Olivia Rodrigo once believed only white girls could be pop stars

[Teletubby 143,865]

Olivia Rodrigo knows the impact she has on fans of color, revealing in a new Q&A that she herself once believed only white girls could be recognized as true pop stars.

When Bowen Yang asked the “Brutal” singer how her Filipino American background factors into how she approaches her career, she said it’s “something incredible to think about.”

“I sometimes get DMs from little girls being like, ‘I’ve never seen someone who looked like me in your position.’ And I’m literally going to cry, like, just thinking about it,” Rodrigo, 18, said in the V Magazine feature.

“I feel like I grew up never seeing that. Also, it was always like, ‘Pop star,’ that’s a white girl.”

These days, however, Rodrigo is grateful that the music biz no longer forces artists to be confined by certain genres — at least not to the extent that she witnessed growing up.
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[GucciGa 3,729]

[NFRatwell 23,290]

Maybe my perception of genre is different but Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, etc. are all POC pop artists? Also Vanessa Hudgens who Olivia basically “replaced” in HSM had bops  sad she felt like she had to pave the way though, people must’ve sheltered her from the pop icons that had already been here for decades. 

[Chromatography 10,174]

Just now, NFRatwell said:

Maybe my perception of genre is different but Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, etc. are all POC pop artists? Also Vanessa Hudgens who Olivia basically “replaced” in HSM had bops  sad she felt like she had to pave the way though, people must’ve sheltered her from the pop icons that had already been here for decades. 

i feel like when she was young though the scene was a little different. the big pop stars were gaga, still britney, kesha, katy perry, etc. sure there was rihanna and nicki, but not anyone (as far as i’m aware/remember at this moment) that shares olivia’s ethnicity. black poc =/= all poc representation 

[Aloe 1,199]

I thought she’s half white? Am I mistaken tho

[NFRatwell 23,290]

3 minutes ago, Chromatography said:

i feel like when she was young though the scene was a little different. the big pop stars were gaga, still britney, kesha, katy perry, etc. sure there was rihanna and nicki, but not anyone (as far as i’m aware/remember at this moment) that shares olivia’s ethnicity. black poc =/= all poc representation 

Well she said she always attributed pop stars to white artists, obviously I know black POC isn’t all POC representation but in this case she overlooked the handful of black and Latino pop artists that were popular at the time. I know I wasn’t unaware of these POC pop artists, and were in the same generation. Like I said people must’ve sheltered her or told her she wasn't white enough or something to be a pop star, which would probably be why she had that perception. 

[Shipper 12,990]

4 minutes ago, Aloe said:

I thought she’s half white? Am I mistaken tho

Yes, but that doesn't erase her Filipino-American background. Her dad is definitely not white. 

[Glomer 617]

Probably due to the music industry bullsh*t of shoving POC artists in separate fields than pop... Like Latin, Urban and R&B for Shakira, Rihanna and Beyonce, for example.

[Aloe 1,199]

9 minutes ago, Shipper said:

Yes, but that doesn't erase her Filipino-American background. Her dad is definitely not white. 

Yup it doesn’t. But I think she looks extremely Caucasian and pretty at the same time so I can’t help but feel cynical at her comments tho

[Taylucifer 5,116]

I really do get where she is coming from, we are the same age and I had a similar perception (glad that's over). So glad that she can be an example for young kids everywhere

[Luna Lovegood 24,323]

Honestly I can see her point back then when I started getting into pop all i see was white pop girls (Katy, Gaga, P!nk, Kesha etc.) and I thought Beyoncé was a jazz singer 💀 but I was 9 back then so 😩

[Chlorine 47,976]

Girl wtf are you talking about. Did she grow up in a commune? 

[FfFfFfFF 54,892]

You would think that she grew up in the 60s or something, but the early 2000s were full of black artists not only being big in US but having international hits. 

[AsleepOnTheCeiling 6,157]

57 minutes ago, NFRatwell said:

Maybe my perception of genre is different but Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, etc. are all POC pop artists? Also Vanessa Hudgens who Olivia basically “replaced” in HSM had bops  sad she felt like she had to pave the way though, people must’ve sheltered her from the pop icons that had already been here for decades. 

Olivia walked so Mariah, Janet, Beyoncé, and JLo could run. 

[Dojo 19,365]

Does she think this because of Gaga and Katy? Growing up Gaga, Rihanna, Katy and Beyoncé were the biggest pop girls ever! I always thought Beyoncé was like the QUEEN of Pop! I grew up listening to everybody refer to herself as THE QUEEN B. 

She is trying to push this " i'm not a white girl" narrative just like Gaga was constantly saying " i'm italian" 

I see her point and i respect it, but there are clever ways gowrl.