Charli XCX is celebrating the release of her second full-length album, Sucker, her first major release since becoming famous in the US.

Charli XCX Drops New Album Sucker

Charli XCX, fresh off her Saturday Night Live debut, released her new album on Monday, Dec. 15 – Sucker is already sitting comfortably in the Top 10 on iTunes. The UK singer made a big impression stateside this year – most notably singing the hook on Iggy Azalea’s hit “Fancy” and appearing on the soundtrack to The Fault In Our Stars.

Who Is Charli XCX?

Charli XCX may be living a charmed life, going to Taylor Swift’s birthday party and rubbing elbows with Beyoncé, but the singer vows never to make pop music simply for the sake of fame. “I make pop music, but I do it on my own terms. I’ll never play the game, so to speak, just for success. I’ll always follow my heart and make the music I want to make,” Charli XCX said in a recent interview with NPR.

Charli XCX hopes her album, which challenges society’s expectations of what is ‘sexy,’ will inspire women to be confident and independent, saying, “I feel sexy singing these songs and I hope that inspires other girls and women, because you can totally be confident and feel amazing in your own skin without having to try to conform to what Heat magazine, or FHM or any guy says is sexy. I think what women think is sexy is what is sexy.”

“I really just want to change the way women think about themselves. A lot of young girls are quite lost. I think it would be cool for women to feel like they connect to someone who is also a bit scruffy. I’m not clean-cut and perfect, I say dumb s—t and I fall over – and I want girls to know that’s cool,” she added in the same interview.

As to what Charli XCX’s future looks like, she says she hopes to build an empire. “I want to have an empire, with a publishing company and a label, but not a bulls—t one that just has a party every week. An actual one. A serious one. I’ll give Jay Z a run for his money,” the singer told Billboard.

For now, in addition to her new album, Sucker, fans can hear Charli XCX’s writing on Gwen Stefani’s upcoming album.