Photo: Jon Kopaloff / FilmMagic
Lana Del Rey is ready to release her highly anticipated new album, Chemtrails Over the Country Club, on March 21st. On Monday, she released the cover, the track list and a video clip on Instagram. And instead of leaving it at that, it included a winding Comment defending itself preventively against “a WOC / POC problem”.
What is the “WOC / POC problem”? you can ask. And what does this have to do with your new album? In fact, the comment is curious, but it is only the last in a series of them that are contributing to a frankly disastrous album release.
It all started in the summer, when Lana was criticized for glamorizing the abuse in her music with lyrics like: “He hit me and it was like a kiss” and “He hurt me, but it felt like real love”. In response, she took Instagram a long statement.
Because, she asked in the testimony, artists like Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello and Kehlani even have successes in the first place with songs about “being sexy, without clothes, having sex, betrayal, etc. ”And can’t Lana have the same extended courtesy when singing about“ challenging relationships ”? Becauseshe asked, is there no “place in feminism for women who look and act like” her?
She went on for about 500 more words, complaining about criticism and sexism and silencing that she faced, and didn’t realize, or even acknowledge, that many of the women of color that she mentioned in her opening paragraph can also experience these things. The statement was criticized for being deaf and racially insensitive, which forced Lana to log onto Instagram once again to defend herself as “definitely non-racist” and “girl-girl” in a video.
Well, nothing, actually, but she mentioned it herself in an Instagram comment related to the album cover release. In a black-and-white image, it shows a group of women wearing retro dresses and gathered around a picnic table.
“Yes, there are people of color in this photo on the album and that’s all I’ll say about it, but thanks,” she wrote, referring to the scene.
“These are my friends, this is my life … We are all a beautiful mix of everything – some more than others that are visible and celebrated in everything I do.”
The comment appeared to be an attempt by Lana to anticipate any criticism. “Before making comments again on a WOC / POC issue, I am not the one who is attacking the capital, I am literally changing the world by putting my life, thoughts and love on the table 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” she wrote .
She also tried to prove her ally with lines like: “In 11 years of work, I have always been extremely inclusive, even without trying. My best friends are rappers, my boyfriends were rappers. “
You can read the comment in full on here.
Oh yes. On Monday, Lana joined BBC One to address the controversy for the album cover she created. She also opined on Donald Trump, sharing her belief that the Trump presidency was a necessary evil:
Trump’s madness, however bad it was, really needed to happen. We really needed a reflection of the biggest problem in our world, which is not climate change, but sociopathy and narcissism. Especially in America. This will kill the world.
That’s basically it for now, but your album will only be released for several months. Unless she leaves social media, it looks like this train wreck could get even more confusing.