{"id":148999,"date":"2025-11-23T02:38:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T02:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/148999\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T02:38:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T02:38:11","slug":"charli-xcx-shares-her-thoughts-on-absurd-and-contradictory-realities-of-pop-stardom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/148999\/","title":{"rendered":"Charli XCX Shares Her Thoughts on Absurd and Contradictory Realities of Pop Stardom"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a recently published personal essay on Substack<\/a>, Charli XCX revealed her musings on pop stardom. She wrote about the weird and often liminal moments of being an international celebrity. Additionally, she wrote about the contradictory nature of the job, and much more. She also clarified how she prefers to identify her work in the unruly and unforgiving industry. <\/p>\n

The public often sees Charli as a one-dimensional party girl pop star, and she addressed this in the piece. Because she does other things outside of music, she sees herself more as \u201ca creative (gross)\u201d or simply just \u201can artist.\u201d But for the sake of the essay, she said, \u201cI\u2019m focusing purely on the realities of being a pop star because it was my original dream, because it\u2019s the role in my life I have the most experience navigating and because it\u2019s also the most ridiculous one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ridiculous indeed. Charli gave readers a unique look behind the curtain at the glamorous, the absurd, and the embarrassing. But she also shared her perspective on how fame can change people, and how the industry has changed in itself. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the main realities of being a pop star is that at a certain level, it\u2019s really fucking fun,\u201d Charli began. \u201cYou get to go to great parties in a black SUV and you can smoke cigarettes in the car and scream out of the sunroof and all that cliche shit.\u201d She went on to describe meeting cool people, wearing expensive jewelry, and receiving \u201cgood free shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charli XCX Dives Into the Conflicting Realities of Being a Pop Star At Her Level<\/p>\n

Continuing her essay, Charli XCX noted that, beyond fancy parties, being a pop star allows her to connect with her peers creatively. She wrote that she gets to share her opinions, lend an ear, or help her friends make decisions about their work. This, she wrote, \u201callows you to feel a part of [an] interconnected community of people you love and respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charli then wrote about \u201cinhabiting strange and soulless liminal spaces.\u201d She described these as \u201cthe holding area of the event you\u2019re about to enter, the airport lounge, the visa office, the claustrophobic tour bus, the greenroom with no windows, the underneath of a stage or the set build of a photoshoot or music video you\u2019re on.\u201d Essentially, she wrote, \u201cyou are often caught in the in-between.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also brought up the fact that \u201csome people are simply determined to prove that you are stupid.\u201d Charli added, \u201cI\u2019ve always been completely fascinated by this and think it has something to do with self projection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charli wrote about the boxes that pop stars and artists in general often find themselves forced into. From there, fans expect them not to deviate. If they step outside their box, public opinion often turns on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always wondered why someone else\u2019s success triggers such rage and anger in certain people,\u201d Charli posited. \u201cI think it probably all boils down to the fact that the patriarchal society we unfortunately live in has successfully brainwashed us all.\u201d She added, \u201cWe are still trained to hate women, to hate ourselves and to be angry at women if they step out of the neat little box that public perception has put them in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does Today\u2019s Music Industry Rely Too Heavily on Moral Purity and Responsibility?<\/p>\n

Concluding her essay, Charli XCX took a moment to comment on a lack of \u201chedonism\u201d in the current industry. \u201c[T]here is a level of expectation for you to be entirely truthful all the time,\u201d she wrote. \u201cOver recent years some people seem to have developed a connection between fame and moral responsibility that I\u2019ve never really understood.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued, \u201cI want hedonism, danger and a sense of anti establishment to come along with my artists because when I was younger I wanted to escape through them. I don\u2019t care if they tell the truth or lie or play a character or adopt a persona or fabricate entire scenarios and worlds. To me that\u2019s the point, that\u2019s the drama, that\u2019s the fun, that\u2019s the FANTASY.\u201d<\/p>\n

Substack has now become a new outlet for Charli XCX to share her thoughts and creative projects. Unexpectedly, she has given fans a rare look into how she approaches pop stardom<\/a>. For Charli, it doesn\u2019t seem to be that serious. Sure, she\u2019s dedicated to her artistry, but everything else? It\u2019s really not that deep.<\/p>\n

Photo by Joseph Okpako\/WireImage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a recently published personal essay on Substack, Charli XCX revealed her musings on pop stardom. She wrote…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[19219,156,157,111,139,3554,69,11218,70732],"class_list":["post-148999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-charli-xcx","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-noisey","tag-nz","tag-pop-music","tag-pop-stars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}