Dua Lipa is tired of people thinking she doesn't have anything to give us. In a Rolling Stone cover story published on January 16, the singer responded to the viral dance meme from her 2018 performance, which spawned the oft-quoted phrase: “Come on, girl, Don’t give us anything.”
The author points out that Lipa mentioned the meme twice during the interview, including once completely unconsciously, suggesting that it weighed heavily on her more than five years later.
"I did find it really hurtful, I found it really painful because I was like, 'I can finally do something that I love to do, but I'm shut down and I can't seem to do this. A little bit. Do whatever is right," she said.
The story behind the meme
The meme originally started after Lipa posted her 2018 BRIT Awards performance "New Rules" on YouTube. In the comments section, a viewer named Tobias wrote: "I love her lack of energy, come on girl give us nothing!"
That last sentence stands on its own, with X (formerly Twitter) fans using it to describe some of Lipa's and other pop stars' low-energy moments. However, the meme continued to follow Lipa, especially after more performance clips of her looking bored while doing hip gyrations went viral and were mocked.
Lipa noted that she had so many obligations at the time that she couldn't always make sure her moves were correct. “I was also thrown around the world,” she said. "A lot of promos, a lot of rehearsals, a lot of stuff, but no real time to perfect anything."
However, she entered the future nostalgia era at the end of 2019 and focused more on completing sharp choreography, delivering many memorable performances and receiving applause from fans alike. The top comment on the YouTube video now reads: "She went from 'Go Girl Didn't Do Us Any Good' to one of the best performances at the Grammys. That's artistic growth."
"Queen of Holidays"
Her dance isn't the only meme Lipa has had to deal with. She's also known for taking vacations throughout her life, and according to her Instagram posts, Vulture notes that she'll be taking one once a month for nine months in 2023. While this attitude is certainly desirable, it has become a meme in its own right, with fans dubbing her the "Vacation Queen" or "vacanza" "Queen" in Italian.
In the RS interview, she defended her globetrotting, noting how she missed out on spending quality time with family and friends during her long world trip in 2022. "Of course, I'm going to take a fucking vacation and relax," she said. "As long as I do my job, meet deadlines, complete my assignments, then I'll also find a way to relax. Work hard, play hard, really. Why not?"
Continued virality has taught Lipa not to take social media too seriously. "It's always easy to fall into a vicious cycle on social media, or for people to be mean and tell you what they think of you without knowing anything about you," she said. "For me, I think it's important to be able to take it with a grain of salt."
