Charli XCX Is Bare-Faced & Sultry In ‘V’ Magazine Photo Shoot: 5 Photos
Charli XCX‘s fashion style is typically bold and girly with an injection of punk rock edge, but these new V magazine outtakes show a softer side to the UK singer. In the shoot (photographed by Richard Bush), she dons a fresh face with minimal makeup while wearing statement jewelry and a slick motorcycle jacket.
The “Doing It” chanteuse also speaks with the magazine about the success of “Boom Clap” and gives props to Britney Spears. View the photos in the gallery up top, and read highlights from the singer’s interview after the jump!
On Hilary Duff not receiving “Boom Clap”: “We sent the song to her people and I don’t think she ever heard it. But they were like, ‘This song isn’t cool enough for Hilary.’ And we were really sad about that! So I was like, Fuck it. I’m going to sing it.”
On the song’s success: “I didn’t even realize that they test songs before they put them on the radio. They get teenagers to say I think this is great or I think that’s bad based on five or ten seconds of a song they’ve never heard before. And it’s those reactions that get them to decide what goes on the radio. It’s really fucked up and weird. I don’t think anyone knew the scale of ‘Boom Clap’ until it began to get more plays. Radio is not something that’s ever been with me before.”
On pop music: “The very pop way that I think isn’t recognized, sometimes,” she says, annoyed. “I think some people don’t appreciate the Spice Girls and Britney Spears as great, intelligent pop music. They’ll always be like, that’s you coming from a weird angle. And I’m like, No, you just don’t get it. I always wanted to be in the pop sphere, but I wanted to do it on my own terms. I don’t want to follow what anyone else has done before me.”
On the raw edge of Sucker: “With the way I’ve performed, it’s always been a bit messy and more raw and punk,” Charli reasons. “But I made a load of actual punk songs with Patrik after the success of ‘I Love It,’ because I felt cheated and I felt very alone, and like I’d opened a few doors to the music industry that I didn’t really want to open. In hindsight I’m glad, because it made me wiser to the way people can play you, especially with big pop songs.
Click here to read Charli XCX’s V interview in full!
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