Sophie: What are your thoughts on the current global activist movements, such as #MeToo and #TimesUp?

Dua Lipa: I think it’s amazing that it’s happening. I think it’s been long coming, but it’s better now than ever and I think the most important message to get from all this, is that there’s this massive domino effect that by people sticking together and women sticking up for each other, you can kind of see that the second someone speaks up about something, lot’s of other people also can relate and there’s a lot of strength in being the first person to speak up, as scary as it may be. And I think with everything that’s going on in light of everything, the most important lesson is to speak to people around you, because you are probably not the only one that’s feeling that way. And you know you can make a massive, massive change.

Sophie: How will you be showing your encouragement for gender parity on International Women’s Day, which is only a few days away?

Dua Lipa: Oh, well, I guess I don’t think about it just for doing it for one day, it’s a lot more about everyday. And trying to, especially with the platform that I have, put that out, especially to younger generations, who I feel are the ones that are really going to make the biggest difference. Sometimes, you know you think about older generations and it’s hard to take people out of their ways, but it’s about teaching.

Sophie: Have you encountered any occasions in your career where you have had to overcome being treated differently because you were a woman?

Dua Lipa: As a female artist, I guess your first music videos of you with a guitar and you with a piano; you know people instantly think that you are manufactured, or you are not exactly an artist and you don’t write your own lyrics. Whereas, if you are a male, people instantly think that you write your own music and people instantly have that perception of you that you are exactly what it says on the tin - you know, and not necessarily is that true. And I think more often than not, us as women, we have to really prove ourselves that we do what we do, and what we do, we do it really well. But I guess you just have to go through life and hope that it changes at some point.

Sophie: Your tattoos of ‘This Means Nothing,’ ‘Patience,’ ‘Sunny Hill,’ ‘Angel,’ has a certain theme that resonates throughout them all. What do they mean to you? Are they your daily affirmations?

Dua Lipa: Well, some were just kind of done on the fly. ‘Sunny Hill’ was really the first tattoo that I got and it’s the neighbourhood my parents grew up in in Kosovo. And I felt like that one should be meaningful. After I got that one, I got ‘this means nothing’, because this meant absolutely nothing, but they are all done by the same Artist called Shaun from Texas, that they all kind of had the same style. But the only one that really kind of means anything to me is ‘Patience’ because the right thing to do was to be ready rather than just put something out when it wasn’t perfect in my eyes. I only had one chance to make sure it was given some time, I guess. I need patience - I don’t always have it but I think it’s really important.