No, Olivia Didn't Say "F*ck" In "Drivers License" Just To Prove She's Not A Disney Pop Star
... but if that's what you think, that's cool too.
The Disney Channel has a penchant for churning out pop stars. Many of today’s pop music ~greats~ like Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus got their start appearing on Disney Channel television shows that propelled them to fame and helped them launch recording careers. And while that’s all good and dandy, these same stars are plagued with pre-conceived notions of how they should act because they’re tied to the Disney brand. Olivia Rodrigo's quotes about breaking the Disney Channel mold prove she won’t be bound to a stereotype.
Upon releasing her breakout hit “drivers license” in January, Rodrigo immediately proved she didn’t care much about sticking to Disney’s squeaky clean image. She dropped an ‘F’ bomb in the song’s bridge, a choice she recently told Nylon came as second nature.
“People always ask me, ‘Oh, did you say f*ck in ‘drivers license’ to show that you aren't just a Disney star?’ It’s cool that people might think that, but I’m just making music that I love and that I feel passionate about,” she said in a May 2021 interview. “It’s who I am. I have a dirty mouth. It was what felt natural and good to me, and people resonated with that.”
Curse words and all, Rodrigo is proud to be branching out from any pre-set expectations fans had for her career. “If I am ushering in a new generation of pop stars that aren't afraid to speak their mind, that's so cool. I'm just doing my thing, though,” she said.
Rodrigo’s budding career easily draws comparisons to former Disney starlets, but she doesn’t see herself falling in line with their career trajectory. While she’s “aware” of the pre-conceived notions people have of Disney stars, she’s just writing music that makes her happy.
“I’m very aware of that classic “Disney pop girl” archetype,” Rodrigo said. “My music is definitely separate from my acting in a way I always dreamed would happen. When “drivers license” came out, everyone was like, ‘I have no idea who this Olivia Rodrigo girl is, but I love this song.’ That is the absolute dream for me, because I've always wanted to be taken seriously as a songwriter.”
With Rodrigo’s debut album Sour arriving on May 21, she surely has more lyrical surprises in store.
