By Lydia Spencer-Elliott
Charli XCX has addressed accusations that she’s a “fraud” following backlash aimed at her Glastonbury Festival performance.
The 32-year-old singer, who created the Brat cultural phenomenon with the release of her so-named sixth studio album, has openly admitted she uses Auto-Tune when recording and performing her music.
Yet, throughout her performance at Worthy Farm, many viewers watching the BBC’s coverage of Glastonbury at home slammed the singer for using the software – and for her style of dancing.
In response to the vitriol, Charli wrote on X/Twitter: “like the idea that singing with deliberate autotune makes you a fraud or that not having a traditional band suddenly means you must not be a “real artist” is like, the most boring take ever. yawn sorry just fell asleep xx”
She continued: “but to be honest… i enjoy the discourse. imo [in my opinion] the best art is divisive and confrontational and often evolves into truly interesting culture rather than being like kind of ok, easily understood and sort of forgettable.
After thanking professional critics for their five-star reviews of her performance, she added: “really enjoying these boomer vibe comments on my glastonbury performance. it’s super fascinating to me.”
The Independent’s Adam White gave Charli XCX’s Glastonbury performance four stars, dubbing the divisive set an enjoyable “gyrating, floor spitting party”.
He wrote: “[Charli] is an absolute beast on stage, strutting all over the place in a leather bralette and underwear, a woman in total command of her environment.
“Solo on stage, she has incredible presence, smiling mischievously at the camera as it passes by. The enormous crowd is putty in her hands.”
Charli previously told the Tape Notes Podcast last June: “I drink and I smoke and I use autotune, those three things…“I immediately knew that I wanted [my album] to feel pitchy – I think that was the charm.
“For BRAT, I think that’s really important… to have this human mistake element happening in the tracks. Because that very much goes with the ethos of the record.”
Read The Independent’s full Glastonbury coverage here.