Jameela Jamil Is Defending Her Producer's Credit On James Blake's New Album: "I Was A DJ For 8 Years And Studied Music For 6 Years Before That"

"A lot of women insisting I couldn't possibly have actually worked on my boyfriend's music, and that he must have just credited me to be nice."

You know actor, TV host, DJ, and activist Jameela Jamil.

Kurt Krieger - Corbis / Corbis via Getty Images

Jameela's also been dating musician James Blake since 2015.

Amy Sussman / Getty Images

Well, some folks aren't buying Jameela's producer credit on James' new album, Friends That Will Break Your Heart. (The Good Place actor is listed as a producer on 9 of the 12 tracks.)

Steve Granitz / WireImage / Getty Images

Jameela's calling out the naysayers. "A lot of women insisting I couldn't possibly have actually worked on my boyfriend's music, and that he must have just credited me to be nice," she said on Twitter. "I was a DJ for 8 years, and studied music for 6 years before that."

Jameela Jamil 🌈 @jameelajamil

A lot of mostly women insisting I couldn’t possibly have actually worked on my boyfriend’s music, and that he must have just credited me to be nice… I was a DJ for 8 years, and studied music for 6 years before that. You are part of the problem of why women don’t pursue producing

05:19 AM - 09 Oct 2021

@jameelajamil / Via Twitter: @jameelajamil

'You are part of the problem of why women don't pursue producing," she added.

"Man. James had to fight me to take credit on this album because I was so preemptively sick of the internet," Jameela captioned in a post on Instagram. "Especially after this same thing happened on his last record that I worked for countless hours on."

@jameelajamilofficial / Via Instagram: @jameelajamilofficial

Ultimately, Jameela wrote that she did take credit "because of how important it is for women who work on music to visibly exist in the space of music production, and because I would want any of you who follow me to take ownership of what is rightfully your achievements."

Mark Ralston / AFP via Getty Images

"I hope you’re taking credit for your work wherever you are in the world right now," she concluded in a message to women reading her post. "I hope you know that if you're not being believed over your achievements… that it's not a reflection of you… it's a reflection of people who are so underachieving, cowardly and insecure that they can't fathom that you could be impressive. And it happens at every level in every industry. Even to me. Even when I don't credit myself, my boyfriend just quietly credited me."

"We are in this shit together. Representation matters. It is not our responsibility to be believed, liked, understood or approved of. You just carry on as you are. I'm right there with you. Giving everyone the finger!" 

It's worth pointing out that Jameela has spoken before about working as an event DJ in the UK. By 2012, she was regularly hosting shows on BBC Radio 1.

Jon Furniss / WireImage / Getty Images

She talked about DJing Elton John's birthday party on Conan in 2019.

YouTube / Via youtube.com

She admits that she bluffed her way into the gig, but it still "kicked off an eight-year career."

Also, regardless of what you think about Jameela's music career, she makes an excellent point about the scarcity of women in the music producing world.

Theo Wargo / Getty Images for Spotify

According to MasterClass, women make up approximately 20% of all musical artists, but only 2% of women in music are producers.

Caitlin Mogridge / Redferns / Getty Images

So, if you take anything away from Jameela's statement, remember: Representation absolutely matters!

Dave M. Benett / Getty Images