Charli XCX accepts the Powerhouse Award at Billboard’s Women in Music 2024.
Charli XCX:
Hi, everyone. You know what? Some artists are like really incredible at doing this stuff. This is not my comfort zone. I won’t lie like, you know, I sing with Auto-Tune. Shout-out! And you know, it’s just this is like my hell — not like this, just that like, it’s just tough. Like I’m more good at doing this bit. So yeah. I hope that in the broadcast room, you’re really nice to me up there.
Okay, anyways, Powerhouse. I actually had to Google what a powerhouse was in the car on the way here, and it’s cool, but I can’t remember what it is because I don’t have my phone on me. So I’ll just talk about being a woman instead. I feel like so many women in this room have been asked, What’s it like to be a woman in music? Or do you feel like it’s getting better for women in music? And my answer to that, because I do think about this question a lot because I get asked it all the time. My answer to that question is, I don’t know because being a woman is so nuanced and complex, all the time. Let alone through the lens of a very male-focused industry like the music industry. Some of the things that I personally deal with on a daily basis as a woman is I wake up sometimes and I feel so positive and confident and I’m like, “Hey, I look sick.” And then on other days, I’m like, “I hate my jawline. I wish I looked more like that beautiful woman, or I wish I was this, that X,Y,Z, like all of these beautiful women, all of these beautiful artists. I wish I was as successful as this artist. I wish I was as niche as this artist.” And it’s a f—ing head f—, you know? And I know that we’re not supposed to stand on this stage and say that.
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