Dua Lipa Meme: What Is Levitating Singer's Infamous Viral Dancing Moment About; Find Out

Dua Lipa recently spoke out about the negative impact a viral meme had on her early career. The meme, featuring a clip of her dancing at a 2017 concert, left her feeling humiliated.

Published on May 07, 2024  |  09:45 AM IST |  142.7K
Dua Lipa Opens Up About the "Humiliating" Meme That Impacted Her Early Career
Dua Lipa (PC: YouTube/Dua Lipa)

Dua Lipa is a household name today, but her journey to pop stardom wasn't without its challenges. In a recent interview with The Guardian, the singer discussed a now-infamous dance move that became a viral meme and the impact it had on her early career. Lipa found herself in the spotlight for an unexpected reason after performing at the Brit Awards in 2018. At the time, Lipa was 22 years old and performing her breakout hit, New Rules. 

However, following her Brit Awards performance, Lipa's on-stage moves became a viral sensation—but not in the way she had hoped. Her facial expression, which many deemed to be "lacking energy," combined with a specific dance move that was likened to a 'pencil sharpener,' was widely mocked on social media. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Lipa reflected on how the meme's virality affected her as a young artist in her early 20s.


Dua Lipa opens up about the humiliating meme

Dua Lipa recently revealed the negative impact a viral meme had on her during her early years as a singer. In a new interview with The Guardian, Lipa described the experience of being turned into a meme for her dancing at a 2017 concert as "humiliating."

The Albanian-British singer, who recently released her third studio album, Radical Optimism, revealed in an interview with The Guardian how deeply the jokes and memes affected her. Dua Lipa described how the clip became a source of ridicule, especially after she won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. 

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She said, "When people took that snippet of me dancing online and just turned it into a meme, and then when I won the best new artist Grammy, people were like, 'She's not deserving of it, she's got no stage presence, she's not going to stick around.' Those things were hurtful. It was humiliating."

Lipa further explained how the memes affected her passion for performing. "The thing that made me the happiest – performing and writing songs – was also making me really upset because people were picking everything apart that I’d been working on, and I had to learn all that in front of everyone."

The jokes about her dancing created a wave of increased scrutiny, particularly since she was still discovering herself as an artist in her early twenties. The star explained that the constant criticism was especially tough to handle while she was in her early 20s, an age when most people were still growing and developing. "In the public eye, I was figuring out who I was as an artist, as a performer. All that was happening while I was 22, 23 years old and still growing up. You have to build tough skin. You have to be resilient," she added.

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ALSO READ: Dua Lipa Teams Up With Bowen Yang And Marcello Hernandez For Hilarious Challengers-Inspired SNL Sketch; Deets Here


Despite criticism, Dua Lipa rose above all

Despite the initial negativity, Lipa found vindication through her hard work. The "humiliation," as she described it, lasted for two years until the release of her 2020 album, Future Nostalgia. The album's success culminated in a triumphant performance of Don't Start Now at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

The constant negativity didn't completely break her spirit, but she admitted that it had a considerable impact on her. "It never was like I couldn't get out of bed because of what I thought people thought of me. I didn't care to that degree. But that's when it was most heightened for me," she shared.

However, despite the adversity, Dua Lipa proved her critics wrong. Her performance at the MTV Europe Music Awards marked a turning point. "It was November 2019 when 'Don't Start Now' came out, and it dawned on me that I'm finally going to get up and dance in front of people after what they have thought about me for so long," she said. Her performance made a significant impact, and she was thrilled to see people change their opinions. "And I went back, did that performance, and everyone was like, 'Oh, we were wrong.' I got a real kick out of that."

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Dua Lipa had previously defended her dance moves, explaining to Rolling Stone earlier this year that she was incredibly busy at the time, juggling multiple responsibilities, including promo appearances, rehearsals, and travel. The singer acknowledged that she didn't have the luxury of dedicating time solely to perfecting her dancing skills. She said, "I was also being thrown around the world. Lots of promos, lots of rehearsing, lots of everything, and not having really time to perfect anything."

In a world where social media can amplify both praise and criticism, Dua Lipa faced everything at a young age. Through perseverance and dedication, she turned moments of humiliation into triumphs. 

ALSO READ: Dua Lipa Teams Up With Bowen Yang And Marcello Hernandez For Hilarious Challengers-Inspired SNL Sketch; Deets Here

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