Sabrina Carpenter Responds to the ‘Driver’s License’ Drama with Her Latest Single ‘Skin’
As if the tea wasn’t already piping hot with Olivia Rodrigo’s heartbreak anthem ‘Driver’s License’, it is now the “blonde girl’s” turn to say her piece. Last Friday, Sabrina Carpenter released her latest single ‘Skin’, just two weeks after Rodrigo’s unprecedented hit debut song. Many listeners are taking varying stances on this feud between the two Disney singers. Some are in support of Olivia and feel as though Sabrina has stepped out of line. However, other fans are defending the 21-year-old artist by reading deeper into the lyrics and claiming that the song is meant to stop the spread of hate to all sides of the story. Either way, the music released by these two young women have caused quite a stir with their audience members.
Certain choice lyrics such as “maybe you didn’t mean it/maybe blonde was the only rhyme” and “you can try to get under my skin/while he’s on mine” have led many fans to believe that ‘Skin’ was written as a way to rub in that she is now with the lost love (who is rumored to be Rodrigo’s co-star Joshua Bassett) that is the subject of ‘Driver’s License’. In that case, these fans have responded negatively to the song and felt this was an immature move on Sabrina’s part, when Driver’s License did not mention her in a negative light, but rather as someone that Olivia wishes she could be.
However, others have kept an open mind about what the young artist actually had to say. They claim that this was not a dig at Olivia, but a message to those spreading hate towards her, in saying that she will not allow the negativity to get “under her skin” and she will continue to be happy regardless of what people say.
Other fans believe all of this drama to simply be made up. They see this feud as a PR stunt formulated by both women and their record labels to get people more invested in both of their music, and therefore, earn them more streams. Regardless of the true meaning behind these singers’ singles, when separated from the drama surrounding it, we cannot deny that they are both great works of music.
‘Skin’ also has quite a powerful message on its own by saying that hate only affects you if you let it. The main meaning of ‘Skin’ is that “people can only get to you if you give them the power to,” as explained by Sabrina in her latest Instagram post. She claims that she wrote the song as an emotional outlet to cope with different things happening in her life that have led her to a “tipping point”. She states, “i wasn’t bothered by a few lines in a (magnificent) song and wrote a diss track about it...I’m still learning to not give other people so much power over my feelings”. These sentiments that the singer shared hoped to set the record straight for her side of the story, as she asks that people do not continue this cycle of negativity towards anyone.
If you have not listened to ‘Skin’ yet, we highly recommend you check it out on your preferred streaming platform, and watch the lyric video that was posted to YouTube. You may also want to listen to Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Driver’s License’ if you have not had the chance, and check out our article on the single here.
