Dua Lipa lights up the cover of TIME Magazine‘s TIME 100 issue.
Arriving ahead of the May 3 release of the Pop darling’s new album ‘Radical Optimism,’ the Zhong Lin-lensed spread also sees the chart-topper open up about what folk can expect from the LP.
Home to ‘Houdini,’ ‘Training Season,’ and latest single ‘Illusion,’ it’s a project the performer reveals she had been plotting since her debut effort.
Elsewhere in the piece, Lipa opens up about her goal of changing the perception of her familial home country Kosovo, and more.
Pics and quotes after the jump…
On Plotting Album #3 While Working on Album #1:
“I remember when I was working on my first album, I was making notes on what my third album was going to be. It’s mad to think about, but I remember speaking to my close friend and A&R Joe, ‘Maybe album three, I could work with Kevin Parker,’ and he was like, ‘Alright, hold your horses, let’s take baby steps.’
[The feeling was that if the first two did well] maybe I’d be deserving to be in a room with an artist I so deeply admire and look up to.”
On What to Expect From ‘Radical Optimism’:
“The record as a whole is more mature. I’m definitely not the same person I was when I wrote my first album. I’ve evolved and learned so much… taking it as it comes, not seeing anything as bad or something as a setback. That involves a lot of growing and understanding myself, knowing my worth, whether it be in business, love, or friendship.
I’m just a different person, so of course this record is going to be different. I have different thoughts, wants, needs, and perspectives. I’ve done a 180 on myself… I feel the most confident at this point in my life.””
On Changing the Perception of Her Family’s Home Country Kosovo:
“When people think about Kosovo, I don’t want them to be like, ‘Oh, war-torn Kosovo.’ There’s so much more to it. We do a festival in Pristina, me and my dad, that’s about getting people from all over the world to come down and see how different it is to what they expect — whether that’s artists from all around the world, or fans that come in to see artists they love from neighboring countries. I know when I was living in Kosovo, none of my favorite artists were coming there. It is my biggest dream to be able to bring that to the kids there.”