Who is BLACKPINK songwriter Teddy Sinclair and where have we seen her before?

BLACKPINK just released their second studio album BORN PINK, just weeks before their world tour begins. But if you look at the album’s credits, you’ll notice that there were fewer producers involved compared to their first studio release The Album. Familiar names such as Bekuh Boom make a return to work on BORN PINK, but a new collaborator has made her way to work on one of BLACKPINK’s newest tracks.

In the credits for the album’s sixth track titled “The Happiest Girl”, Teddy Sinclair is credited as one of the composers and lyricist. And while nearly half of the songs in this album contain English lyrics, this is the only song that took a ballad-like approach. It’s soft, sentimental, and has a more typically Western sound.

But did you know that Sinclair has had some time in the public eye herself? But not without some controversy.

The controversy around BLACKPINK collaborator Teddy Sinclair/Natalia Kills, explained

Sinclair is a singer-songwriter who performed under multiple aliases, most famously Natalia Kills. Some of her most popular songs are ‘Devils Don’t Fly’, ‘Mirrors’, and ‘Problem’, all receiving millions of streams on Spotify. But aside from her music career, she was also a judge in season 2 of X-Factor New Zealand, alongside her husband, Willy Moon. But her time on the show was famously cut short due to her behavior towards one of the show’s contestants.

After contestant Joe Irvine’s performance, Sinclair alleged the singer of ‘copying her husband’s appearance’. While Irvine took it well and professionally, the crowd continued to boo Sinclair and her husband. She criticized Irvine by constantly asking if he had “any self-respect” and found his appearance “artistically atrocious”.

Luckily for Irvine, he received support from both the crowds and the other judges and the show immediately fired both Sinclair and Moon following the incident and both were replaced by Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Shelton Woolright, respectively.

Sinclair apologized for her behavior soon after, saying “things got out of hand.”

“A lot goes on behind the scenes of a reality TV show and you see isn’t always the whole story. The show brought me on to bring my passion, dramatic expression and perspective. I was encouraged to be outspoken and things got out of hand…Joe, I hope you can forgive me and I wish you all the best! Be natural, unconventional and be you!”

Was Teddy Sinclair’s rant scripted?

While there has been much speculation that the attack on Irvine was scripted, no one directly involved has actually come out and confirmed that it was all produced (though, that wouldn’t be hard to believe).

Sinclair, however, did address the controversy in a 2018 interview with Paper, three years after it happened. She explained that she couldn’t talk directly about X Factor, but she did outline that she was aware of how she looked on TV.

“I can say that I’d never support anything like what I did on TV. If I were someone else watching me, I’d think I were Satan, too. I’m not a victim here because I was there. I did that. On television.”

The backlash from the rant was swift, with Sinclair receiving overwhelming amounts of abuse online, including racist and sexist remarks.

“The thing that felt sad at the time, was sometimes there’s a voice in my head… it felt like sometimes you wake up screaming on the inside like, if I just told the truth, everyone would know and these 20,000 death threats would go away. And not just death threats for me, but for my family as well.”

What has Teddy Sinclair been doing since?

Ever since the incident, Sinclair continued to release music with her husband as part of a band named Cruel Youth. She also has writing credits for the likes of Rihanna, Madonna, and Rich Brian.

BORN PINK is now available to stream everywhere.