'Expect to be manipulated'

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Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish hates the fact that it's become the norm for people to expect to be "used and manipulated" by the music industry.

The 17-year-old singer has enjoyed a stellar year and has become one of the most talked-about young stars in the music business. But despite her success, Billie is well aware that her industry of choice has a darker side.

"There has been a whole world of young, especially female artists, and every artist (not just young) being used and manipulated by the stereotypical label or industry," she told V magazine. "There's kind of this weird name on everything now where it's like, people expect that."

When it comes to her own career, Billie knows she could have become a victim herself of manipulation had she not been so strong and level-headed in one of her first meetings, which happened when she was just 13 years old.

"I think the only people that didn't look at me like I was going to have a horrible career were the people that I ended up working with," she recalled. "Everyone was just like, 'Oh, you're 13, yikes, you're going to be used,' and this and that. And I am like, 'Yo, y'all are the people that would use me in the situation you are talking about.' So, I don't know what that is supposed to mean. The only people who didn't say that s**t were the people that I felt an energy and connection with."

After that first meeting, Billie, who writes her songs with her brother, former Glee actor Finneas O'Connell, found a team she was happy to work with - and one which gave her the freedom to explore her own vision.

"I think that might just be because I have always been the kind of person that knows what the f**k I want, and if it's not what I want, then I am not going to do it," the Bad Guy star mused.