Christine and The Queens discusses Prince, femininity, and France in new interview

As part of her takeover show (which airs tonight, 10 May, at 8pm BST), Letissier speaks about a broad range of topics, including Prince and his legacy.

“I remember watching Purple Rain for the first time and being truly amazed by the character," Letissier says. "I think Prince as a character was really an important one in pop music because it was a gender-bending, brilliant, funny, almost too gifted to be true character."

The French pop subverter also paid tribute to the late icon last month, performing part of Chaka Khan's Prince-penned hit, "I Feel For You" on Later... with Jools Holland.

Speaking about women in the music industry, and the notion of femininity, Letissier says: “When I created Christine as a concept… it was like, could I be as free as a male rock star…could I be free of all of those secret injunctions that we all have as women all the time? You should be polite, you should be pretty… and these injunctions are really cruel to every woman, especially in the music industry. So Christine for me is a ‘Half Lady’, and by a Half Lady I mean I’m not in the norm, I’m just trying to subvert it. I’m trying to show what it’s like to be a woman in a different way... girls are taking over the world slowly but we still have some problems acknowledging that a girl can be many many different things. She can be a mother, she can be a boss, she can be a slut if she wants to, and she can be a virgin if she wants to… She should be free to be whoever she wants."

Continuing about France and French music, Letissier explains: “I thought I could bring along with me the French scene. Actually the French scene is quite vivid right now… the blending between different genres in France is beginning to be a big thing… we are listening to French tracks that reinvent what it means to sing in French. I think French people used to be quite aware of French as a language and afraid to use it doing pop music and rap music. But now there is a new wind of enthusiasm around French and we are just using French words with gluttony in a good way…"

Watch a snippet of the interview below.