Charli XCX discusses success of Brat and upcoming remix album: "my perspective has changed a lot"

Following the release of Brat, Charli XCX's status in the pop game has changed. This is something she reveals she is completely aware of. "I was writing the original record when I was in a very different position than I am post the release of ‘Brat' working on the remix album. So my perspective has changed a lot," she explains on now being more in the public eye.

"For me personally, from where I was to now, I'm definitely finding more than ever that my words are being picked apart, taken out of context. I offend a lot more people by doing exactly the same things. Sort of nothing like groundbreaking here, but I suppose because no one really cared too much before what I was doing on a personal day-to-day level, I was a bit shocked," she explains, which offers an insight into why she decided to collaborate with Ariana Grande.

"It gave me so much empathy for bigger artists who go through that on a daily basis and have been for years. It's hard to be constantly scrutinised for things that you have said. It's hard for your words to be taken out of context and then really feel that you just can't defend yourself because that would open a whole other can of worms," she continued.

For the remix of "Sympathy is a knife", Charli XCX had new context for the original song as she began to understand "that you are only really knowledgeable about your own position". She discusses feeling like she had been manipulated in interviews throughout the campaign, and felt like there were hidden agendas pushed on her.

"I had heard that Ari wanted to do something and I was like, 'This is somebody who definitely knows this feeling more so than me', and she wanted to take this phrase like, "It's a knife," obviously, we're so lucky and blessed to be in the situation that we're in. All artists who are able to make music at the level that they're making it financially support themselves from creating art. It's like we are lucky because not all artists get that.

Detailing the "manifesto" that she gave to her label, in order to explain that Brat was not a traditional album, Charli explained that she only had the fans in mind: "This fanbase that I have built are so hungry for me and my peers and our slightly left world of pop dance music... they're hungry for us to succeed." Because of this revelation, Charli feels as though she's able to be left alone now because, "niche is rewarded so much more than it ever has been, and I think that labels recognise that."