Lana Del Rey released a passionate open letter on her Instagram late on Wednesday night in which she writes — among other things — that she has a new album in the works, scheduled for release on September 5th.
But the bulk of the letter was addressed to her critics; she slammed the accusations that she had “glamorized abuse” on her first two albums, Born to Die and Ultraviolence.
“Question for the culture: Now that Doja Cat, Ariana, Camila, Cardi B, Kehlani and Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, fucking, cheating etc. — can I please go back to singing about being embodied, feeling beautiful by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect, or dancing for money — or whatever I want — without being crucified or saying that I’m glamorizing abuse??????” Del Rey wrote.
She went on to express her frustration at “female writers and alt singers” who have accused her of romanticizing abusive relationships, “when in reality I’m just a glamorous person singing about the realities of what we are all now seeing are very prevalent emotionally abusive relationships all over the world.”
Describing herself as “not not a feminist,” Del Rey argued that there needs to be space for “women who look and act like me…the kind of woman who says no but men hear yes” to make art about their experiences. She wrote that, in addition to exploring “tinges” of these themes on her new album, she would also be “detailing some of my feelings” in her two upcoming books of poetry.
Del Rey released her latest album, Norman Fucking Rockwell!, last August.