If you’ve been listening to the radio lately (and if you haven’t, what else are you going during home isolation?), then you’ve heard Dua Lipa’s music tearing up the charts. Her big hit from fall last year, "Don’t Start Now," is a celebratory tune about moving on from a toxic boy who took her for granted. That’s something we can get into fo’sho’, but as it turns out, it’s taken on new meaning in the self-isolation era. The tune has become a major hit amongst TikTokers dancing alone in the comfort (and quarantine) of their homes.When Dua video-chatted with Jimmy Fallon Wednesday night for the at-home edition of
The Tonight Show, the singer was blissfully unaware of her TikTok fame until Jimmy (ever the cool kid) pointed it out.“You're
all over TikTok, by the way,” he said, with his signature giggle. "'Don't Start Now' is, like, the biggest thing. Everyone's doing, ‘Don't show up! Don't come out!’ It just fits in with what everyone’s being told right now. And it's almost like you wrote it, like, last week.”“For the self-isolation era!” she chimed in.
“I mean, you probably didn't plan on people having private dance parties to your music indoors and not going to clubs, but that's the case!” he added.“You know, I didn't think so,” she smiled. “But I think dancing in the kitchen works just fine.”Good, glad she gave us her seal of approval because we’ve already been doing that for the past month. Don’t judge!Chatting from her home in London, cooped up in quarantine with her boyfriend Anwar Hadid, Dua mused on the early release of her latest album
Future Nostalgia (after it was leaked), and her decision to go ahead with the release when other artists
like Lady Gaga are postponing their album releases due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.“Yeah, it was a bit confusing, and I was like, ‘Why?’ she said stoically about the early leak of her album. “But I think some things happen for a reason. And I was just relieved. It was like another thing that showed me that the music had to be out, ‘cause there was a point where I was feeling a little bit conflicted, and I was like, ‘I'm not sure if I want to put the music out this time. Like, a lot of people are suffering. And I just don't know if it feels right.’ But then I also thought about the fact that I made this record to get away from many anxieties and pressures... And then I was like, ‘Maybe this record could give people a moment to get away from everything and maybe give them some comfort.’”Honestly, we'd like to thank her for her service. Her signature "Dance-Cry" music is exactly what the world needs (and so is
her performance with socially-distanced backup dancers).[video_embed id='1933760']RELATED: Drake’s ‘Toosie Slide’ is headed for viral TikTok status[/video_embed]Dua finished by addressing a cause near and dear to her heart—as every Fallon guest has done since the show went online—her work with UNICEF aiding refugees. Her father,
who once was a singer and musician, and mother both arrived in Britain as refugees from Pristina, Kosovo in the '90s.“I'm very close to the refugee situation in the world, I guess, first and foremost, because my parents were refugees when they moved to the U.K.,” she explained. “But also just because I feel like, in the current climate, it's an ongoing issue. And especially now with COVID-19, I feel like, children and refugees, they're constantly living in such overcrowded places, and so often, they can't self-isolate. I feel like they're the most at risk at the moment.”Dua is the living embodiment that no matter your situation, you can always pursue your dreams and make the best of a tough situation, so if you’ll excuse us, we have a TikTok video to make.Watch
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on CTV2.[video_embed id='1936265']BEFORE YOU GO: TV doctors & nurses come together to thank real medical professionals[/video_embed]
