Robyn has praised Billie Eilish as a “great example” of a young artist who doesn’t use her body to sell music.
The 46-year-old singer admitted it was difficult dealing with record executives when she was younger.
She recalled “how grown-up men would talk about pictures and images, about styling, about sexuality” but was impressed with how Billie dealt with her fame.
Robyn told The Guardian newspaper: “Fortunately, I never had any experiences that could be labelled as abuse. But there was an environment and a culture that was disgusting, and the language around my body, or how grown-up men would talk about pictures and images, about styling, about sexuality…”
“It was extremely brutal and intimidating, and my way of dealing with it was just putting on armour. I didn’t want to show my body, I didn’t want to even experiment, which I think is sad,” the Life hitmaker reflected.
“They were talking about how they wanted me to show my ‘youthfulness’, which meant more skin,” the artist expressed and then proceeded to reveal how it actually made her feel.
“But in those meetings, they weren’t even thinking about it as being embarrassing. There was no one on the other side that would defend my perspective, so my strategy was just keeping them at arm’s length,” she said.
Robyn then proceeded towards praising the Ocean Eyes singer, Billie, for handling societal norms and expectation by establishing her own signature style.
“Of course, I look at it as, like, ‘Oh, that was great that I had the strength to do that.’ And Billie Eilish is a great example of how it’s still possible and needed to shut that down when you’re a young artist, if you want to keep your integrity,” the Swedish DJ praised.
“But it’s sad because you do have a sexuality when you’re 16. You do have a playful, sensual side as a young woman that can still be interesting and beautiful, but it wasn’t at all possible for me to explore that,” Robyn reflected on how the industry’s expectations affected her.
