Seeing negative comments about yourself online is never easy, but for Dua Lipa, it simply made her want to work harder so she could prove everyone wrong.

The 25-year-old recently talked to Vanity Fair about her career for magazine’s July/August cover issue, which is where she revealed that a viral meme took a toll on her confidence, pushing her to work even harder.

That meme stemmed from the pop star’s appearance at the 2018 Brit Awards, where she performed her hit, “New Rules.” A lot of fans were heavily critiquing her dancing, and in one since-deleted comment under a video of her performance, someone wrote, “I love her lack of energy, go girl give us nothing!”

The comment went viral and is still a commonly-referenced joke today, something that deeply impacted the British singer.

“It‘s one thing when people are mean about you, but you know that you did your best,” she told Vanity Fair. “But it’s another thing when people are mean about you and you know that you actually haven’t had the opportunity to be the best because you’ve spread yourself so thinly in trying to do everything at once.”

She continued, “You want to show that you‘re here to stay and you want to show that it’s not just about one album or one big song or whatever it is.”

After the meme blew up, Dua said she wanted to make sure she “was very much in control of the fact that I’m going to do the music, then I’m going to rehearse.”

“And then when I come in and I do the performances, they’re all going to be amazing,” the singer continued. “I’m going to prove to people that I can do this and that I’m here to stay.”

Since that fateful day in 2018, fans have been vocal about just how much Lipa’s performances have improved. Viewers were particularly impressed by her appearance at the 2021 GRAMMY Awards, drawing comparisons to her old performances and pointing out how much better both her dancing and singing have gotten.

Following delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dua Lipa is scheduled to go on tour in September.

“The year delay to my tour makes it even more exciting,” she said recently on Radio DeeJay Summer Camp. “I’m really looking forward to performing live with a live audience.”