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Pop star JADE has urged artists to use their platforms to raise awareness of pressing social and political issues, while suggesting that the general public have grown less susceptible to “propaganda or bias”.
The “Angel of My Dreams” singer – born Jade Thirlwall – shot to fame in 2011 as a member of Little Mix while competing on reality TV show The X Factor, going on to become the most successful British girl group since the Spice Girls.
Since Little Mix announced an indefinite hiatus in 2022, she has been forging a successful solo career with hits including “Plastic Box” and “IT Girl”.
She has used recent live performances of her single “FUFN” to denounce everything from transphobia and misogynoir to Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who has attracted criticism for her stance on transgender rights.
“For me, as an ally, Pride is a protest and for me that’s my version of protest, is being onstage, standing up, speaking up for the community… regardless of the consequence of that,” the 32-year-old told The Independent in a special one-off episode of the Good Vibrations podcast, filmed as she made her debut at the historic Montreux Jazz Festival.
At Glastonbury Festival last month, JADE led audience chants of “f*** you” to “silencing protests” and “justifying genocide“, amid the row over pro-Palestine displays at the festival from bands including Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan.
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“Across the board, there were actually a huge amount of artists all standing strong in the same message, and I think that’s important to remember, [that] festivals, especially Glastonbury… it’s always been slightly more politically driven,” she said.
“I think a lot of artists wanted to represent that in the knowledge that – well, I knew my performance was going to be live and broadcast, and you can’t silence someone who’s doing that,” she added.
Glastonbury became the unwitting centre of a political storm involving the BBC after Bob Vylan rapper Bobby Vylan chanted “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]” during their performance, which was broadcast live.
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Meanwhile, it was announced last week that a criminal investigation into Kneecap’s performance had been dropped by police as there was “insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp claimed that the outcome of the investigation was “another example of two-tier justice”, and added that the “start a riot” comment was “clearly inciting violence”.
JADE agreed with the suggestion that there had been a “shift” in mood, with the UK public pushing back at political attempts to paint musicians as scapegoats.
“There is a shift in general now with the media… the people are a lot more educated on propaganda or bias or silencing,” she said. “Now more than ever it is important to use your platform to say how you truly feel, to not be scared to do that. I’m happy to do that with a song like ‘FUFN’ [ ‘F*** You For Now’] it seems fitting.”
Elsewhere during the wide-ranging conversation, JADE spoke about her pop music heroes – from Madonna to Janet Jackson – as she prepared to make her debut at Montreux Jazz Festival.
She also opened up about her forthcoming debut album, That’s Showbiz Baby, which features her boyfriend and fellow musician Jordan Stephens, of Rizzle Kicks fame. Her latest single “Plastic Box” was inspired by her feelings of vulnerability and insecurity when they first began dating.
“Me writing ‘Plastic Box’ was essentially therapy, me having a word with myself,” JADE explained. “While my boyfriend wasn’t the biggest fan of it at first, I kept it on the album because I thought it was important to confront that part of myself, and be honest and be vulnerable.”
She revealed that she and Stephens, 33, began dating during the pandemic over video call: “Me and Jordan decided to have a business meeting – we both put suits on, very formal business questions – and I actually really enjoyed that dating process, because prior to that, you go for a little drink, same small talk… ‘Did I like them or was I just a bit drunk?’”
For their second Zoom date, they made each other a playlist of some of their favourite songs and explained why they had chosen each track. “He’s got quite impeccable taste actually,” she said.
She admitted she had initially been against the idea of dating a fellow musician, but realised Stephens was “actually quite cool”.
“For me, as a woman in the industry, it’s quite hard finding people – partners – who aren’t intimidated by your success,” she said. “He loves [my success].”
Stephens also contributed backing vocals to one of the songs. Meanwhile, JADE said the album title was inspired by her fans, who noticed a common thread in her solo work to date and pulled the lyric from her single “IT Girl”.
She credited fellow pop star RAYE with giving her the courage to explore certain themes on her album, including the dark side of the entertainment industry.
“Writing a song like ‘Angel of My Dreams’ is correct, because it’s come from me, my heart and my experience, and that is what people will love the most, is you being yourself,” she said.
The full episode of ‘Good Vibrations’ starring JADE will be out on Friday 25 July on all good podcast platforms. ‘That’s Showbiz Baby’ is out on 12 September.
