Dua Lipa on leaving bad relationships and choosing Radical Optimism

Like many young women her age, Dua Lipa has had some bad dating experiences. But as one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, the ups and downs of her relationships aren't always private.

While others find healing from talking through their issues, Lipa's process involves writing hit songs. So when she sat down to write her latest album, Radical Optimism, she was able to open up with her close friend and frequent collaborator Caroline Ailin and find some catharsis.

"My life is so public, whether I like it or not," Lipa tells Q's Tom Power. "I've made peace with the fact that so many people have an insight into my life. I've also made peace with the fact that people are going to make up scenarios about me, or they're going to believe what they want to believe about me…. When I write my songs, that's my therapy. How I choose to dress them up, that's my therapy."

While Lipa has had to sacrifice much of her privacy for success over the last decade, she considers this a fair tradeoff for the opportunities she's had to make music and travel the world. Still, she doesn't think it's fair to name names in her songs. 

"They might not be a public person like I am," she says.

One way Lipa is able to protect herself is by holding back on the details of her personal life, masking them behind "mysticism" in her songs. The album's lead single, Houdini, is about knowing your worth and when it's time to leave a relationship.

"My first ever relationship I stayed in for way longer than I should have done because I felt like that was the way that things were supposed to be," she says. "You just kind of learn from all those experiences, and I'm at a place now where I just won't stand for that — not even for a second."

Choosing optimism

On Radical Optimism, Lipa shifts both her sound and her mindset. After releasing her last album, Future Nostalgia, during the peak of the pandemic, she wanted to tap into the freedom of psychedelic music and look for the "radical optimism within all the madness."

"I think there's just this massive stigma around pop music overall," she says. "Then, if you're just making songs that feel good — that have the aim to make you feel positive, make you feel good — [people assume] they don't have depth."

For Lipa, optimism is a choice, and our words can manifest into our realities.

"I always see the music as a mantra," she says. "I want to say good things. I feel like the more I say things, the more they come true. So if I want to sing it over and over, it's like a manifestation…. I'm manifesting these words and I'm going to be saying them to a lot of people who are going to be singing them back to me. Let's put some good shit out into the world."

The full interview with Dua Lipa is available on YouTube and on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Dua Lipa produced by Vanessa Nigro.