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Billie Eilish has spoken out in agreement with Tyler, the Creator following his previous criticism of the Grammys’ continued use of the word “urban” in their awards categories.
Speaking to reporters after winning Best Rap Album at the 2020 Grammys back in January, Tyler said that “it sucks that whenever we, and I mean guys that look like me, do anything that’s genre-bending, they always put it in a ‘rap’ or ‘urban’ category.
“I don’t like that ‘urban’ word. To me, it’s just a politically correct way to say the N-word,” he added. “Why can’t we just be in pop?”
Speaking to GQ in a recent interview, Eilish said she agreed with Tyler’s views and added that the music industry shouldn’t “judge an artist off the way someone looks or the way someone dresses”.
“I hate when people say, ‘Oh, you look like “blank”. You sound like “blank”,’” Eilish said. “It was such a cool thing Tyler said I agree with him about that term. Don’t judge an artist off the way someone looks or the way someone dresses. Wasn’t Lizzo in the Best R&B category that night? I mean, she’s more pop than I am.”
Eilish added: “Look, if I wasn’t white I would probably be in ‘rap’. Why? They just judge from what you look like and what they know. I think that is weird. The world wants to put you into a box; I’ve had it my whole career. Just because I am a white teenage female I am pop. Where am I pop? What part of my music sounds like pop?”
Over the weekend, Republic Records announced that they would no longer be using the word ‘urban’ when describing their “departments, employee titles and music genres”.
“We encourage the rest of the music industry to follow suit,” it added in a statement.
Last month, Eilish praised Tyler on her Apple Music radio show, saying that the LA artist has “inspired every part of everything about me”.
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