Billie Eilish calls out the double standard in music that labels white women as pop and black artists as rap and R&B

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Billie Eilish calls out the double standard in music that labels white women as pop and black artists as rap and R&B
Billie Eilish frequently spoke out about being labeled as a "pop" singer.Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
  • Billie Eilish spoke out against the double standard that exists in music in a new interview with British GQ.
  • "Look, if I wasn't white I would probably be in 'rap'. Why? They just judge from what you look like and what they know," Eilish said.
  • The singer called musical categorization "weird," and said she didn't appreciate that her dark, emotional music was labeled "pop."
  • "Just because I am a white teenage female I am pop. Where am I pop? What part of my music sounds like pop?"
  • Eilish also said that she felt that other artists, including Lizzo, were better suited to the "pop" category than she was.
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Billie Eilish condemned the double standards that exist in the music industry in a new interview with British GQ.

When asked about Tyler, the Creator's response to a question about categorization at the 2020 Grammy awards, Eilish didn't hold back.

"I have always hated categories," Eilish said. "I hate when people say, 'Oh, you look like "blank." You sound like "blank."' It was such a cool thing Tyler said. I agree with him about that term."

"Don't judge an artist off the way someone looks or the way someone dresses," the "Bad Guy" singer continued. "Wasn't Lizzo in the Best R&B category that night? I mean, she's more pop than I am."

Eilish echoed Tyler's response from that night, in which he referred to the term "urban" as just "a politically correct way to say the n-word," and wondered why more black musicians couldn't be included in the pop category.

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"Look, if I wasn't white I would probably be in 'rap'. Why? They just judge from what you look like and what they know. I think that is weird," she said.

"The world wants to put you into a box; I've had it my whole career," Eilish continued. "Just because I am a white teenage female I am pop. Where am I pop? What part of my music sounds like pop?"

The singer even partially agreed with people who said she only won her five Grammys because she was white — but emphasized that she still worked hard to get to where she was now.

"Then there's the other side of this whole thing: people shitting on me because I am white. 'Oh, she's white, that's why she won,'" Eilish said. "You know what? I agree with the sentiment; I get why people say that."

"Truth is, they can say whatever they like, but don't undermine all the hard work it took for me to get here," she added.

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This isn't the first time Eilish has called out racism in the music industry and beyond.

On Saturday, the 18-year-old singer slammed the "All Lives Matter" movement on Instagram, telling followers, ""IF I HEAR ONE MORE WHITE PERSON SAY 'aLL liVeS maTtEr' ONE MORE F---ING TIME IM GONNA LOSE MY F---ING MIND."

Eilish also expressed her support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and anger at the police brutality occurring across the US right now.

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