We interviewed GIRLI, the young, fearless, London-based singer/rapper/producer making rappy, bratty, sugar-dance-pop
DtL: Our research revealed that 35% of teenage girls believe that their gender will have a negative effect on their career. What are your thoughts on this, based on your experiences in the music industry?
Girli: My gender has definitely had an impact on aspects of my career – as a girl in a male dominated industry, there’s a lot of “lad” culture which means you get left out or your music gets shunned just because you’re not a dude. I’ve lost out on support gigs and collaborations because of being a woman, but also the fact that I speak my mind and I’m a girl means I get way more s*&! for my songs than men who are outspoken in music. But then, at the same time, I feel like because I’m a girl saying important stuff through my music, people sometimes also pay more attention than they would than if I was a guy. It can swing both ways.
DtL: What themes inspire your writing process?
Girli: Mostly my friends and their dramas – I love listening to people’s conversations and observing their traits then writing songs about it.
DtL: Did you ever experience bullying? If so can you tell us what happened and how you dealt with it?
Girli: Yeah, I was pretty badly bullied when I went into secondary school in year 7 and 8 by a group of girls, but also in primary school I had a girl I thought was my friend who actually was really manipulative and gross to me and made me lose loads of confidence. I was really scared to go into school for a long time, and my school were crap about dealing with it, but I busied myself with things, like music, studying, family and hobbies. I also started hanging out with better people and then the ones that bullied me stopped bothering me because they saw I didn’t care anymore.
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DtL: What advice would you give to someone who may be experiencing bullying right now?
Girli: My advice would be to anyone going through the same thing to find someone or a group of people in school, whether it’s a counsellor or a schoolmate, who gets you and can help you see that those people don’t matter. You need to find your real friends, because then the people don’t matter anymore.
DtL: If you could go back in time, what one thing would you tell your younger self?
Girli: Chill out, don’t worry so much about school, go out and meet everyone.
DtL: What is it like to be a woman in 2016 and what needs to change?
Girli: It depends where in the world you are. In the West, we have made so much progress but still it’s s&%t. So much change still needs to happen with equal opportunities, sexual safety, the pay gap, the way the media puts pressure and humiliates women; the list is long.
DtL: What advice would you give to young people wanting to get into the music industry?
Girli: Just go out and do it. And f*&! what anyone else says. Write songs about anything, record them at home, put them on the Internet ASAP, then go out and play them to people. Cause a riot.
DtL: What is it about the colour pink?
Girli: No clue. It calms me down and revs me up. 🙂
DtL: What is next for GIRLI?
Girli: Loads of new music, GIRLI.FM 2 (my radio show/ mixtape), and a U.K. tour with my buddy Oscar!!
DtL: Is there anything you would like to add?
Girli: Read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – it’ll change your life !!
