Icona Pop's Caroline Hjelt Tells the Advocate She Wishes She Were a Lesbian

Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo, the Swedish synthpop duo better known as Icona Pop, immediately drew a large LGBT audience when they dominated radio playlists, iPods, and dance floors this summer with their smash hit “I Love It.” Hjelt spoke with the Advocate about rumors that she and Jawo were a lesbian pop group. Here's what she had to say: 

As has happened with many performing duos of the same sex in the past, rumors that Icona Pop was a lesbian group surfaced almost immediately. But rather than run from it, you both seem to take it in stride and have fun with it. Even your latest album cover seems to be a bit of a wink and a nudge in that sense.
[Laughs] Oh, yes! I usually say I wish I was into girls so I could marry Aino, because we would have the perfect relationship. But that’s not the case. Of course people will think what they want to think, but we don’t care. We can’t stop doing our thing because people talk. Whether we’re gay, we’re not gay — whatever.

Several of your songs can easily be interpreted as LGBT anthems. “Girlfriend,” for obvious reasons, but other tracks from your new album also easily align with a queer sensibility. Were you aware of that when you were writing those songs?
When we were writing and recording in the studio we were just in the moment, and I don’t think we had a specific crowd in mind. But afterwards — well, a lot of our songs are about being who you are, expressing yourself, and being proud. So I think that goes hand in hand with the message of equality, because you should be proud of who you are whether you’re gay or not. You shouldn’t hide it; you should live it out loud.

Read the full interview here. 

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