Grimes, aka Claire Boucher, has always stood up for herself and the people around her. Refusing to accept the bullshit that is sometimes peddled in the music industry, she has accumulated a mass, cult-like following around the world thanks to her real as fuck persona- and her awesome music. As she has gone along in her career, she has only become more outspoken, and now serves as a source of inspiration for many people all over the world.
She was just here in Australia for St Jerome’s Laneway Festival and a string of sideshows, and is now set to head to the UK to continue her Art Angels tour, so ahead of that, she gave an interview with TimeOff, and it’s one of her most real interviews yet.
She was asked about everything from asserting herself in all the roles she plays in her career (writer, singer, producer, video director and more), what it meant for her career to be so openly feminist, and the way she sees the music industry working, Grimes’ frank discussion paints a picture of a woman fed up with the way her world works so much she literally doesn’t care anymore. She is now the master of her surroundings, and she is prepare to call out anything and everything.
Interestingly, Grimes also weighed in on the ongoing saga that is the legal battle surrounding Kesha and her recording contract. Having had her request for an injunction denied last week, the world has opened their proverbial hearts to her and have poured out lots and lots of support as she now has to remain in her contract with Sony Music and create another six albums alongside Dr Luke, her producer who she accuses of various degrees of abuse.
“You shouldn’t be allowed to sign a human being, regardless of what the allegations are or what anyone said or did. It’s basically like slavery. She should be allowed to record [with other people]. It’s a deeply fucked situation.”
You can check out the whole interview here. It is definitely worth your time, even if just for the fact that Grimes states Beyoncé as the greatest pop star of all time.
Image by Amy Heycock for Howl & Echoes. See our full gallery here.