Rina Sawayama has expressed her vehement disappointment at misogyny and racism in the music industry, writing on Instagram that she “can't release an album in my current conditions.”
For International Women's Day, Friday, March 8, Sawayama was one of several female artists interviewed for The independent's piece about the misogynistic conditions that women go through in music. For his part, Sawayama immediately references his furious call-out to Matty Healy at Glastonbury in June 2023, where he told the crowd: “Tonight, this is directed at a white man who watches Ghetto Gaggers and makes fun of Asians on a podcast…he also owns my masters…I’ve had enough.”
Speaking to Chloe Little and Roisin O'Connor, Sawayama confessed: “Since the summer of last year, I have felt intense racist misogyny in a way I have never felt before. Publicly and privately, I feel like I have been gassed, disrespected, ignored, and even cyberbullied for reporting blatant racist and sexist behavior.” He went on to say: “It is horrible to see how strongholds around men are built overnight and the techniques used to try to discredit and confuse the narrative. “It’s been crazy to see the men and women around me change course.”
Sharing quotes from Independent In an article on Instagram, Sawayama explained the toll these macro and micro injustices have taken on her mental health. “This is the first time I've been honest about my senior year (or at a level of detail that I feel confident about). “Honestly, my mental health has been terrible and although I was able to complete my 2023 commitments, I can't say it has been the same this year,” the pop star wrote. “I've been lucky to have found ways to keep my business afloat and support myself and my team, but when it comes to new music I can't release another album in my current condition. “I feel really trapped and I don’t know what to do.”
Sawayama went on to write: “I was encouraged by the strength of this article, but I also cried at how truly rotten the industry is. This is only a FRACTION of what really happens… There are men who have done horrible things to several women who have very secure jobs in high places. “It’s really scary.” He ended his post with a call to action: “The music industry absolutely needs a MeToo movement and we need its amplification. Otherwise these artists will disappear from the industry… This is our workplace and women do not deserve to be treated like this. “This is not a rite of passage and it must end.”
Rina Sawayama released her latest album, Hold the girlin September 2022, and has been on the Dirty Hit label since signing with them in 2020. Matty Healy of The 1975 was previously the creative director of Dirty Hit before resigning (amid backlash) in August 2023, and is a shareholder of Dirty. He plays alongside his bandmates, so technically he still owns his masters.
Meanwhile, Sawayama shared a deluxe version of Hold the girl in December 2023. Read our essay from last summer on the next generation of nu-metal, featuring Rina Sawayama.
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