Charli XCX explains why she hasn't made her heritage the center of her public persona — because no one inquires.
In a new interview with Nicky Reardon, the 33-year-old pop artist was asked about a specific lyric from the song "SS26" where she sings, "Think my politics could work as a press strategy/And my heritage could give me quite the USP."
As explained by People, Charli is Scottish through her father, Jon, and Indian through her mother, Shameera.
When asked why she rarely talks about her half-Indian background in her music, Charli admitted a simple truth.
"It's because nobody asks me, really," the Brat singer explained near the 37-minute mark in the video linked here. "When people ask me, I talk about it.”
She continued, “I feel like there is this world where I could really play that up a lot and it just doesn't come natural to me, probably because of the way that I engage with being a mixed person. Especially when I was younger, I didn't really feel like I belonged in either."
Charli recalled feeling like an outsider with both her Indian family and among her white classmates.
“When I was like hanging out like every weekend with my the Indian side of my family, I would feel kind of like the outsider there, and at school with like a bunch of white girls I would feel like the outsider there, and so it's difficult to place yourself in a way and to understand your identity,” she explained. “A lot of my friends who are mixed also feel that same way. It's hard to feel like you can really claim something, but I am really happy to talk about that.”
She also clarified that "SS26," taken from her upcoming album Music, Fashion, Film, is not about global events but about online personas and the pressure to appear morally flawless.
“I think everybody thinks that that song is about the end of the world, or the state of the world. And it's actually not ... It's about persona, in a way. It's about how I think now, more than ever, we—as in all of us, anyone who is on the internet, not even necessarily like putting out music or work … need to be to be on the right side of every single conversation, and not get things wrong and apologize for things how big or small that you've done to ultimately lead you towards some kind of moral sanctuary that will still actually not ever be enough.”
Charli says the lyric represents the idea of presenting aspects of herself, such as claiming “my Indian heritage more," as part of an imagined path toward broader public approval.
Charli XCX’s Music, Fashion, Film album will arrive on July 24.
