A to Z of 2024: X factor of Charli XCX and the pop girlie domination

SINGAPORE – From Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter to Chappell Roan and Billie Eilish, women ruled the airwaves in 2024.

It began in spring, when no less than Ariana Grande, Beyonce and Taylor Swift – all three American pop queens – released new albums in quick succession, starting with Grande’s Eternal Sunshine and Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter in March, and Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department in April.

Each of the three albums broke the record for most-streamed album in a single day on the Spotify streaming service.

American singer Eilish and British-Albanian singer Dua Lipa followed in May with their third studio albums, Hit Me Hard And Soft and Radical Optimism respectively, which were hotly anticipated in mainstream circles.

That was not the case for Charli XCX’s release Brat, which dropped in June. The British singer-songwriter has largely stuck to experimental genres such as hyperpop in the last few years.

But Brat, the 32-year-old’s sixth studio album, broke into the mainstream and became positively inescapable for anyone who identifies as terminally online.

More so than the other pop girlies’ albums mentioned above, the aesthetic and vibe of Brat resonated with people as much as the music.

As typified by the starkly simple album cover – a dark lime-green canvas emblazoned with the album title in sans serif font and nothing else – “brat” is about being unbothered and messy, and living your best life without caring about societal expectations.

For instance, wearing a white strappy top without a bra, as Charli XCX explained in an interview with BBC Sounds in June. 

Her World magazine’s fashion editor Lena Kamarudin tells The Straits Times: “It’s another version of the Y2K fashion revival that has been trending for many seasons. Leather, lace, lip gloss, lime-green nails – check. No more sleek ‘clean girl’. It’s all about the messy internet ‘It’ girlie.” 

Concurrent to the rise of Brat was the rise of a mid-west princess – namely, American singer-songwriter Roan.

The 26-year-old dropped her debut album, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess, in September 2023. It received critical acclaim, but commercial success had to wait until spring 2024.

That was when Roan was called by fellow pop princess Olivia Rodrigo to open some two dozen shows of her Guts World Tour in the United States.

When Roan moved on from Rodrigo’s tour to the summer festival circuit, her crowds seemed to grow at an exponential rate with each subsequent show.

From being virtually unknown at the start of 2024, she now has more than 40 million listeners on Spotify.

She also nabbed nominations in the “big four” categories of the Grammy Awards 2025: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. 

Ms Lena points out that Roan and Charli XCX embody a similar vibe in their music and aesthetic, one that discards other people’s expectations in favour of staying true to yourself.

“With the LGBTQIA community garnering more support and inclusivity, there is a growing trend of dressing and behaving in such a way as to please yourself and not anyone else – which is why I feel Chappelle and Charli have resonated, particularly with the younger generation,” she says.

Roan faces stiff competition from another pop girlie who also experienced an astronomical ascent to stardom in 2024: American singer Carpenter, who also received “big four” nominations for her sixth studio album, Short N’ Sweet. 

The 25-year-old has been making music since the age of 15. But, just as with Roan, taking on a supporting role in another female pop star’s high-profile concert tour helped elevate Carpenter into the upper echelons of pop culture. 

In Carpenter’s case, she opened for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concerts in Australia and Asia in the first few months of the year.

Her role in The Eras Tour expanded her fan base, and netted her the momentum needed to send her next two song releases – Espresso and Please Please Please – skyrocketing up the musical charts over the summer.  

In honour of Carpenter’s success, Swift brought her back on stage for a quick duet during an Eras Tour concert in New Orleans in October, hailing her as “the pop princess of our dreams”. 

But what is most remarkable is the fact that even with the surfeit of pop girlies in 2024, there is exciting new talent continuing to emerge – from American singer Gracie Abrams, daughter of film director J.J. Abrams, to Canadian singer-dancer Tate McRae to Icelandic singer Laufey, who is bridging the gap between jazz and pop. 

Be it Roan or Carpenter – or Eilish, Charli XCX, Swift or Beyonce, who have also received multiple Grammy nominations – who brings home the most trophies at the awards ceremony in February 2025, one person clearly came out on top at the end of 2024: the listener.