Remember last year when we were all obsessed with Icona Pop’s “I Love It (Feat. Charli XCX)”? Fun fact, Charli XCX was actually the one who penned that song for Icona Pop. And then of course we all flipped for Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy,” which also featured Charli. When the soundtrack for YA fave The Fault In Our Stars was released, it fetured a new single from Charli called “Boom Clap,” which has sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. alone. You might be asking yourself, who exactly is this Charli XCX, and why does she keep appearing in everything that I love? The answer is simple: Charli XCX is an unstoppable force of pop perfection, and her particular brand of gothy, hip-hop influenced dance pop fully satisfies our hunger for female pop stars with edge.

Charlotte Emma Aitchison, better known by her stage name Charli XCX, was born on August 2, 1992, and didn’t wait long before beginning her musical career. With a loan from her parents, she recorded her first album, 14, in 2008. The record was never officially released and was only available as a promo, and was sold at her very earliest gigs. She kept a MySpace profile, which featured her earliest works, such as singles “Emelline” and “Art Bitch.” In 2011, Charli worked with producer Ariel Rechtshaid, the producer who helped hone the sounds of bands and artists like Sky Ferreira, Haim, and Plain White T’s, recording what would become her first commercially released singles, “Stay Away” and “Nuclear Seasons.”

Shortly after that, Charli released her major-label debut EP, You’re The One, followed by her first major-label full length, True Romance. Charli did small headling tours of major European and North American cities in support of the EP prior to the release of full length. She then teamed up with UK pop cohort Marina & The Diamonds with an internet-only single “Just Desserts,” and opened for Marina on another North American tour.

Charli’s second major label release, Sucker, was due to be out this week on October 21, but because of the success of “Boom Clap,” the album has been pushed back to 2015, in order to drum up more suspense and demand for the album. In addition to “Boom Clap,” two other singles from Sucker has been released, “Break the Rules” and “London Queen.”

Check out the video for “Boom Clap.”

Contributed by Jordan Adams

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