“New Rules” singer Dua Lipa issued an apology after a Mila J cover she recorded in 2014 resurfaced on YouTube. Lipa used the n-word in her version of “Smoke, Drink, Break Up.” when she sang the lyrics “So I roll me swisha, pour me some liquor before we start to bicker and calling each other out our names like plenty bitches and n*ggas.”
Lipa apologized in a statement she wrote on Thursday night.
“In relation to my 2014 cover I never meant to offend or upset anyone,” the singer wrote. “I didnt say the full word but I can admit I shouldnt have gone there at all and that a different word could’ve been recorded altogether to avoid offence and confusion. I wasn’t thinking it through at the time.”
In a followup tweet she added that she always stands up “for social justice” and that she’s “very sorry to anyone” she offended.
In relation to my 2014 cover I never meant to offend or upset anyone. I didnt say the full word but I can admit I shouldnt have gone there at all and that a different word could’ve been recorded altogether to avoid offence and confusion. I wasn’t thinking it through at the time.
— DUA LIPA (@DUALIPA) January 5, 2018
I always stand up for social justice and I am very sorry to anyone that I have offended x
— DUA LIPA (@DUALIPA) January 5, 2018
According to Spotify, Lipa was the most streamed female artist in the U.K. in 2017.