‘I’ve heard it’: Charli XCX says she was too late to warn Lorde of the Brat song about her

Charli XCX has explained more of the story of how her game-changing Girl So Confusing version with Lorde came to be, and how she initiated telling Lorde the Brat song was about her but was too late and Lorde had already heard it. Why? How? Because Charli forgot about the time difference. Rookie error, diva.

Before Brat came out, Charli XCX spoke about Girl So Confusing and said how it was about another woman in the industry but before people had heard it there was only speculation on who the song might be about. Eventually, the two confirmed it by famously working it out on the remix, as Lorde did a response verse. The entire thing went viral and has been a pretty monumental moment for women in music.

In her new interview with Zane Lowe, Charli XCX spoke about how she didn’t end up getting to warn Lorde about the Brat song without Lorde already having heard it first. “I was ready for her to never speak to me again,” Charli explains. “Because that could have been an outcome.” Zane Lowe mentions how she only called Lorde a day before Brat came out, so was too late.

Charli continued: “Well, New Zealand gets it first. And she’s still on New Zealand apps. I was like, ‘I’ve gotta tell you about this song’ and she was like ‘yeah, I’ve heard it.’ I just thought how have you heard it? It’s not out til tomorrow! But because she’s got the New Zealand apps! She was like ‘I can guess which one it is.’ But you know, she was so cool and we sent these voice notes back and forth.

“I had always wondered if she’d want to do a response on the remix. I’d always wanted to do this remix album. But she actually suggested it first. She was like, ‘wouldn’t it be cool if I did this response?’ And I was just like, oh my god – I can’t believe this is happening. It was so quick. She said that on the Friday and she’d sent me the verse by Monday.”

Absolute icons.

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