As a self-proclaimed workaholic, Charli XCX needed to channel her creative energy somewhere at the onset of quarantine earlier this year. She began by chronicling her life and mental health through a series of quarantine diary entries before pivoting to write and record an entire album in just two months. Now, Charli has returned to her digital diary to summarize an entire year in pop culture trends with her final entry.
Penning the reflection for Dazed, Charli’s diary touched on some of the more upsetting events of the past few months. “Well, let’s just start by saying that 2020 proved to us what we knew all along: the world is a terrible place,” she wrote. “We live in a world that is burning, a world bent out of shape by a virus, a world of job losses and health scares, a world where an orange-hued madman advises us to inject bleach into our skin, a world where JK Rowling is no longer your favourite children’s author but the internet’s most outspoken transphobic troll, a world of real bullets, rubber bullets, and violent police. An unjust world filled with racism, corruption, and pain. Hasn’t it always been this way for some?”
The singer continued to say that she thinks of 2020 as the year of “WAP“:
“2020, in my eyes at least, is the year of ‘WAP’, the year of Kamala Harris, the year of Michaela Coel. It’s the year I finally saw Hugh Grant in a different light (if you know, you know). It’s the year I really experienced Paris, via Netflix, with my infuriating friend Emily. 2020 brought us Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin, and the super-weird and creepy Doc Antle. This year was the year of the pop-star open letter, from Lorde to Lana (controversial). The Lakers did it for Kobe in 2020, and I was introduced to the wonderful budding bromance between LeBron James and Anthony Davis (it’s so cute, I can’t even). Face mask fashion boomed out of face mask necessity, and everybody forgot about phone calls and FaceTime, instead choosing to communicate exclusively on Zoom. 2020 is the year of dancing in your bedroom while your favourite artist performs at their own virtual concert. It’s the year that Taylor went to the woods, Dua went to the 70s, and Ariana went to the White House. It’s the year of the puzzle, the spontaneous marriage, the inevitable break-up. 2020 is the year we finally celebrate frontline workers and all that they do for us. It’s the year we edge towards discussing our mental health more openly. It’s the year of the family group chat and trying our best to stay in touch with friends. It’s the year our communities come together – virtually, of course.
Read Charli’s full entry here.
Charli XCX is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.