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Lily Allen · S6 E3
The Video
Controversial visuals, cultural commentary, and the backlash
November 2013, 48 hours after release. The 'Hard Out Here' video is trending worldwide, and the word 'racist' is in almost every reply under Lily Allen's tweets.
"Trigger Bang" feat. Giggs by Lily Allen (2017). Years after the 'Hard Out Here' controversy, Lily releases a video that's just as visually confrontational: a gritty collaboration with one of UK grime's hardest voices. The aesthetic is raw, the attitude is unapologetic, and the message hasn't changed. Lily Allen does not play it safe when there's a camera pointed at her.
The Clip
The 'Hard Out Here' video opens on Lily Allen lying on an operating table having liposuction, while a male music executive tells her she needs to lose weight for her comeback. She then appears on a pop video set surrounded by backup dancers in revealing outfits, twerking on cars, pouring champagne. The whole thing is framed as satire: Lily stands fully clothed in the center, parodying the male gaze that dominates every music video on MTV.
Trigger Bang, Lily Allen feat. Giggs (2017)
'Trigger Bang' pairs Lily's confessional pop vocal with Giggs's deep South London growl, and the combination shouldn't work but absolutely does. The production is sparse: a hollow beat, minimal synths, and just enough space for both voices to breathe. Lily's verses look back on her teenage years in London, drinking, partying, and getting into trouble, with a nostalgia that's more honest than romantic. Giggs adds a street-level gravity that grounds the whole track in a very specific London reality.
“I'm not going to apologise for the video because I think it's an important piece of work. If all you see when you watch it is the colour of the dancers' skin, maybe you need to ask yourself why that is.”
— Lily Allen, Twitlonger post defending the 'Hard Out Here' video (November 2013)
TAP TO REVEAL: What specific music video was 'Hard Out Here' deliberately copying?
The Backlash
The criticism comes from an unexpected direction: feminists. Writers at Jezebel, The Guardian, and feminist blogs argue that a video about female empowerment shouldn't use Black women twerking as visual props while the white star stands fully clothed in the center. The irony cuts deep: a video designed to critique objectification is accused of committing it.
The Video: By the Numbers
L8 CMMR, Lily Allen
One of Sheezus's most underrated deep cuts, sitting early in the tracklist between the bravado of the title track and the pop brightness of 'Air Balloon.' While the world is arguing about the 'Hard Out Here' video in comment sections and think pieces, this track captures the restless, anxious energy running through the entire album. If you want to hear what the Sheezus era felt like from the inside, start here.
L8 CMMR, Lily Allen (2014)
Read the lyrics while you listen. Where the singles are built for radio, 'L8 CMMR' is built for headphones. The words sit closer to the bone, and the production gives Lily's voice more room than the polished singles ever do.
The 'Hard Out Here' video opens with Lily Allen undergoing which fake medical procedure?
Next: Lily Allen releases 'Air Balloon,' a sugar-coated pop single that sounds nothing like the woman who just set the internet on fire. Nobody can figure out if she's lost her mind or if she's playing a completely different game.
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