Artist of the Month
Origin: London, England
Genres: Pop Music, Contemporary R&B, Drak Pop, Electro Pop, Dream Pop
Years Active: 2015 - Present
Dua Lipa is Albanian. Her parents are ethnic Albanians from Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. Like many other Albanians, Dua’s parents migrated to the West, because of violence and oppression in the 1990s. But their daughter was born in London, England.
When Dua was 11, she moved with her family back to Kosovo. This was around the time that Kosovo became independent. A couple of years later, she convinced her parents to go back to London, because she wanted to be a singer. World famous singer Rita Ora, is also an ethnic Albanian from England, but originally from Pristina, Kosovo. Rita Ora made one video clip in her hometown. Around 700 thousands Kosovars do live in Western countries. “Take the girl out of Kosovo, but can’t take Kosovo out of the girl”, said Dua Lipa said once on twitter. In the summer of 2016, Dua Lipa performed in her ‘hometown’ Pristina.
As a young teenager, she worked a lot to pay the bills. Because of her work as a hostess to nightclubs doors, she had enough inspiration for new lyrics. “The dramas every night, the dark side of nightlife, they became something I wanted to write about”, says the singer.
Of course, the parents of Dua Lipa were worried about their daughter, who was living abroad on her own.”My mom was like, the second I woke up I had to call her. The second I left the house I had to call. The second I got to school, the second I got home”, explains Dua.
The biggest inspiration of the singer was her father, Dukaagjin, who used to be a musician (and according to his twitter account, he still is at night). The young British artist attended the famous Sylvia Young Theatre School. In 2015, Dua Lipa came with her first song, called New Love. A few months later, Be The One became her second single. And then… it went quick.