One time, I gave Chris Martin a My Little Pony for good luck. He said, 'Oh, you should keep it,' but I was like, 'You guys probably need it a lot more than I do.' I said that to Coldplay!
— Charli XCX
I'm inspired by artists like Robyn, just because she writes amazing pop songs, and they're not throwaway. When I listen to a Robyn pop song, I don't feel like she's just kind of saying something and not thinking; I feel like it's really emotional.
I've passed up on many a thing that could have made me a big artist or something. Like, I was offered a feature on a Christina Aguilera song and I turned it down. It just wasn't right. She's cool, but it just wasn't right.
I like working really fast. The best ideas are the first ones that come into your head - so why bother thinking of any more?
Pop music is getting so emo. It's great. Emotional girl for life. I see myself in the centre of that.
I believe I deserve everything that could maybe happen. And I don't think that's a cocky thing to say because I've worked really hard, and I've never bitten the hand that fed me, and I've always been really respectful.
Most of my youth I spent being obsessed with Baby Spice, so she was my favorite for a really long time. Now that I'm older, I actually really like Posh Spice the best. Nineties Victoria Beckham is perfection, I think.
I'm not super easy to talk to a lot of the time. I'm just kind of weird.
The fashion of the '90s is a massive inspiration to me. My favorite video of all time is 'Say You'll Be There' by the Spice Girls. That's the best styling ever. If I could dress like that every day, I would.
I never set out to be a cult cool artist. I always made music that I thought was pop.
I've heard people say to me, 'How can you claim to be a feminist when you dress like that?' I wear a lot of slip dresses and nightwear and stuff. People always question my credibility because of that: 'Oh, are you selling sex? Are you doing this or that to be recognized more or to sell your music?' No, it's just a fashion thing for me.
If I'm really honest, I can't cook. I'm, like, the worst, worst, worst cook in the world.
I think that U.K. audiences, in general, are very closed off. Very judgmental.
I think what women think is sexy is what is sexy. Girls eating pizza are massively sexy.
I feel like when people meet me, I'm very much not what they expected I would be. I'm not a diva, and I'm not mean to people or have weird rules.
I wish I could rap! I wish I could rap like Azealia Banks or Lil Wayne or someone like that... Twista. He's super fast.
I make pop music, but I do it on my own terms. I'll never play the game, so to speak, just for success. I'll always follow my heart and make the music I want to make.
I was in the playground, like, 'Let's imitate the Spice Girls and form a girl group!' I would go home and sing into my hairbrush and act like Britney Spears. I was no Mozart.
I do appreciate the '80s as an era, the general sounds and aesthetics of the era. The Cure, that whole kind of image is really kind of amazing, I think. The power ballads and how everything sparkles and words are really dramatic. Huge drums, things like that. I do really find it inspiring.
I made video art for quite a long time, and I made this video covering myself in burgers and dancing to Major Lazer and doing covers of Britney Spears songs... I can't remember how I got there, but my teacher said he'd have to fail me because it had mild nudity.
I see music in colours. I love music that's black, pink, purple or red - but I hate music that's green, yellow or brown.
My one thing is respect. I don't care about anything else. You should respect everyone around you - the people who work for you, peers. Be classy.
I'm actually really bad at the Internet. I'm never scouring it to find new artists or new anything.
I'm very scruffy and messy in the way that I am and always have been.
You can't like everything! You hate some stuff! Say what you hate! Like, I hate Pitbull, and I don't care!
I had this dream to be a rapper when I was younger.
I feel like I'm a pop star without being a diva.
I count myself as not only just an artist, not only as a singer, but a business woman. I write my own songs; I write my own video treatments, manage other artists. I write for other artists; it's not just about getting on stage and singing a song.
To be honest, for me, my main workout is when I'm on stage. Even though I make pop music, I don't think I perform in the classic 'pop star' sort of way. I'm very active on stage; I always end up dripping in sweat afterwards. It's always like a full-on, wild performance, so that's pretty much like my exercise, I would say.
I know when I've written a good song when I can imagine the video. If I can't imagine the video straight away, I'm not gonna put it on my album.
I think the best artists are the ones who constantly change - Madonna, Bowie.
I always see colors when I listen to music. It's difficult to explain, but when I hear the music, I think about gold, blood rushing... I like to keep it really warm and glittery.
When I first started, I wasn't really aware of anything in the industry or aware of who I really was. I just put my music out there and tried to get as many people to hear it as possible. I hadn't really thought about the kind of music I wanted to make.
There are days where I can go into a room full of people, talk to every single person, and feel completely at ease, and feel like making every single person laugh, and feel like everyone's having a great time. There are other times where I go into a room of people, and I literally want to run and hide.
When I was younger, I was a rave kid trapped inside a singer/songwriter's body. But I kind of figured my way out because I started making these really terrible beats on this Yamaha keyboard that my parents got me for my 10th birthday.
I was only 14 when I started playing the east London rave scene. At the time, I was so captivated by everything. I didn't ever wanna progress out of that scene.
I quite like doing laundry. I find it quite like relaxing.
To me, 'X Factor' is like Vegas. Fake, twisted, but kind of wonderful. Maybe I'm sick, but I find the whole thing quite funny sometimes.
If there's intelligence behind an opinion, then I'm all for expressing it, but I would never just start a fight with someone for the sake of it - that's just not me.
Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong year - I think it would have been cool to be alive in the '60s.
I used to worry about being cool. Now I realize that I genuinely don't care.
I love the Nineties because more than any other period of time, there was such an eclectic mix of styles going on. More so than in the Sixties and Seventies, when there was an overriding look and sound.
I'm very selfish in that I make music for myself, not for other people; I kind of only think about other people afterwards when it's out.
Being nice is awesome. You have more fun; you meet more people.
I think I'm a girl's girl in the sense that I support women a lot, and I'm definitely all for girl power, but I think I'm quite a tomboy at heart - even though I love my fashion and dressing up, I think my essence is very boyish.
I always Google myself. It's horrible.
I really just want to change the way women think about themselves. A lot of young girls are quite lost.
For me, I'm very visually inspired. I'm more inspired by photographs and movies than I am by listening to other music, so for me to create an amazingly intense visual live show is a dream, so I would love to be on that level for sure.
I know some people are like, 'I'm depressed, and I'm a struggling artist,' and that really works for some people, but that doesn't work for me. I have to be really happy, even when I'm writing my depressing songs; I have to come through that stage before I can write.
I want my music, whether it's sung by other people or sung by myself, to affect the way the Top 40 radio sounds. I want to heavily influence it with things that have come directly from my brain.
