Lily Allen: A Flair For Irony — And Racism
Lily Allen possesses a terrific flair for irony, but there’s a fine line between using irony to make a cutting point and using it as a protective coating to hide the fact that you’re not sure exactly what you’re trying to say. She was once a master of the former, but her new album, “Sheezus,” is another story. Even before she was disowning her underperforming singles as “docile pop rubbish” on Twitter a few weeks ago, we got a taste of this back-pedaling and double-speak on the album’s lead-off single “Hard Out Here,” which fashioned itself a critique of music industry sexism but, to some listeners, sent an unfortunate mixed message. “I don’t have to shake my ass for you, cuz I’ve got a brain,” Allen sang, as though the two were mutually exclusive; behind her, a group of black women shook their asses at the camera. When the video was accused of being racist, Allen clarified, “If I could dance like the ladies can, it would have been my arse on your screens.”
