Charli XCX is a student of pop, as demonstrated on her acclaimed new album Brat. And in her expert opinion, only one pop singer rules them all — followed closely by Rihanna.
The “360” singer was asked to rank some of the world’s biggest pop stars in a TikTok video interview posted Monday (June 17). First, she chose Rihanna over Lady Gaga — and her answer didn’t change throughout most of the hilarious clip, even against Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Lorde, Phoebe Bridgers, Troye Sivan, Lily Allen, Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles and Camila Cabello.
“I’m so scared for this whole thing,” Charli confessed at the beginning, laughing.
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Some of the other stars named by the interviewer did earn special consideration, even if Charli didn’t say they measured up to the Fenty Mogul. Of Sabrina Carpenter, she said, “I really do love ‘Espresso,’” and Chappell Roan is “obviously God tier” in Charli’s eyes.
“I do really love Doja Cat’s record, and I love her whole, like, what she’s doing,” Charli added when the rapper’s name was thrown into the mix. “But it’s still Rihanna.”
Rih even came out on top when Charli was asked about The 1975, the drummer of which, George Daniel, is the “Boom Clap” artist’s fiancé. “I’m the biggest Rihanna stan ever,” she concluded, laughing.
It was only when the interviewer asked Charli to choose between Rihanna and Sky Ferreira that the former’s answer finally changed. “It’s really tough,” she said, ultimately choosing Ferreira. “That didn’t come lightly. I really love Sky. She’s one of a kind.”
The interview, of course, was all in good fun, with Charli actually touching on the pressures of being compared to other female artists on her Brat track “Girl, So Confusing.” “In the music industry, it was distilled into this idea that if you support women, and you like other women, then you’re a good feminist,” she told The Guardian of the song earlier this month. “The reverse of that is, if you don’t like all other women who exist and breathe on this Earth then you’re a bad feminist … That’s just such an unrealistic expectation of women.”
Watch Charli demonstrate her almost-unstoppable love for Rihanna below.
