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In a new Substack post, Charli XCX wrote about the ups and downs of fame. “Being a pop star can be very embarrassing, especially when you’re around old family friends who know you before you even talk,” she wrote. He also reflected on the moral responsibility placed on artists.
Charli XCX is getting candid about the ‘reality of being a pop star’.
In a new Substack post, Brat Singer reflected on fame, starting from the heights. “One of the main realities of being a pop star is that on some level it’s really fun,” she writes. “You can go to these great parties in your black SUV, and you can smoke in the car, scream through the sunroof, and do all the usual shit. At these parties, you sometimes meet interesting people, and those interesting people often actually want to meet you.”
She goes on to list other perks, including receiving free stuff, traveling around the world, and being able to listen to her peers’ unreleased music. “I remember the first time Addison (Rae) gave me a ‘Diet Pepsi’ while we were driving through New York after dinner at the casino,” she wrote.
Charlie then wrote about the downsides of fame. “Being a pop star can be very embarrassing,” she writes, “especially when you’re with old family friends who know you before you even speak. The more successful you are, the more paranoid you become, the more severe the lifestyle mismatches become.”
She also wonders if becoming a pop star has changed her. She recalled a recent conversation with her friend and fellow artist Yong Leen.
“A few weeks ago, Yong Lean came to my house for dinner and we talked about some of our industry-adjacent friends and whether they feel changed after achieving success in a particular field,” she wrote. “The next day, my brain was boiling over, so I texted him to ask if he thought I had changed. He’s always honest, so I knew he saw through everything, every personality and every surface. He’s probably one of the smartest people I know.”
Charli XCX and Yung Lean in 2024.
He responded that no, she hadn’t changed, but pointed out that there were a lot of “yes people” around her who would “blow smoke up my ass.” she continued. “I said that I saw the truth in it, but luckily he went on to say that I was probably safe because generally speaking I was too British and self-deprecating to actually believe any of the wild compliments that ‘Yes People’ would give me.”
Charlie concluded his post by reflecting on artists and their responsibility to the public. “In recent years, some people seem to have felt a connection between fame and moral responsibility that I never understood,” she admitted. “None of my favorite artists are definitely role models, nor do I want them to be. But maybe it’s just me. I want to have a sense of hedonism, danger, and anti-establishment with my artists, because when I was younger I wanted to escape from that.”
He added, “I don’t care if they tell the truth, lie, play a character, adopt a persona, fabricate a scenario or an entire world. That’s what matters to me, that’s the drama, that’s the fun, that’s the fantasy.”
Read her full Substack post here.
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