On Wednesday night, the dynamic Grace Jones had everyone talking after an excerpt from her upcoming memoir, I’ll Never Write My Memoirs, was published in TimeOut. Jones doesn’t mince her words when it comes to shading some of your favorite pop stars (not mine) and how desperate some of them are in their “art.”
Jones says of herself that she’s “never comfortable in the middle of the stream, flowing in the same direction as everyone else” and says her instinct is “to resist the pull of the obvious.” But it’s apparent that artists like Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga don’t do the same.
“Trends come along and people say, ‘Follow that trend.’ There’s a lot of that around at the moment: ‘Be like Sasha Fierce. Be like Miley Cyrus. Be like Rihanna. Be like Lady Gaga. Be like Rita Ora and Sia. Be like Madonna.’ I cannot be like them—except to the extent that they are already being like me,” Jones writes.
Jones gives extra-special attention to one artist in particular whom she did not name but referred to as “Doris.” Jones notes that everyone wanted her to work with this person and said it would be good for Jones. But nah. Jones wasn’t having it. She knew it wouldn’t be good for her, only good for this Doris she writes about:
I remember when one of the singers on the list of those who came after me first said that she wanted to work with me. Everyone around me is going: “You have to do it, it will be so good for you, it will introduce you to a whole new audience, you will make a lot of money.” No! It will be good for her; she will draw from everything I have built and add it to her brand, and I will get nothing back except for a little temporary attention. No one could believe that I said no, but I am okay on my own. I am okay not worrying about a new audience. If the [f—k] don’t feel right, don’t [f—k] it.
With this one, who I will call Doris, I thought she was trying on other people’s outfits: she’s a baby in a closet full of other people’s clothes, a little girl playing dress-up, putting on shoes that don’t fit. I could see what she wanted to be when I watched her doing something when she started out that was starker and purer. Deep down, she doesn’t want to do all the dressing-up nonsense; she loses herself inside all the play-acting.
If you’re going to shade someone, you better do it epically.
After the article circulated last night, everyone wanted to know, “Who’s Doris?”
https://twitter.com/dreamoforgonon/status/641740977540067328https://twitter.com/DualGrey/status/641829969589473280https://twitter.com/AaronJJBrophy/status/641791561538404352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/LisaFayye/status/641825659522785280
Some people thought maybe it was Beyoncé, but Jones had no problem mentioning Beyoncé’s alter ego Sasha Fierce. Then maybe it could be Britney Spears? But when was the last time she was relevant besides her new career as a Vegas lounge singer?
Now all fingers are pointing at Lady Gaga. In 2010, Jones turned down an offer to work with her and even went so far as to say she “wouldn’t go to see her.”
At 67 years old, Jones still commands an audience. Her recent performance at Afropunk in New York City brought the house down. Generations have been rocking to Jones, and although some may call her a “diva,” it’s best to let Jones explain it herself.
“I am not a diva. I am a Jones,” the master shade thrower states.