Music news: The rise of ‘BRAT summer’ superstar Charli XCX
Charli XCX went from niche pop star holding Grindr livestream concerts to being one of the most headlined names, but this did not happen overnight.
In this article, Music News Blitz writer Megan Rogers-Jones will discuss the rise of Charli XCX and how she became one of the biggest names of this generation.
Early career
Charli, whose full name is Charlotte Emma Aitchison, began her career at 14 when she began writing songs and chose her stage name, which was taken from ‘Windows Live Messenger’ name.
She was determined at a young age and begged her parents to grant her a loan to record her first unofficial debut album, which was released in 2008.
She named the album ‘14’, the age she released the album - very brat if you ask me.
Her album caught wind from promoters of illegal warehouse raves and parties in East London, where her parents would attend with her being a minor.
She continued to post her music on ‘MySpace’ before signing a record contract with ‘Asylum Records’ in 2010.
She released numerous singles and mixtapes during early 2010.
In 2012 she had her first breakthrough when she was featured on Swedish duo Icona Pop’s ‘I Love It’, which climbed to number one in the UK.
She released her debut album, ‘True Romance’, in 2013, and despite it having positive reviews, it didn’t meet commercial expectations.
‘Fancy’ by ‘Iggy Azalea’ was released in 2014 and is still known as Charli’s best feature song, so she took advantage of the hype and released ‘Boom Clap’ the same year, which earned her first-ever solo top 10 single in America.
Her second studio album, ‘Sucker’ was also released the same year.
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A ‘new sound’
After ‘Sucker’, she started to work with producers associated with the UK Collective PC Music in 2015, where she developed a more experimental and unique sound.
Her EP ‘Vroom Vroom’ was released in 2016 and was produced by the late ‘SOPHIE’.
This song was considered as the true start of Charli XCX, with her releasing it through her own label.
Despite having some hit singles and more studio albums, like her single ‘1999’ and album ‘How I’m Feeling Now’ she was still viewed as a niche artist.
In 2022, she had her first number one album, with her fifth studio album ‘Crash’.
Charli was then featured on one of the biggest films of 2023 (no, not Oppenheimer - Barbie), where her song ‘Speed Drive’ was included in the UK top 10.
But her biggest success, and what has arguably brought her all her current success, and the one you have all been waiting for, is her 2024 album BRAT.
BRAT
This album really brought Charli to the top with various publications claiming it was the best album of the year, where she earned 3 Grammys and “BRAT summer” quite literally became a part of culture.
She then went the extra mile and released a remixed version of the album with each song having a feature, including ‘Billie Eilish’, ‘Lorde’ and ‘Ariana Grande’.
And just when you thought she was done, she of course was not.
She recently released her A24 mockumentary ‘The Moment’ directed by ‘Aidan Zamiri’, which was mostly filmed while on her BRAT tour, talk about multitasking.
As if the touring, festival headlining and the albums and her own film weren’t enough, Charli has also curated the whole album for the new adaptation of ‘Wuthering Heights’ which will be released on Friday the 13th of this month.
She also got engaged and married at two different locations to ‘The 1975’s Drummer ‘George Daniel’.
And on top of all of that, she’s still managed to stay active on her ‘LetterBox’ - she really can do it all.
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