Paloma Faith<\/a>\u2019s Mad, Sad + Bad podcast, she said: \u201cIt\u2019s insane to validate yourself on those things (awards), but the lack of them \u2013 I\u2019m like, well, I must be s*** then.”<\/p>\nTaylor explained that her stage name was born from a desire to rebuild her confidence: \u201cI called myself Self Esteem because I didn\u2019t have any, and this has given me it. It\u2019s truly manifesting every day to remind myself to have it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pair also discussed the way women are labelled when they express frustration. Faith noted how often women are dismissed as \u201cangry,\u201d prompting Self Esteem to respond: \u201cI\u2019m disappointed in people who aren\u2019t angry!\u201d<\/p>\n
\nSelf Esteem went on to describe how past relationships shaped her sense of self, recalling a partner who repeatedly undermined her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nShe recalled: \u201cThere was a real nasty bastard boyfriend that was like, \u2018You\u2019re crazy.\u2019 Proper Dickens\u2011style gaslighting. And it really worked \u2019cause I had no idea. I even let him join the band for a bit!\u201d<\/p>\n
\nLooking back, she recognises how damaging that dynamic was: \u201cI\u2019m not crazy. I\u2019m just reacting perfectly reasonably to what is going on in terms of the injustice between me and you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nShe added that much of her career has been driven by a desire to reclaim the confidence she lost during that period<\/p>\n
\nSelf Esteem noted: \u201cEverything about my career has been me avenging for that girl\u2026 I don\u2019t need revenge, and it\u2019s quite bad for the diary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nTurning to the pressures of the music industry, Self Esteem said she refuses to limit her creativity to fit commercial expectations.<\/p>\n
\nShe explained: \u201cI\u2019m gonna make so many albums, and they\u2019ll all be different, and they can\u2019t all be successful in the same way.”<\/p>\n
\nBut she admitted ageism and financial insecurity still weigh heavily: \u201cI\u2019m 40 in October and I don\u2019t give a f***, but also it\u2019s doing something to me and my sense of self\u2026 as a woman in the music industry it\u2019s just in red pen \u2018DONE NOW\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nShe also highlighted the widening class divide in the arts.<\/p>\n
\nTaylor said: \u201cMy music peers were all from a privileged background\u2026 you get to be better because you get to put more time into it. It\u2019s just going to get bigger and bigger, that gap.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nUltimately, she said the biggest challenge remains balancing survival with creativity.<\/p>\n
\nShe concluded: \u201cHow do I ever disconnect my brain from the fear of keeping a roof over my head to try and make the art?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nListen to the full episode now.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
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\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.femalefirst.co.uk \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"10 February 2026 Self Esteem has spoken candidly about self\u2011worth, misogyny and the realities of surviving the music industry. Self Esteem joined Paloma Faith for the latest instalment of the Mad, Sad + Bad podcast Reflecting on her relationship with success and recognition, the 39-year-old musician – whose real name is Rebecca Taylor – admitted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2275820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[362826,440619,440618],"class_list":["post-2275819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-paloma-faith","tag-rebecca-lucy-taylor","tag-self-esteem"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Self-Esteem-talks-anger-gaslighting-and-survival-in-the-music.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2275819"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2275821,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275819\/revisions\/2275821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2275820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2275819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2275819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2275819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}