Charli XCX Covers ‘Complex’, Talks Past Music Biz Struggles

For their latest cover subject, Complex chose singer, songwriter and all around cool-as-hell hit-maker Charli XCX. We’re in the lead-up to the release of the “Boom Clap” artist’s sophomore LP Sucker (out October 21), and Complex spent a full day talking to Charli basically about the path that brought her to this point in her career — including the despair she felt after penning Icona Pop‘s global smash “I Love It.”

“I got shut out of the process and pushed away from that song,” she tells the publication, referring to her management at the time, not Icona Pop. “I didn’t get the credit I deserved.”

She then adds that she felt the pressure from label execs to bang out more hits after achieving her first one: “’We want ‘I Love It’ meets ‘212.’ Replicate this’… I can’t do that! I can’t replicate it because I genuinely have no idea how I wrote that song.”

Another interesting bit comes when Charli takes a stance on how female artists are perceived in the industry and by the public: “There’s always a catch. Like: ‘Does she really do that? I heard her mum wrote that song.’ I read that about Lorde. I’m like: As if! Just because she’s young and successful, why is someone trying to take that away from her? It’s because she’s highly intelligent and a female who’s killing it. She’s doing something different, and people are afraid of that.”

Just don’t expect her to get into any beefs with her female peers, Azealia Banks-style, though.  “Just ’cause we all have vaginas doesn’t mean that we all play against each other,” Charli tells Complex. “We’re all doing our own thing.”

Check more photos from the shoot and Charli XCX’s full Complex interview here.

Get an eyeful of even more pop music coverage, from artist interviews to exclusive performances, on Idolator’s YouTube channel.