Lola Young has clapped back at claims of her being a ‘nepo baby’ and an ‘industry plant’ as “rubbish”.
Since it was revealed that she is related to Julia Donaldson, the author of the famous children’s book ‘The Gruffalo’, some have questioned whether this could have given her a leg up in her music career.
In a new interview with Capital Buzz, the South London songstress said: “People are saying I’m a nepo baby because my great aunt wrote The Gruffalo. I mean what kind of rubbish is that? I have so much to say on that which I can’t even talk about. But I’m not a nepo baby, I’m not an industry plant, there we go I said it. I’ve cleared that up for all those losers that want to comment rubbish on the internet. Just find something better to do, you’re sad, you’re lonely.”
“The thing is industry plant is just a term for other artists and other people to use who just don’t know what they’re doing in life and feel upset that someone else is having their moment. And if you are an industry plant, you’re not going to have your moment for that long, unfortunately. And maybe sometimes you will, it just doesn’t matter, none of these things matter. If someone’s got talent, then they’ve got talent.”
She also defended her education at the prestigious BRIT School, a London performing and creative arts school that has produced stars such as Adele, Amy Winehouse, Jessie J, Imogen Heap and Rizzle Kicks to name a few: “It’s a normal school and I went to a really like rough school before that and you have to audition to get in,” she added.
Lola’s childhood was filled with creative endeavours. As a youngster, she appeared in a couple of television shows that followed young performers, one of them being CBBC’s Got What It Takes? – a musical bootcamp set to test a group of talented performers and their mothers.
Some fans branded her a ‘nepo baby’ after it was revealed that her great-aunt is Julia Donaldson, author of ‘The Gruffalo’. Also the 2011-2013 Children’s Laureate, Donaldson wrote songs for children’s TV before finding success with her books.
But she’s always given credit to her family for allowing her to pursue her passion for music. ‘Coming from an artistic family was really helpful because they understood that music is a real job, that I can make money from it,’ she told the Telegraph in 2022, claiming that she’d ‘never had a plan B’.
Lola’s popularity reached new heights when her single ‘Messy’ became a viral success on Tik Tok. The single reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in January, making her the youngest British female artist to score a solo No. 1 since Dua Lipa in 2017. She’s recently made TV appearances with Jimmy Fallon and Graham Norton, as well as being nominated and performing at the Brits 2025 ceremony.
Lola is set to perform at Glastonbury 2025 later this year – you can see our write-up on that here.
