One of music’s brightest rising artists Charli XCX, real name Charlotte Aitchison, has received much praise for her recently released debut album True Romance, though she’s found there are some who detract from her efforts because of the young songstress’ desire to work with others.
Although collaborations are the norm in today’s pop music market, Aitchison says her capabilities as a songwriter and musician have been called into question purely because of her gender, claiming her detractors XTL when they belittle her achievements as being dependent on collaborators.
As she recently explained to Music Feeds, even though she shares the same producers as many prominent male acts, Aitchison feels she cops more than her fair share of criticism:
“I share the same producer as Vampire Weekend, and as Theophilus London, and as Usher, and also with Justin Bieber, but it feels like I get more shit for that than, say, Vampire Weekend or Theophilus London would because I’m a girl.
“It makes it worse for me to collaborate with someone because it means that I’m not good enough to do it on my own when, actually, I just wrote a worldwide hit for some others fucking awesome girls [Icona Pop’s I Love It] who are absolutely smashing it around the world at the moment.
“I think that proves me as being pretty capable… I don’t see why that puts me at a lower level than guys…”
“It’s a real shame – it’s like it makes me less credible because I’m a female, because I’m collaborating… whereas when people look at a Vampire Weekend record, it’s totally fine because they’re guys. And I think that’s terrible, I really do.”
Despite dealing with double standards and misogyny, Aitchison maintains that other people’s gender-based assumptions won’t keep her from pursuing her goals in the manner she deems fit:
“I know that I’m a talented and worthy artist, and I know that I am a good songwriter. I really don’t see any shame in collaborating with artists or producers.
“I love collaborating with people, and it’s not because I’m dependent on that but it’s because I enjoy working with other people and I always think two minds are better than one.”
Aitchison’s comments echo those of Grimes, who recently published an open letter addressing, among other things, sexism within the music industry. Grimes’ letter prompted Music Feeds to explore other documented cases of female artists speaking out against double standards based on gender.
Keep an eye on Feeds for the full interview with Charli XCX, up soon!
