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How Charli xcx became the reference point.

“For more than a decade, Charli XCX was… your favorite artist’s favorite artist.”

ROLLING STONE ON CHARLI XCX · 23 JULY 2026

How did Charli xcx become the reference point? First the reviews that heard other artists in her, then the reviews that hear her in others, each in the order they were written.

Each comparison is something a critic wrote, dated, and linked where the review is online. It is not a claim about who shaped whom.

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PITCHFORK ON CHARLI XCX · 3 DECEMBER 2012
“her obvious debt to M.I.A.”
Kala by M.I.A., 2007
PITCHFORK ON CHARLI XCX · 23 MARCH 2016
“At times, Vroom Vroom recalls Britney Spears’ Blackout”
Blackout by Britney Spears, 2007
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PITCHFORK ON CHARLI XCX · 27 MARCH 2017
“perfectly channels the Swede in her cutesy-maniacal fembot phase”
Body Talk by Robyn, 2010
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PITCHFORK ON BRAT · 7 JUNE 2024
“Gesaffelstein piano chords distill the essence of early Justice”
✝ (Cross) by Justice, 2007
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Then “the release of BRAT quickly coated everything in slime green.”
RESIDENT ADVISOR ON TINASHE · 19 AUGUST 2024
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RESIDENT ADVISOR ON AMAARAE · 12 AUGUST 2025
“will inevitably draw comparisons to FKA twigs’s Eusexua and yes, Charli XCX’s BRAT”
BLACK STAR by Amaarae, 2025
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SPIN ON ROBYN · 24 MARCH 2026
“a contemporary dance-pop world now ruled by the likes of Charli xcx”
Sexistential by Robyn, 2026
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PITCHFORK ON SLAYYYTER · 2 APRIL 2026
“As with Charli XCX’s level-up from Crash to BRAT”
WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA by Slayyyter, 2026
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