia). Is he gross? Or is he just sort of weirdly talented? I guess I’m too old to understand Lorde’s mindset. I understand that Lorde’s whole deal is that she knows her own mind and she won’t be “handled” by “The Man” but maybe she does need to realize that she’s only 16 years old and she doesn’t know everything about everything? It’s an easy mistake – most 16 year olds think they know everything. So, in that way, she’s completely normal and average. But isn’t her shtick that she’s not average, not normal, not like any other 16-year-old?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Okay so I kinda love Lorde, Pure Heroine has been on constant replay for me ever since it came out in the UK but what she said about him is pretty damn rude. Okay, she’s super talented and doing really well but she’s got to remember how blessed she is to be having this level of recognition – there’s a lot of talented people out there who can’t yet make a lot of money off their passion. I love her music and she’s so genuinely different and smart but she should swallow a humble pill. Success doesn’t come with any guarantees.
Absolutely!
Idk who David Guetta is and after I saw his pic here, I’m glad. He does look a lil creepy. Maybe she has insider knowledge? Either way, I like how spunky and self-assured she is at such a young age.
I also really, really like her response on the racial issues. Sometimes white people don’t know (or care to know) why something is offensive to people and that’s fine. But this THIS is how to respond when you really mean no harm.
I never even understood how the song was ‘racist’… It was comparing a middle to lower-class lifestyle to the rich celebrity lifestyle. The items she chose to use were all spoken of by hip hop artists, but it’s not *exclusive* to them. But even if it *was*, I wouldn’t have seen anything offensive. She’s definitely oddly interesting, if nothing else.
I have never heard any of her songs but she’ll burn A LOT of bridges saying sh*t like this. She needs to eat some humble pie or her career will be very, very short.
I don’t know about that. She has REAL talent which means she might last longer than you think. Nothing wrong with burning bridges as they often light the path ahead of you.
“Nothing wrong with burning bridges as they often light the path ahead of you.”
Sorry, but that is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard.
And having REAL talent is great, but it only gets you so far without fans and people wanting to work with you.
I give her half a point for acknowledging her racism (which is half a point more than I give her fans who tried to claim her attack was on broader consumerism and not specifically how it manifests in urban culture).
I subtract 20 points for not knowing when to shut her trap. Time for her Management to find a new conceit. Or atleast teach her not tn bad mouth her competition (who was it last time?) or industry players in public.
In a way, I agree with Eliza. She is superbly talented and she did Royals all on her own. She isn’t Miley or Gaga or Rihanna, who are dependent on producers because they basically write their songs. My brother in law is great musician and he specializes in arranging notes and producing the songs-basically he gets the base melody, and everything else in the song is his creation (sometimes). How many times is he credited? Very few. He claims half of his job stems from the fact that singers and bands today aren’t really musicians anymore.
Lorde is an artist and a musician, and when she says no to Guetta, she gets my respect. Guetta is like a splenda for pop, like Black eyed Peas for siging in tune and so on. No real musician will adore Guetta, except maybe for his good PR and money-making ways.
We forget that music is art, not necessary industry, and shouldn’t condemn someone just because they want to stay true to that. And at the same time, we’re calling Lady Gaga an artist!
@Geekychick nobody is condemning her for staying true to her art. She rudely called a fellow musician ‘gross’ and was quite dismissive and unprofessional. In front of an interviewer. That’s dumb, not deserving of respect.
Also lots of talented musicians didn’t/don’t write their own music, Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Elton John, etc.
I guess I’m just sick of this music snobbery masquerading as avant-garde thinking. You don’t have to like their music, but you also don’t have to act so above it, especially when you’re just arrived on the scene and have had just one hit song.
I like this girl. She could have been referring to the large number of rap songs Guetta has produced that could be taken as derogatory, or his work with artists who don’t necessarily share the agenda she states here? It was probably a minor mistake to call him “gross” but she’ll always get a pass because she’s 16. I know nothing about Guetta. I agree that acting like you’re above everyone is not the way to go. And that ‘Royals’ is racist is completely ridiculous. Hip hop and rap culture is so assimilated into American culture and popular culture all over the world that there is no way African Americans are still limited to it, sorry. That’s just silly.
@ Lucy: but the point is, if you ask any respected, true musician, they would tell you that Guetta’s music is gross! What’s so rude about it?
(OTH, to me Guetta is gross with his whole image with which he sells these songs-party, party,party, starlets dancing sexily, party, party, party…I feel sleazy when I think bout Guetta, although I have nothing against him)
And no, my BIL is not avant-garde or whatever, he doesn’t play for 3 people and a mouse, he’s a pretty successful musician with clients from pop, jazz, rock and so on; a job is a job, and he’ll do it for the money, but he will right out tell you that he thinks it’s shit. He’ll do it to the best of his abilities, but he won’t hide what he thinks. Lorde has that privilege that she doesn’t have to do the job, and she can still be honest. Nothing avant-garde in this.
if you have an ounce of taste and love for music in your bones, you SHOULD say “f#ck Guetta”…
Right. Because she’s had so little success speaking her mind.
I think of it this way; imagine if someone had a interview with your 16 year old self
I think she honestly doesnt give a shit! She’s making music and writing because she likes it, the money is a bonus. If her career goes down the drain she will just start writing for others
May be he did something that grossed her out. May be he hit on her? In the pic given here, he actually looks like a creep.
It was my first thought, too. I wonder if she met him and her radar went off. If she has not met him, then she’s showing her age with that comment, but I seriously doubt she has “burned bridges” by saying that the man is gross. I don’t think people are that fickle and sensitive in the music industry. Wouldn’t be surprised if the dude just laughed. Many 16 year-olds find anyone much older gross!
Although, even if she hadn’t met him he could have a reputation we don’t know about. I am always so suspicious of powerful men in entertainment. I guess I’m sexist.
I’ve worked a lot with Guetta and he is about the nicest, least creepy guy around – I can’t imagine she’s met him, because she wouldn’t be singling him out for being gross if she had. And to the poster above, he doesn’t have a reputation. He travels everywhere with his wife (who is hilarious), who he’s been with for a really long time, and is generally just a lovely, slightly goofy French guy.
And she probably doesn’t know that he worked for decades in France before he hit the big time, both as a recording artist and a songwriter. Perhaps she’d have a bit more respect for him if she did?
If she’d said “no, I don’t really make his type of music” that’s one thing. But to slag him off like that just makes her seem petulant.
I met David Guetta in Ibiza some years ago because a friend of mine knew someone who knew someone who could get us 10 minutes with him. Anyway, my friend was a huge fan of his and I just went with him.
David Guetta was SUPER nice. Just a lovely, sweet guy. And he already was super famous at the time. So maybe Audrey knows something I don’t, maybe she just calls him gross because she’s a teenager and teenagers are sort of very definitive about things and also kind of dumb (but think they know everything about everything).
Thanks for the comment. I think I’m predisposed to think the worst when a young girl calls an older man gross. Definitely my own baggage. Good to hear something nice.
David Guetta is talented AND has one of the best reps around the club scene for being a really genuinly nice guy.
Maybe she said it in the way all 16 year olds think 40 year olds are gross…
I have a friend who has worked with David Guetta and she also said he’s a really nice guy, been married over 20 years, and has 2 kids.
I don’t think she meant him as a person i immediately thought of the kind of music and pop culture he stands for. The music is crap and as feminist she would find the whole image and lyrics gross.
Maybe her idea of gross was just that she doesn’t like his style of music? You know, the fist pumpin’ kinda music. I really don’t care for club music, so I can see why she wouldn’t want to work with him if that’s something she’s not into (which kinda seems that way right now). Sometimes, interviews and answers are taken way out of proportion.
Why do I have the feeling that this girl is just going to be a one hit wonder… Her album is doing OK, not earth shattering WW. Her other two singles are charting at #75, #100 after a month of release, not great. She has a thing about insulting people. Which I believe she’s doing to get PR. But the fact she insults people that are not going to fight back. While insulting Selena and Taylor she could have easily picked on Rihanna or Miley but she didn’t.
Now David Guetta, he’s very well respected producer . I know of his work from producing songs for Rihanna , Black Eye Peas and some rappers.
One Hit doesn’t make you talented or means you’ll have longevity in the music industry. Ask Carly Rae Jepsen.
This, cs.
cosign. Couldn’t have said it better myself. She’ll be eating humble pie in 6 months.
Maybe she doesn’t want to be a “pop star”. She’s 16 and has time to space herself out. She doesn’t have to go all out and burn out now.
Except shes not fake.. Carly ray is the fakest bitch with the fakest song and the fakest lyrics.. Her career was organised by managers and her song became famous because they had the money to make it like that. Lorde is from a shitty town in NewZealand who writes her own music and has one guy produce it.. The whole of pure heroine is fantastic and real and not some bull shit, fake created piece of crap. For the last like 5 years pop music has been so fake and materialised and shitty and i think we’re finally getting to a point where people realise this and are rewarding true artists who do it because they love it and not just for fame or money.
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She is 16 and stupid things will pop out of her mouth before she can filter it. I don’t’ know who he is but if he is the best or one of the best she needs to reconsider. I still like her and think she is very bright for her age but she has some maturing to do too!
Just because there’s some major player out there doesn’t mean she needs to play along and become part of the machine, that’s not what she’s about. Trust this girl to do things the way she thinks is best.
Good to know she’s also a regular dumb teenager with a flair for the dramatics as well as a talented musician. It seems she didn’t say it to the interviewer directly..she just had a human moment. Much like Kristen’s confession of her boyfriend liking to lick her armpits..
Yea thats what i was thinking, that it was an aside comment that the reporter picked up. Also, what’s up with them calling her Ella in the interview instead of her stage name?
I don’t like “not like other 16 year olds” being labeled as a shtick. She never said “hey that’s my thing” She is a bit more mature, and aware than many teenagers are, but she is still a teenager. So dumb things will come out of her mouth. If she feels David Guetta is a creep, she is not required to work with him in order to further her career. Maybe she truly cares more about her music than her fame???? It’s hard at 16 to discern staying true to oneself while making sure you tread carefully, I totally understand that. Experience teaches us to temper ourselves, to live to fight another day. I don’t expect that from her at 16, so I can’t bash her at all
When I was 16 I had the same thoughts about feminism, school, politics. So did my friends. To me, she is the average teenager. Much more than Miley.
+1 Spooks, she’s totally a normal 16 year old, who’s grown up in the real world. No shade for her from me, she hasn’t said she’s better or more mature than other girls her age, that’s an interpretation the media has made and labelled her with. Guetta is a bit gross looking to be fair, and it does sound like a comment that was in the grey area of being ‘on the record’.
I think Lorde is just a straight to the point blunt person. I find her incredibly refreshing and I don’t really blame her for not really wanting to be a part of the current wave of pop music artists.
I don’t think rudeness should be excused as honesty or bluntness. There was no need for her to say that. She could have answered the question honestly without insulting him. She’s obviously intelligent, and she’s only a kid, so I’m hoping she will mature and handle things better in the future.
+1. Her response was completely and unnecessarily rude.
I hate how rude people try to excuse their lack of manners with claims of being “bold” or “outspoken”. No. You can’t talk to people like that. That is plain rude.
+1
I think her deal is that she is a blunt person who is also an immature/rude 16 year old. Hopefully, as she matures, she can maintain that as a personality trait while learning to filter herself and recognize situations that call for politeness. I consider myself blunt, and “hell no-he is so gross” is something I might say, but not in front of a reporter about a person offering me a job. At 16 I wouldn’t have known better either, but now I do. I think she has a lot of promise.
At least she had the humility to acknowledge that her song has a racist undercurrent that she didn’t intend, and that it isn’t for her to deny when so many people read it that way. I think that shows a lot of character.
She didn’t say this in response to a question from an interviewer, she “reportedly” was overheard in a conversation with her manager. Given the press’ penchant for ginning up click generating “celebrity feuds” I’m suspicious of the press’ account of her statement.
Please. The man might actually be in fact, GROSS. Who knows what he did or said to her to make her say that. The peanut gallery here needs to take their judgment down a few notches.
And who knows if he actually did say or do anything to her at all that would illicit such a response? Whether or not he is actually “gross” is besides the point. She is a professional musician now, working in the music industry. She should show respect for her peers. If thinking her to have been graceless, immature and obnoxious in this instance means I’m too harsh a judge, then so be it.
Sure, good for her if she wants to reject mainstream pop music, it’s refreshing and she is very talented. But do that through your work, not by crapping on others.
Lorde is obviously a smart girl who should know better than to make a comment like that in general, and particularly in front of a journalist. That might be cool thing to say when you are sitting around with your friends, but not in a professional forum. One thing is to be honest, another thing is to be crass.
Say, “no thanks, not the kind of music I want to make”, even a straightforward “not interested”. You accomplish the same point which is to say you want something different, but don’t sound like a brat saying it.
Also, because she used the term “He’s so gross”, now people are speculating that there may be some kind of personal issues/scandal behind the guy. All he asked was to work with her.
And even if he is gross, so is 90% of the people she will meet in that business, so she may have a short list of people to work with.
+1, mia girl.
+1
I think someone true colors are starting to show. Maybe she has book sense but she is definitely lacking in the common sense department.
I”ve listen to her CD and it’s not bad but in truth she is not a great vocalist. She needs to stop shading people before she is labeled an angry bitter artist. Why can’t she just write and produce the kind of music that she enjoys without putting down other artists. There are people out there that thinks her music sucks as well.
Exactly
People need to remember that she’s a New Zealander. We tend to be blunt, straight up kind of people. In particular, I think NZ girls are encouraged to speak their minds a lot more than American girls.
Good point TrixC. Whilst I understand that her bluntness can also be seen as rudeness, I am quite surprised by how shocked people are by someone being blunt. She’s a kiwi teenager, without the standard years of PR grooming or media training (the popularity of Royals was a huge surprise). I wouldn’t promote people being hateful or cruel, but I also find it strange that people want others to be so guarded about what they actually feel. Have we come to the stage where PR manufactured comments are more comfortable for people to hear than just the plain truth, and is it a cultural difference?
I’d rather have more girls looking up to another teenager who isn’t afraid to speak her mind and is just being herself, rather than feeling that they need to always say the right thing to be accepted or visible. I’m actually more concerned by people like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry and their message that they’re not feminists because they “like men”. To me that’s far more damaging than an otherwise intelligent 16 year old girl voicing a blunt opinion that she finds another musician “gross” (according to a comment overheard by an interviewer). Although as others have commented that won’t help her in the entertainment industry, I personally find it refreshing.
Maybe she knows something about him we don’t? (No idea, just speculating.)
That’s what I thought too.
I like a lot of Guetta’s songs so I don’t know if he’s gross? Is it his age maybe? I dunno…
I’m glad she has her own mind, belief systems she just might want to have a little more tact. She can refuse to work with people now but she might need them later on. I like the girl, hope she sticks around for a while.
I’ve never heard any scandalous rumours about him and he’s been married to his childhood sweetheart for 20 years. Or maybe he’s just good at keeping any shenanigans under wraps!
I love the album, but methinks Lorde is getting awfully close to crossing the line between outspoken and just being a gobby bitch.
Not that I know *anything* about Guetta, but just sayin’, it’s not like being married for 20 years Xs a fellow out of the sketchy area. I think she’s just a teenager. A refreshing one, as far as the usual kids in the spotlight, but a teenager nonetheless.
Teen stars are such a complicated issue. On the one hand, I think that noone who has never held a real job or been to college should be in showbiz because you so lack perspective and any experience of a normal life. On the other hand, I recognize that it’s important for kids and teens to have someone to identify with. And I’d rather have it be Lorde than Bieber but… ultimately, they will all regret some of the things they put out there. As do adults but it seems somehow more cruel to let minors be under such a spotlight.
How is he gross? Happily married, wildly successful, father of two, never had drama? I think she must have him confused with someone else? Or she finds his music gross? Either way, she’d better watch her mouth if she wants to have any sort of career longevity. It’s a pretty cliquey industry and Guetta > Lorde.
Ah the anti Britney, ahem, I mean Miley. There has to be an opposite side to the pendulum. Thank goodness
Sounds like the Calvin Harris thing was a side comment with her manager – not for the interview, so no big deal in my view.
Plus that is pretty much how I would respond ant 16 if I didn’t want to do something.
i dont understand the comment about Guetta. Is there any gross behaviour from him or does she mean his looks?
That’s what I was wondering. If it’s the latter especially then she’s a rude biotch.
I think it’s his age and his looks, and it just shows she’s just like every other teenage girl on the planet, rude and vain, and should just sit down. How completely unkind. I feel bad for him.
could be that plus the lyrics to his “sexy bitch” song… Damn girl
Damn who’s a sexy bitch
A sexy bitch
It’s his music. Bland, generic and gross.
Yes, this is what my impression of her comment was- that wasn’t to the interviewer directly, it was something the interviewer overheard. My impression was that she is an artist and she thinks his work is gross. Maybe too homogenized?
I would have thought she means the music he makes, I think his biggest hit of the last few years was ‘Sexy Bitch’ which is pretty much anathema to her and her ideals.
She responded to her manager as an aside? I feel like the context might explain more.
I heard a fun story about her yesterday: she got in a cab and Royals was playing. She stared giggling and the cab driver asked her why so she said, “this is my song.”. The driver responded, “yeah, mine too”
Yeah, I think that may be it, the comment wasn’t intended to be published. I gather she doesn’t like the over processed packaging he represents. A lot of people consider him a sell-out, Pop-erizing
underground dance music and whatnot.
Guetta is the Tiesto of today-a lot of club kids think he’s a sell-out because he’s crossed over into mainstream pop music.
That comment wasn’t meant to be published? When her manager JUST SO HAPPENED to pull her aside, within earshot of an interviewer, during an interview, that Guetta wants her on his next album? To me that sounds very calculated.
Maybe. Who cares though? She could have used different language, but she didn’t, she’s 16 and “gross” is part of the vernacular.
It’s important to remember that Guetta uses talent for his own advancement and enrichment, as well. It’s not as if he is some philanthropist who pulled this girl out of a subway. He saw someone new, up and coming, to attach his sails to, to keep himself relevant. If they intentionally dissed him, so what? Robert Redford dissed Weinstein. Not everyone loves the mass market route, and not everyone cares to reach a fame level like Miley or Gaga. Some people are just into the art, as their own product.
I think a commenter said it best down below. People think Lorde has this very calculated image because that’s what everyone is used to seeing-perfectly packaged pop stars like Perry, Miley, Britney and the like. Truthfully, I think Lorde is just a typical snarky, rebellious 16-year-old who might be a bit of a smartass.
I be there are a lot of people wishing that she would polish up and become more “professional” to make it in the music industry, but personally I like the fact that she speaks her mind. I’m pretty sure David Guetta is doing fine and isn’t that worried about Lorde’s opinion of him affecting his album sales you know?
O’Kitten. Yep. Plus, she wasn’t the first to say stuff about him, and he has said things about other artists, like Gaga, that he would have made her record better, so he says crap too.
David Guetta: ‘Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ was very disappointing’
DJ says the singer’s second album could have been much better if he’d worked on it
http://www.nme.com/news/lady-gaga/65408
NerdMomma, IMO, I think it was wrong of the manager to throw this new info on her client in front of a member of the press. The manager probably thought this would be good to wave in front of the interviewer, but it backfired when Lorde didn’t take it as good news.
I don’t think her comment was that big of a deal, but from my perspective it was a VERY bad move on her management’s part.
Bless her heart for being honest but she needs to shut the heck up. If she starts talking about every evil or gross person in the industry she’ll never work again.
I find Guetta harmless. He’s basically the Black Eyed Peas of the EDM world. He makes/ produce dance songs. That’s it.
Lorde is too young so I won’t take her statements seriously although her view on feminism is very impressive. I see she tries hard to be alt, that’s ok.
Oh, God. If Guetta is the equivalent of the BEPs, then I’m siding with Lorde on this one. Gross!
Granted, what she said wasn’t polite, and if I were her publicist I’d have advised her to not say a bigwig was “gross.” But I’m sure many of us when younger would automatically respond with an “ew” or “as if” at things that weren’t agreeable. I’m guilty of the former. You live and you learn!
I hate when these teenaged stars say, “when I was a kid…” you’re still a kid.
Right? or is she?? dun dun dunnnnnnnn….seriously, her face says otherwise. Maybe it’s bad makeup? She should get into makeup long enough to know what looks right. Sheesh
She’s talented. But where does she get off calling herself Lorde??? Your name is Ella, honey.
Relax, it’s just a stage name.
Seriously. 75% of the celebrities on this site have stage names. Nathalie Portman?
I have no idea why she dislikes David Guetta, but I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt there — there are so many sleezy people in the music industry, it would surprise me not at all to find out that she had good reason for saying it.
I’m really impressed with her answer about Royals and racism. I haven’t heard the song, but that’s exactly the right way to handle that question.
I agree – she didn’t pull any of that ‘sorry you were offended’ crap, she didn’t pretend like it was a non-issue. She acknowledged other’ people’s point of view, she acknowledged her own ignorance about how it could come across, but she wasn’t defensive or demanding of understanding either. She’s really impressing me these days.
And I’m going to give David Guetta the benefit of the doubt. I think it sucks for him that people are now speculating that he’s a creep because of her comment.
agreed nerdmomma, people are speculating he may be some sort of creep now because of an “off the cuff remark” she made about him. People hear what they want and there are some commenters that this will be the only take away.
also agreed nerdmomma, underneath her smarts she’s still just a shitty sixteen year old kid.
“But isn’t her shtick that she’s not average, not normal, not like any other 16-year-old?”
I think her shtick is, she’s exactly like every other normal, smart 16-year-old. She’s not a pop star teenager, but she’s just like many teenage girls I know, she was like me when I was a teenager: really smart and really naïve.
With the David Guetta thing, I’d let it slide. So much of being a teenager is defining yourself by the things you don’t like or want to be. That’s just a part of being young.
You took the words right out of my mouth! We are so used to seeing the over produced over handled Disney versions of teenage girls that when someone genuine and honest comes along people don’t know how to process it. I actually don’t think this is a shtick at all which is probably why it will likely get her in trouble along the way. But whatever, I love her and I identify with her (although I am in my 30’s) and I made twenty thousand mistakes along the way.
She sounds like she’s a thoughtful, mature 16 year old. But we must remember she’s still only 16 and the ‘he’s gross’ comment is the reminder. If she needs to apologise to him later on she probably will.
Has anyone seen David Guetta on the Graham Norton Show? I don’t like his music but he seemed super-nice and charming.
No … I didn’t know he’d been on. Off to YouTube!
You would get the same reaction about David Guetta from almost every “proper” EDM DJ. They hate David Guetta, Tiesto or Avicii not as persons but for the kind of music they produce: commercial electronic/pop music for the masses. That’s obviously way below the standards of a girl like Lorde… I don’t like most of his music , but Guetta is a very successful producer while Lorde still has to prove, that she’s not an one hit wonder.
Thank you. You can add Skrillex to that list too. Guetta isn’t gross as a person (he’s actually a nice guy) but his music is mainstream cr*p. Any “respected” EDM artist or underground DJ would say so and Lorde would lose serious cred by working with him. Good for her.
absolutely. david guetta’s a joke amongst serious electronic music circles. it’s dance music for people who don’t like music (beyond what’s in the charts). ok, her reaction was probably a bit rude but it wasn’t in answer to the journalist’s question, it was an aside to her manager. she’s probably just not realised that the magazine would print it.
“You would get the same reaction about David Guetta from almost every “proper” EDM DJ. They hate David Guetta, Tiesto or Avicii not as persons but for the kind of music they produce: commercial electronic/pop music for the masses.”
This exactly.
Plus I read she turned down supporting Katy Perry on tour. Girl just wants to keep it real and not turn into some Britney/Miley. People are getting wayyyy too worked up about this. Guetta’s a really nice guy, but his music is gross and she doesn’t want to be mass produced. So what???
Honestly, I think he was probably referring to the music he makes because it is TERRIBLE.
this. his music is grossly bad.
i still think it’s that sexy bitch song. i almost spewed when i saw the video… this clean cut older guy singing about neighborhood ho’s and referring to some “girl” as a “sexy bitch. “
Im trying to see the gross part…perhaps that comment came from some of the work he’s done? Most of the popular stuff he’s done has alot of sexual content or themes so maybe thats it? She definitely seems like the ‘anti’ miley so she’s distancing herself from that type of music. Personally i dont think david guetta tops the list of really suggestive music thats out there right now but everyone has an opinion. She’s a really talented girl though and i think she’s going to be around for a while
16-year-olds say stupid things. Calling David Guetta “so gross” in front of a journalist is stupid, and unkind. This is why 16-year-olds need to be taught a thing or two. I just hope she’s not one of those know-it-all kids who thinks she’s smarter than everyone and can’t be told off. It’s one thing to be refreshingly blunt and it’s another to be a rude brat. I’m getting a bit of an “Oh, but I’m an artiste!” vibe from this kid, but I’ll let it slide for now.
I like David Guetta’s music and yeah he looks like a billy goat and yeah it’s mass produced EDM and not “proper” EDM like Bassnectar (who I also like) but he serves a purpose. “She-Wolf” he did with Sia I love and yup, never heard this chick’s music, don’t really feel like it, and like Megan Fox learned the hard way, you can’t go about insulting people in the business before your opportunities start drying up.
Meh, Pink started out a certain way, and then decided not to be packaged. It can happen with talent.
She’s so rude,she’s insulting people every other week. You may not like their music,but u just came unto the scene and being disrespectful,so not cool. Who is she going to insult next?
I’d say we’re all old enough to know that 16 year old kids with songs on top charts are usually handled by teams.
I keep thinking this is Madonna’s daughter.
I think the Guetta comment is because he does very commercial videos, and they aren’t very introspective. Which I think Royals is. She’s 16 though, so give her a break.
So let me get this straight: they printed something that she said as an aside to her manager, that perhaps wasn’t necessarily supposed to be a part of the interview, and people are ripping her to shreds for being rude? It’s not like that was her answer to the interviewer. And she’s a 16 year old girl in the MUSIC INDUSTRY. Can you imagine how much sleaze she’s already been around? Jeez, she’s well spoken, talented, and says things like ‘I love school’ and ‘being a feminist is great’ and we’re going to rip her to shreds for an offhanded comment?
Yeah this. Not sure why people wanna hate on her.
YES, thank you for saying this!
I agree 100%.
+4
Amen. She seems a nice girl. And what’s up with the interviewer calling her Ella? I feel like the writer’s trying to patronise her. It’s a professional interview. Use her stage name. You wouldn’t interview Gaga and call her Stefani.
Whatever your opinion is of her actions, she is still undoubtedly a talent musician/song writter for her age. I wish her the best.
She’s in a better position to know about Guetta than I am. He may, in fact, be gross. If she said this about Uncle Terry, we’d all be clapping her on the back. She didn’t even say it TO the interviewer. At worst, she’s a bit naive and doesn’t know who to censor herself in front of. Not sure why she should be so worried about possibly offending someone she is refusing to work with.
Meh. No opinion on her, but I absolutely love listening to “Royals”.
For someone who loathes makeup, the red lippie is a bit heavy-handed.
I think it looks weird because she’s wearing it with absolutely no eye makeup. The last photo actually kind of looks like a kid playing with mom’s makeup to me. Which isn’t so terrible for a 16 year old.
I watched one of her performances and was not impressed. She just stood there in a “school girl” jumper and mumbled. Everything does not have to be razzle dazzle, but I would like to clearly hear your lyrics.
Eh, whatever. She’s a very smart and talented girl, and also very young, which is why I’ll give her a pass. We’ve ALL made comments like that at one point or another. Maybe she knows something we don’t, maybe it was taken out of context, or maybe not. Nobody’s perfect, people.
How rude. and classless. She’s dissed a lot of people and has already had to go back on some of her comments and be more tactful. It’s starting to be not so cute and refreshing.
Haha I wish the headline here was ‘Lorde says school rules’ or ‘Lorde says feminism rules’. But no, we’re hating on this mostly smart and talented girl for a silly comment she made to her manager, not even to the journalist.
Because none of us has ever ever ever called anyone gross while talking to our friends.
THIS.
Honest question… why is her song considered racist by some???
I’m familiar with Guetta mainly because of his song “Sexy Bitch” with Akon. Lyrics in this song go something like this: She is a sexy bitch. She’s not your typical neighborhood whore. Damn she is such a sexy bitch…. If his other songs are like this particular one, I don’t really wonder why a girl like Lorde, who is vocal about her thoughts in feminism etc. doesn’t want to make songs with him. They don’t sound like they would be her kind of songs. She probably means by saying “gross” these kind of songs, not the way he looks.
Yeah, exactly. I was thinking she was referring to his work immediately, not him as an individual.
Finally a woman, first one I’ve seen in public since Madonna. A+.
I have listened to “Royals” many times and don’t understand the perceived racism at all? Where?
The looks 16 in the top picture but in the bottom she looks late 20s. WTF?
I don’t see the racism either. Whoever sees it must equate materialism and excess with a certain race which is just silly. The song expresses class discrimination more than anything else, but in a benign way.
Calling the song “racist” is in and of itself a shining example of racism, the implication being that all black people are poverty-stricken and obsessed with materialism.
Girl is so full of herself. She’ll be a one hit wonder if she isn’t careful about how she talks about others in the industry.
I just don’t know about this girl. She’s a breath of fresh air in the Britney, Miley, Katy era but I don’t know if she’s here to stay or whether she’s going to shoot herself in the foot by saying asshole comments about people. Yes, she is only 16 so she has that but she tries to come across so mature and intellectual but she still come across like a 16 year old Britney may have…
I hadn’t heard about her but I went and listened to the song Royals. I don’t see how it’s about race. Isn’t the song about culture? There’s an artist called Brother Ali who is a rapper (and white albino) who tackles these issues about hiphop culture and he isn’t considered racist.
I’m sorry, but I feel like must be the only person who isn’t obsessing over this chick. I hated the Royals song and all the rest. I LOVE her being a feminist and so young and successful. Good for her.
But this chick seems pretentious and downright rude sometimes. Like shes 16 but she thinks she knows it all. I don’t like seeing people trash others for no reason. When she crapped on Selena for no reason. Thankfully Selena is classy as hell and let it roll off her back, but this Lorde chick is getting on my nerves with her attitude.
I agree with you! I don’t like the royal song at all… IMO it’s generic sounding and the lyrics are clumsy. BUT I do like that she writes her own songs and even though they are a little basic, I like that she is writing songs for her age group, I’m sure many 16 year olds can relate. Her attitude sucks though.
Any young woman who has the guts to say she is a feminist and call out the hypocrisy and cowardice of others on this topic has my vote. Any young woman who “doesn’t care” about hair or makeup has my vote. And saying she loves/d school? Who cares if she is outspoken about things she might be embarassed about later? And I expect she knows more about David Guetta than we do. Liking someone’s songs isn’t the equivalent of him being a great person or even someone another artist might want to work with. It is just refreshing to hear a young female singer have something to say that isn’t about defending her right to show her a** in public or her choice of abusive boyfriends. I don’t care if she’s rude. I really wish we wouldn’t ask 16 year old women to dumb it down and be polite. She’s at least having opinions about things that matter. You don’t have to like them. But honestly if she is going to be rude and arrogant she has the right to be based on her voice and talent. Do I have to name all thecurrent young female singers out there that make me cringe and feel pain for what young women have to listen to and aspire to? I grew up in the 1970’s and 80’s and we suffered through alot of discrimination and pain–but we also had a lot of tough women singer/ songwriters who didn’t take crap and display their bodies as if sexuality was the only way to empower themselves. Take a look at Cyndi Lauper’s old video’s to see how you can entertain without showing your a**. I personally would love to have my nieces see this young woman as a role model. And be ruder and take less crap than young women seem to take nowadays in order to be liked.
Agreed
Haha. She’s got lots of integrity and isn’t afraid to speak her mind and own her shit in every way – you’ve got to respect that.
It’s so funny; she reminds me so much of myself at that age. Honestly, had I become a famous singer/artist at that time, I would’ve been exactly the same way, down to the “fuck no, he’s gross”. I imagine her mother is a fierce lioness, like mine!
Fact is though, as I grew up, I realized that I might’ve been an incredibly aware and smart kid, but I was still just a kid. As intelligent as Lorde is I’m certain that there will be a time in a couple of years we’re she’ll go “fuck I could’ve done that differently and gotten my way WITHOUT looking like a jerk”. Whether she admits it to herself or not, right now she’s trying to prove to the world that she’s not just a kid, and that’s she’s independent and smart and serious. And by doing that she also proves that she’s still got some growing up to do.
I like her though, she’s got a good head on her shoulders. She’ll be fine! But I kind of still just want to give her a hug because guuuuurl you know shit!
I don’t know. There is something off in her. Just 5 minutes famous and already is full of herself and acts like she is beyond everyone? She kind of reminds me Avril Lavigne. Remember how she was all: “I’m a real artist. I’m not like those silly and fake popstars like Britney and Christina. I’m skater girl and do real music”. And at the same time skater girl was wearing more make up on her face (and specially eyes) then Christina Aguilera…. It was funny to imagine how every skater girl spends 2 hours doing professional make up every day before she goes out to skate on the beach with her friends.
Lorde kinda reminds me that attitude. She could easily be one-hit wonder like that Robin Thicke guy. Yet she already behaves like she is the only real talent out there that graced our existence. If she won’t have at least two more follow up megahits in the next 2 years then she will fade out very quickly.
Look at Adele. I don’t remember that kind of attitude from her. It’s like – sit down Lorde. You are not the only talented musician out there you know? There are hundreds like you. And you are very replaceable.
First off, where this premise she is basically writing, arranging, and recording her own songs, her way, not part of the “machine,” is hilarious. That’s called “the image we want you to portray, your gimmick.” There was a huge amount of this in the “indies 90s,” especially with women like Paula Cole, Alanis M, Joan Osborne, Courtney Love, Edie Brickel, etc., etc. She has had a team, a management since she first started out, but the idea of her being a moody feminist, indie gal who finds fame, strictly by the luck of the cards…no accident. She seems an ok kid, they want her to seem anti-pop music and the whole performers today, but she geeks out and fans out, kissing Miley’s ass, and a few others. She has a cool voice, if she can stick a few more songs, she will probably hang out awhile, if not, back to “Natasha Beddingfield, “famous for a season in the US,” land.
Guettas music is gross, its bland, mass produced and formulaic. Also the image he sells is gross. I side eye Sia for working with him. This 16 year old has better taste than most artists around who only think of the money.
+1
I must speak Lorde, because the song royala.seems a real song about class envy. Simple. And.calling guetta gross didn’t at all read the human./personality is gross, but the industry product associated w him is gross.
There’s no innuendo or guile. She’s a 16yr old artist. Straightforward and driven to be as authentic as possible in an odd misguided industry.
She look haggard>.<
agreed……and her music sucks
Lorde is very mediocre. her whole selling point is that she is a mediocre-looking girl with a mediocre voice and singing talent and writing talent. She is relatable because she is mediocre. That is all. I like her, but….eh.
Wow. I really like her album, reminds me of MIA. And I think she’s amazing looking, Not some duck lipped Lana Del Ray.
To me Lorde is coming off like kstew in her interviews, with all the “I’m so real, everybody is so fake” stuff.
Here’s my take:
It was very unprofessional of her MANAGER to give her that info while she was being interviewed. They probably thought it would be impressive to the interviewer, a little catnip of a star on the rise…but they should have presented the idea to her when she was alone or with her team. She is a candid person, and management should have expected a honest and possibly blunt answer from her. Not appropriate to spring things on a client in front of a member of the press.