Grimes Reveals Male Producers Have Asked Her For Sex

Systemic sexism in the music industry is an age-old prejudice, one that unfortunately, we're all too familiar with. Then everything re-erupted in late 2014 when Kesha filed a lawsuit against her producer Dr Luke, under claims that he sexually abused her. Kesha remains locked in her contract with producer Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwal, which means she is unable to make music with anyone else, despite her claims that he made her take "sober pills" – after which she woke up the next day, "naked in Dr. Luke's bed, sore and sick, with no memory of how she got there." In the context of this ongoing news story, it made sense then, for Rolling Stone magazine to ask singer, songwriter, producer and all-round subversive musical genius Grimes what her opinion is on the subject. Her answer no one could have predicted: "I don't know enough about the specifics of that situation, because it seems very complicated,” she responded, before adding, “But I will say that I’ve been in numerous situations where male producers would literally be like, ‘We won’t finish the song unless you come back to my hotel room.’" She continued: "If I was younger or in a more financially desperate situation, maybe I would have done that. I don’t think there are few female producers because women aren’t interested. It’s difficult for women to get in. It’s a pretty hostile environment.” Grime's statement suggests that the tributaries of this abuse of male privilege run wider than the traditional stereotype of the super-Svengali who looms large over a major label and a helpless young pop-starlet. It's not the first time, however, that Grimes has spoken out about these types of attitudes towards women in the music industry. In a 2013 blog post, she wrote the following: "I'm tired of men who aren't professional or even accomplished musicians continually offering to 'help me out' (without being asked), as if I did this by accident and I’m gonna flounder without them. Or as if the fact that I'm a woman makes me incapable of using technology. I have never seen this kind of thing happen to any of my male peers.” After the interview ran, the Canadian star took to Twitter. “The most annoying thing about my job: being asked about ”music industry sexism,“ she wrote, adding, "Media propagates sexism by portraying me as a victim rather than the successful producer that I am." We can't help but feel like the conversation should continue on, and that maybe those interview questions about sexism should keep being asked... at least until we have proper answers and, more importantly, proper solutions.