‘How do you think I’m doing so far?’, wonders Charli XCX, midway through our interview. The reason she asks is that she’s just revealed how she failed the media training that’s become a prerequisite for fledgling pop stars. ‘Not just failed, the woman told me I was the worst person to have ever done the course. I guess I wasn’t smiling enough, but I’d rather people think I was weird and terrible than boring and average.’
Nobody could accuse Charli, 22, of being average. Having begun her career aged 14, playing East London warehouse raves accompanied by her parents (her dad was baffled when a clubber attempted to sell him MDF, until Charli explained that it was actually MDMA), last year her brand of bratty synth-pop went stratospheric. Fancy, the song she co-wrote and released with Iggy Azalea, spent seven weeks at number one in America, and her next single, Boom Clap went top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic. The year previously she’d written and performed on Icona Pop’s number one single I Love It, establishing herself as a songwriter, and she’s since released a duet with Rita Ora and been nominated for a Brit.
Having released two earlier albums to little fan-fare, now that Charli has tasted success she has no time for false modesty. ‘Now that’s it’s here I feel like I really fucking deserve it’, she says. ‘I feel very blessed to be in this position.’ And, if it took a while to get there, she’s philosophical. ‘I know how this world works now, and I’m not going to let people walk all over me. I’ve made so many relationships, and I know how it works.’
In fact, she’s arguably one of the best connected women in pop; from writing with Gwen Stefani to hanging out at Geri Halliwell’s (‘I’m a big Spice Girls fan, their BRITs performance was iconic’) and touring with Katy Perry. What’s the best bit of advice she’s been given? ‘It was probably from Robyn. We’d just had this epic dance-off in Australia, she is an insane dancer, and I was feeling a bit down and insecure at the time. She said, ‘You’ve just gotta be yourself and be nice to everybody because that’s why people think you’re cool’ (it’s worth noting here that Charli does the best Robyn impression we have ever heard.)
As for the future, Charli has simple ambitions. ‘I just want to be continuously making killer songs, and mind-blowing videos, as well as writing for other artists. I want to change the musical landscape. I think the overall plan is to take over the world. That’s basically it.’
Charli's sold-out UK headline tour starts tonight. Her new album SUCKER is out now