Visionary Award with Amazon Music

Charli XCX

Charli XCX is a star, everyone knows that. In fact, most people have been convinced of that since she started releasing music aged just 14.

But what’s remarkable about Charli XCX is her stealthy rise to stardom has been achieved without ever once compromising her commitment to the cutting edge, or blunting her ability to disrupt the pop clichés.

Certainly, ever since she signed a major label deal aged 18, XCX – aka Charlotte Aitchison – has always seemed to be one step ahead of the pop pack.

You could see that in the early hits she helped write for others: Icona Pop’s I Love It and Iggy Azalea’s Fancy, songs whose titles describe them perfectly. And you can see it in the ground-breaking way her own records have helped define the sonic zeitgeist, flitting from arty electronica (Boom Clap) to zippy pop-punk (Break The Rules) to subversive protobangers (Boys, 1999).

XCX, you see, follows her own muse. Looking at a list of artists she has collaborated with – from Odd Future to Marina And The Diamonds, Gwen Stefani, Mura Masa, Christine And The Queens, Caroline Polachek and many, many more – is like watching the recent history of visionary pop flash past your eyes.

That’s meant she’s been able to do innovative things like deliver the first lockdown album (2020’s How I’m Feeling Now), while also working on huge hits for both herself (Hot In It) and others (Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello’s Senorita).

But, ultimately, whether her projects dominate the charts or are aimed at a more underground audience, they always influence everyone else who is serious about the business of making pop music.

Not for nothing has her latest album, 2022’s highly acclaimed Crash, been her most successful. It’s Charli XCX’s world, and the rest of us are just lucky we get to live in it.