2018 - THE YEAR OF DUA LIPA
2018 is the year Dua Lipa went from pop star to QUEEN.
Yeah, sure. Some people will remember 2018 as the year people ate tide pods, Lime scooters took over Auckland, Fortnite ruined relationships and Prince Harry married Meghan Markle.
The real MVP is Dua Lipa.
The Be The One singer is the #1 most streamed female artist on Spotify and is the first and only female artist in history to have 4 lead songs with over 500 Million Spotify streams.
Wanna take a moment to let that sink in?
The whole world's fangirling right now and for good reason (*reasons).
To celebrate Dua's phenomenal year we're reliving some of her best moments.
IDGAF
After the New Year, Dua came in hot with the release of her hit single IDGAF, a punchy reminder to the ex that she literally DGAF.
The track topped charts and the video has racked up over 430 million streams over the course of the year.
Dua explains:
"This video is about your stronger and weaker side fighting with each other only to realize that self-love is what will overcome any negativity that comes your way."
Dua Lipa's One of a Kindness for Women's Refuge New Zealand
While touring the world with Bruno Mars, Dua Lipa came to see us, here in New Zealand and opened up about her new single IDGAF,
IDGAF is a song I wrote when an ex-boyfriend got back into contact with me after I started releasing songs. He was kinda the first person who broke my heart...
It made me feel really empowered to be able to write this song about you know, not needing someone who was so toxic to you, and who made you so upset and for once you can say IDGAF.
Dua wrote down her IDGAF story and signed it, then we sold it for an auction. All the proceeds were donated to New Zealand's Women's Refuge.
Explaining her charity of choice, Dua Lipa said;
I want a brighter future for everyone to begin with, but especially women and children who suffer domestic abuse.
BRIT Awards
In February, Dua got five nominations at The BRIT Awards, the most nods a female has ever received in one year.
She took two of those bad boys home; Best Breakthrough Artist and Female Artist of the Year.
"Here's to more women on these stages, more women winning awards and more women taking over the world."
Yass Dua!
Our girl also performed live at the awards ceremony. Check it out below.
One Kiss
The music video for One Kiss - a Calvin Harris beat brought to life by Dua's vocals - surfaced in May and packed some serious streaming heat.
The UEFA Champion League Football Final
Speaking of One Kiss... Later that month, Dua performed to 85 million people at the UEFA Champion League Football final in Liverpool.
Watching millions of red-blooded football fans belting out One Kiss as Dua performs live in the middle of the stadium is pure gold.
The fist-pumping bearded-bloke at 19 seconds... Just. Wow.
Making Electricity
In September, Silk City (Mark Ronson and Diplo) enlisted Dua's help on their feel-good club-banger Electricity. The enormous tune is undoubtedly a 2018/19 Summer anthem.
Mark Ronson was so blown away by Dua's prowess, he's jumped on board to help produce her second album.
Ronson explained;
"We’re supposed to be working for her record. She’s gonna be a real, real talent around for a long time."
Turns out Jimmy Kimmel's a big fan of Electricity too. So, his wife got Dua to turn up at their house in the middle of the night and perform Electricity live on Jimmy's bed. How good?
Dua Lipa - Deluxe
While Dua is still conceptualising her second album, she clearly can't stop dropping them bangers.
In October, the pop princess revised her debut Dua Lipa, creating a Dua Lipa - Deluxe version that included her huge Silk City collab Electricity, her Calvin Harris banger One Kiss, plus earlier collaborative efforts with Martin Garrix and Sean Paul along with a number of other fan faves, including her new track Kiss & Make Up with K-Pop girl band BLACKPINK.
Dua's Making New Rules
Just last week, hit single New Rules saw Dua become the second female ever to score one billion Spotify streams on a song, with a billion (+) more streams on the official music video over on YouTube.
Dua is currently working on her second album and has said she's been influenced by Outkast and Prince.
"It’s pop but it has some diverse sounds. I’ve been listening to a lot of Outkast and Prince and things sonically I’m such a fan of so I’m just trying to take that and put it together with pop."
2018 has been one hell of a ride for Dua Lipa. Can't wait to see what 2019 brings.
All hail Queen Dua.
Stream all the above tracks and more below.