Dua Lipa

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Lore & Background

Lipa developed a love for music at an early age, influenced by her father who performed in the Kosovan rock band Oda. She began singing at the age of five and wrote her first song about how she wanted to be like her mom when she was older. After moving to London at age 15, Lipa took a gap year to find a manager while working at a restaurant. She began posting covers on YouTube and uploading music to SoundCloud. After starring in an X Factor commercial, she met a producer who offered her a publishing deal; she contacted an online friend for help, who redirected her to his attorney. The lawyer was impressed and introduced her to Ben Mawson of TAP management. She eventually signed a publishing and management deal with TAP and a record deal with Warner Records. After meeting Mawson in 2013, Lipa was invited to writing sessions by him and Ed Millett. Mawson and Millett gave her a monthly salary so she could quit her waitressing job and focus on songwriting. They organized an intense period of artist development where Lipa went into sessions five days a week with different writers. Lipa formed a close partnership with producer Koz, who produced nine of the 25 original songs included on every edition of the album, including "Hotter than Hell" and "Thinking 'Bout You". "Hotter than Hell" and "Thinking 'Bout You" were the first two songs written for the album, and the former helped define what the album would sound like and helped Lipa land her record deal with Warner Bros in 2014.

In Their Own Story

Lipa found it difficult going into the early writing sessions because she did not know the writers and producers there. She would attempt to get to know them before writing to make herself more comfortable. The singer also attempted to create only radio songs in early sessions, which limited her and stressed her out, resulting in her creativity lacking. Lipa eventually got over this and wrote about how situations made her feel; that is when she started writing the songs she enjoyed. She described it as a learning process and slowly became confident with her songwriting. Lipa took some inspiration from the "dramas" she saw while working as a hostess and "the dark side of nightlife". She stated that she wanted to bring "a bit more realness" and speak the truth "about what being a teenager is really like".

Reader's Guide

The album was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. Many praised Lipa's vocals as well as the lyrics and production. It appeared on numerous year-end lists, including ones published by Billboard and Rolling Stone. The album was nominated for British Album of the Year at the Brit Awards, whilst "New Rules", "IDGAF", and "One Kiss" were all nominated for British Single of the Year, the latter of which won. The album also helped Lipa win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Despite being released in 2017, the album reached peak popularity and became commercially successful in 2018. It reached number three in the UK, and reached the top 10 in thirteen other countries. The album is certified multi-platinum in the UK and five other countries. As of February 2021, Dua Lipa has sales figures of six million units worldwide. In October 2018, Lipa reissued the album, subtitled the Complete Edition, adding eight additional tracks including "One Kiss" with Calvin Harris, which was Lipa's second number-one song and the best-selling song of 2018 in the UK, and the UK top-ten single "Electricity" with Silk City. Lipa promoted the album with appearances at several award shows, television programs and festivals, as well as embarking on a series of concert tours from 2016 to 2018. She also supported Troye Sivan, Bruno Mars and Coldplay on their respective tours.

Did You Know?

• Lipa was rejected from her school's choir after being told she could not sing, which led her to begin singing lessons.
• At age 14, Lipa wrote the song "Lions & Tigers & Bears" inspired by The Wizard of Oz (1939) and published it on SoundCloud as her first demo in February 2012.
• Lipa got a palm tree tattoo on her left elbow to commemorate her first month of writing songs in Los Angeles in 2015.
• Songwriter Lucy Taylor gave Lipa "Be the One" before she had released any music; Lipa was reluctant to record it because she had not written it.
• "No Goodbyes" was the hardest song for Lipa to write on the album; she pre-empted the future when writing it as she was mourning a relationship she was still in.