On Nov. 20, world-famous hyper-pop artist, Charli XCX published an informative blog — via SubStack — titled “The Realities of Being a Pop Star.” The blog post follows her life while touring and promoting her most recent album, “BRAT.” Throughout the essay, XCX explores the previously unknown struggles of being a pop star in today’s society.
“I want to clarify that firstly I don’t view what I do as a ‘job’ and I secondly don’t really view myself as purely a pop star, I’m just using that terminology specifically for this piece of writing,” XCX said.
XCX has frequently said that she will always prioritize the art she makes over receiving a spot on music charts.
“This probably means I’d describe myself more as a ‘creative’ (gross) or plain and simply put: an artist,” XCX said.
Despite connotations stated later on, XCX praises the highlights of being a pop star.
“One of the main realities of being a pop star is that at a certain level, it’s really f***ing fun. You 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 s**t,” XCX said.
Though being a pop star is something of her dreams, XCX highlights that being in the spotlight can cause people to emphasize on your flaws.
“Instead of ‘she’s a sex symbol’ it becomes ‘she’s a w***e. Instead of ‘she’s anarchic’ it’s ‘she’s a f***ing drug addict’. Instead of ‘she’s intelligent’ it’s ‘she’s pretentious and said a whole load of nothing’ and so on and so on,” XCX said.
Through her music and activity online, XCX has been frequently dubbed as a cocaine addict, especially following Taylor Swift’s most recent album: “The Life of a Showgirl.” “Actually Romantic,” a track on the album, alluded to XCX being “in love” with Swift, due to the pair’s constant clashing online. The track has many lyrics clearly targeting XCX, including, “I heard you call me boring Barbie when the coke’s got your brain.”
Swift feeds into the cocaine addict narrative associated with XCX. Some argue the track was a rebuttal to “Sympathy is a knife” off of “BRAT,” where XCX said she gets insecure when around Swift: “This one girl taps my insecurities/Don’t know if it’s real or if I’m spiraling.”
Since the release of “Actually Romantic” on Oct. 3, fans of Swift have targeted XCX online. The track has been associated with many TikTok trends, boosting the song’s pop culture impact, and further backlash on XCX. With this uproar, XCX joined SubStack as a resource to share her opinion.
“I felt generally welcomed to the community but also did see the small wave of people being annoyed I’d broken down the walls of my box they were determined to keep me in, the box, or should I say the brand, of the party girl who smokes cigs, does coke, loves the color green and has the capacity for nothing else,” XCX said.
XCX believes that her work in recent years has caused people to create a brand for her, and if she were to go against her brand, she would face even more backlash.
“To them I’m a silly little idiot because that’s what they desire me to be. I guess sometimes that’s just part of the deal,” XCX said.
XCX claims that artists like herself are being held to unrealistic standards about themselves, as if they have to share every detail of their personal life.
“There is a level of expectation for you to be entirely truthful all the time. Over recent years some people seem to have developed a connection between fame and moral responsibility that I’ve never really understood,” XCX said.
Frequently, there is a new paparazzi picture or a celebrity seen on a date in public. XCX believes that she, as well as other pop stars, should be able to have private and closed-off lives if they so choose. She seems to crave the sense of privacy that we as a society require to function through our day-to-day lives. XCX’s point is that herself and other popstars should be able to share the privacy that people who are not celebrities possess.
Charli XCX’s recent SubStack articles provide an inside look at what it is like to be a pop star and the common flaws that come with it. Even through recent backlash she has received, XCX stays true to fans and is never afraid to speak out against society’s wrongdoings.
