7 days ago
Mabel, 29, hits back at nepo baby claims as she admits 'I work hard every day' in candid interview about growing up with her famous parents
She's the daughter of eighties pop star Neneh Cherry and legendary producer Cameron McVey.
Mabel, in recent years, has insisted she's made a successful career in music without the help of her famous parents.
And in a new interview with Michael Dapaah on Comfortably Speaking, the singer has doubled down on nepo baby claims as she declared 'I work hard every day'.
Mabel, 29, said: 'It was like a play on everything really, the expectations I've always had on myself.
'I'm still so hard on myself and I work really hard at it every day, I try to be kinder to myself, but it was definitely initially about the things that I felt about myself and yeah the expectations I had set for myself from a super young age.
'And then also about like coming from a family of musicians, maybe the expectations that people had of me, good for bad, do you know what I mean.
'Like people either set the bar here or they set the bar here, because they're like "oh well you're a nepo baby so like you're s*** basically", do you know what I mean?'
The singer, full name Mabel Alabama-Pearl McVey has long been surrounded by musical royalty.
Her mother Neneh, 61, rose to fame with her 1989 album Raw Like Sushi and hits Buffalo Stance and Manchild.
Mabel's father Cameron, 68, is a legendary producer behind acts like Massive Attack and All Saints.
Mabel also opened up about nearly ending her music career entirely as she struggled navigating her twenties.
She said: 'It wasn't possible (to keep up with the pace), I mean it nearly like ended the relationship with what I loved the most, music, because it was impossible.
'It is impossible to deliver, in my opinion, an authentic creative product, because that's what it is when you're in the business.
'And also be okay and have enough life to live to be able to create the authentic product if you're having to do it every eight weeks.
'And you're also in your early 20s and you're trying to figure things out because who knows who they are or what they're doing.'
Mabel first made waves in 2017 with her breakout hit Finders Keepers, and went on to release her platinum-selling debut album High Expectations in 2019. In 2020, she won the Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist.
In 2018, Neneh spoke about nurturing her daughter Mabel in the music industry, revealing she is in awe of her.
The songstress spoke of the then 21-year-old's success and reflected on motherhood, in an interview with the Evening Standard Magazine admitting she wasn't always 'emotionally accessible'.
She said: 'Mabel is unbelievable and so focused and it's hard out there.
'She gets up sometimes and she's doing two or three sessions a day. I'm in awe of her and so I try to support her with basic mum things, like making her a take-out lunch.'
Mabel previously insisted she doesn't want her parents' help when it comes to her own music career.
'When I was in my teens, and was like, 'I really want to do music',' she told the publication. I felt quite embarrassed by being my mum and dad's daughter. I thought, 'People will never take me seriously".'
