ELITERUNNER

“HERE'S TO MORE WOMEN

ON THESE STAGES, MORE
WOMEN WINNING AWARDS
AND MORE WOMEN
TAKING OVER THE WORLD.”
Her interests, her
knowledge, her thirst to
learn new things, and to
be in control of what she
does just grows and
grows. She’s taking time
to fully realize the album
conceptually, but her
belief in herself and the
belief that she can pull off A BIG STAR: DUA
something completely
different and at scale has LIPA
only grown. By Alexandra Bustos

Dua Lipa is a shining star, blazing a dazzling trail

through the pop cosmos. Just under four years ago,
she released the first of her two albums. Today, she is
dancing hand in hand with the zeitgeist, having
carved with laser-like precision her place in the
cultural landscape. I entered Dua’s orbit last
November when I appeared as a guest on her Studio
2054 streamed concert. The production was
spectacular and inclusive, somehow both future and
retro, with her instantly recognizable voice stamped
all over clever songwriting. While I know what it’s like
to be in the eye of the storm, on this occasion, I was 25

able to see the wider view from the periphery. Her

famous work ethic radiated throughout the
production. “You have to work hard to make a bit of
DUA LIPA

luck,” her father told her when she was younger. It

seems she listened. Her achievements are all the
more remarkable given that she is 25 years of age.
She’s kind, cool and smart. She’s a bona fide pop
behemoth. And I, like millions of others, look forward
to more, and even more, from La Lipa.
And in Billboard’s new Women
in Music issue, Dua says she’s
not about to let Future
Nostalgia go just yet. She has a
Future Nostalgia B-sides
edition in the works for 2021,
a rescheduled tour in support
of the album next fall, and
possibly more singles and
music videos to release as
well.
“I don’t feel like an album
should finish once it’s out,” she
says. “Yes, people can hear it,
but you can still create such a
fun world around it.”
“We love to milk it,” she adds.
“I don’t feel like
Dua, who will receive
the Powerhouse collaborations always
Award at Billboard’s have to be done with
15th annual Women
in Music event on people that are
December 10, also
tells Billboard why
already at the top of
she loves the game and killing
collaborating with
lesser-known
it globally,” she says.
international artists, “It’s cool to come
like Belgian singer
Angèle on her together and open up
French/English song,
“Fever.”
a whole new
audience. It makes
my job even more
exciting.”