Nigerian novelist, Chimamanda Adichie has revealed her disappointment at the aftermath of her feature in Beyoncé’s hit song, Flawless.
The Nigerian-born writer who disclosed that she feels irritated whenever people attribute her popularity and fame to Beyoncé said: “In the first place: of course Beyoncé asked permission to use my texts, and I did give her permission. I think she’s lovely and I am convinced that she has nothing but the best intentions. In addition, Beyoncé is a celebrity of the first order and with this song she has reached many people who would otherwise probably never have heard the word feminism, let alone gone out and buy my essay.”
Recall that Beyonce had featured a clip of Chimamanda Adichie’s ‘We should all be feminist’ TED Talk on her ‘Flawless’ single.
She further added: “But I was shocked about how many requests for an interview I received when that song was released.
Literally every major newspaper in the world wanted to speak with me about Beyoncé. I felt such a resentment (laughs loudly). I thought: are books really that unimportant to you? Another thing I hated was that I read everywhere: now people finally know her, thanks to Beyoncé, or: she must be very grateful. I found that disappointing. I thought: I am a writer and I have been for some time and I refuse to perform in this charade that is now apparently expected of me: “Thanks to Beyoncé, my life will never be the same again.” That’s why it didn’t speak about it much.
“Her style is not my style, but I do find it interesting that she takes a stand in political and social issues, since a few years. She portrays a woman who is in charge of her own destiny, who does her own thing, and she has girl power. I am very taken with that.”