Billie Eilish received “the best advice” she has ever had from Stormzy

In an interview with i-D on 7th September 2021, Billie Eilish revealed that Stormzy gave her the best advice she had ever gotten. This was a result of an intimate conversation she had with Stormzy where they discussed various things from music, to mental health. In her interview, Billie Eilish disclosed that she sometimes finds it difficult to deal with social media, and the trolling, particularly after the backlash she received when she unveiled her new look.

Billie Eilish was famously known for wearing clothes that hid her body form, which she said was intended to prevent others from body shaming her. Previously, during a 2019 Calvin Klein ad, she said, “I never want the world to know everything about me. I mean, that’s why I wear big, baggy clothes. Nobody can have an opinion because they haven’t seen what’s underneath.”

Since May 2021, she has changed to a newer image and style that is more ‘revealing’, which has caused many people on social media to criticise the singer for going back on what she had said about hiding her body from the public. Billie Eilish found the reaction to be “dehumanising” and said that it seemed as if people were only interested in her body rather than her personality or her music.

She said the reason for her style change was so that she could blend in more while out in public, and it was not due to wanting to make everybody think differently. She said in reaction to the criticism, “Suddenly you’re a hypocrite if you want to show your skin, and you’re easy… if I am, then I’m proud. Let’s turn it around and be empowered in that. Showing your body and showing your skin – or not – should not take any respect away from you.”

Billie Eilish continued to emphasise, “My thing is that I can do whatever I want. It’s all about what makes you feel good. If you want to get surgery, go get surgery. If you want to wear a dress that somebody thinks that you look too big wearing … if you feel like you look good, you look good. It’s about taking that power back, showing it off and not taking advantage with it. I’m not letting myself be owned anymore.”

It has been a few months since May, though it seems that the trolling is not dying down at all. This was made clear when the singer confessed her difficulty with social media and not knowing how to deal with the criticism in the interview with i-D. However, Stormzy talked with her about how he has deleted social media. He said, “I’m not on social media anymore. I just deleted everything and came off of it.”

In response to this, Billie Eilish said, “I would love to do that.” This is when Stormzy dropped the best advice that she had ever received.

He said that “without even sounding cocky or arrogant” she has “to remember you’re Billie Eilish, you get what I mean?” The rapper explained the value of enjoying ‘real life’ rather than the life on social media, and continued to say, “the reality of being you is that you’re lit in real life. That’s what I had to remind myself. In real life, I’m lit. It’s love, it’s love, like, you walk into the room, it’s love. You see people, it’s love. It’s, ‘Yo, Billie, I love your new tune. Yo, Billie, that’s sick. Yo, Stormz, nah, nah, nah’, but then we get on the internet, and it’s some other s***, you know what I mean? So I’m always like, yo, just believe the reality of who you are.”

After Stormzy finished, Billie Eilish said happily, “Oh my god… best advice I’ve ever had.”

Watch the full interview with i-D down below: