Pop singer Dua Lipa has reflected on the impact that the Kosovo war had on her and said having communication with people who experienced it opened up “a completely new world”.
The New Rules singer, 28, is from a Kosovo Albanian family who moved to the UK before she was born amid conflict in the country.
Serbia and Kosovo, its former province, have been at odds for decades and the 1998-99 war left more than 10,000 people dead.
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Spekaing to Elle USA for its annual music issue, she said: “I heard stories from friends (in Kosovo) who lost family members. Houses burned.
“I saw them. When you have that direct communication with people who have been through (war), it opens up a completely new world, and it did for me.
“I feel very close to (those suffering) injustices in the world, or inequality.
“Whether that be war, or coming out to your family, everyone’s got a different experience… It’s about support and learning together.”
The Brit award winner and her family returned to Kosovo when she was 11.
She moved back to London by herself aged 15.
Reflecting on the move, she said: “I said to my parents ‘I don’t know how you let me do that.’
“But I knew that I didn’t have the same opportunities that I would have in Kosovo.
“I was so determined. I think my parents saw parts of themselves in me, and that allowed for them to be so open-hearted and generous with that trust.”
Reflecting on how she made it in the music industry, she told Elle: “When I started (songwriting), I worked at La Bodega Negra, a Mexican restaurant that looked like a sex shop.
“I’d finish work, then go out to whatever nightclub was happening until, like, three in the morning.
“Then I would wake up and go to the studio until I had my shift again at, like, 8pm.
“The music I (made) was reflective of my every day, or every night.”
The London-born music artist won best pop act at the 2024 Brit Awards.
