Dua Lipa poses backstage at Radio City Christmas Live at Echo Arena on December 17, 2016 in Liverpool, England.
Shirlaine Forrest/Getty
Dua Lipa has issued an apology after being criticized for using the N-word in a cover she recorded in 2014. The U.K. pop singer said her cover of Mila J's "Smoke, Drink, Break-Up" was "never meant to offend or upset anyone" but acknowledged that she should have avoided any reference to the language used in the original. The word itself is not audible on the track, which is censored when she sings it.
Writing on Twitter, Lipa said: “In relation to my 2014 cover I never meant to offend or upset anyone. I didn’t say the full word but I can admit I shouldn’t have gone there at all and that a different word could’ve been recorded altogether to avoid offence and confusion. I wasn’t thinking it through at the time.”
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She added: “I always stand up for social justice and I am very sorry to anyone that I have offended x.”
In relation to my 2014 cover I never meant to offend or upset anyone. I didnt say the full word but I can admit I shouldnt have gone there at all and that a different word could’ve been recorded altogether to avoid offence and confusion. I wasn’t thinking it through at the time.
— DUA LIPA (@DUALIPA) January 5, 2018
I always stand up for social justice and I am very sorry to anyone that I have offended x
— DUA LIPA (@DUALIPA) January 5, 2018
Dua Lipa released her self-titled debut album in 2017. It includes her hit single "New Rules," plus "Hotter Than Hell" and "Be The One." She was the most streamed female artist on Spotify in the UK last year.
