Pop 2 (mixtape)

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Pop 2
Mixtape by
Charli XCX
Released15 December 2017
Recorded13 May 2017 • June 2017; September–November 2017
Genre
Length40:26
Language
LabelAsylum
Producer
Charli XCX chronology
Number 1 Angel
(2017) 		Pop 2
(2017) 		Charli
(2019)
Singles from Pop 2
  1. "Out of My Head"
    Released: 8 December 2017

Pop 2 is the fourth mixtape by British singer Charli XCX, released on 15 December 2017 by Asylum Records.[7] Executive produced by A. G. Cook of PC Music, sessions for the mixtape began just several months before its release and featured a wide variety of guest contributions.[8] The project received acclaim from music critics for its production and songwriting, and was backed by the single "Out of My Head" featuring Alma and Tove Lo.

Background[edit]

In December 2014, before the release of her sophomore album Sucker, Charli XCX revealed she was already planning her third studio album. She stated that it would be inspired by Japanese pop music and sound like "another planet up in the clouds" and "intensely weird and childlike".[9] In July 2015, she shared in an interview that she had begun working on her third album with Scottish producer Sophie in Los Angeles and described it as "the most pop thing, and the most electronic thing" she had ever done.[10] BloodPop and Stargate were also confirmed to be involved in the album's production.[11] In July and August 2015, Charli XCX co-headlined a US tour with Jack Antonoff, but on 21 August she announced that, for "personal reasons", a planned second leg of the tour would not go ahead.[12][13]

"At the time I felt scared to talk about it. It felt like an invasion of my life, my personal space, my personal property. It was just really sad, and I was really hurt."

—Charli XCX talking about the leaking of her third album.

In October 2015, Charli XCX released the song "Vroom Vroom", on the Beats 1 Radio Show, then claiming it would be the first song released from her third studio album.[14] On 26 February 2016, the Vroom Vroom EP was released, under Charli XCX's own imprint record label, Vroom Vroom Recordings.[15] All songs on the EP were produced by Sophie. That July, it was announced that British producer A. G. Cook, founder of record label PC Music, had signed on as Charli's creative director, and the following month, she announced in an interview with The Fader that her album was finished and would be released in 2017. [16][17][18] When describing the project, Charli stated the album would be split into two sides, half being "straight-up pop" and the other half being "club orientated". In October 2016, the album was confirmed for a May 2017 release, and the lead single "After the Afterparty" was released.[19][20][21][22]

Several new tracks were premiered live over the following months, including "Roll with Me", "No Angel", and "Bounce", however in February 2017, it was announced that the album was delayed and expected to be released that September instead.[23][24][25] In lieu of the delayed album, she announced a new mixtape titled Number 1 Angel would be released in February, recorded within two weeks with Cook without permission from her record label, Atlantic, meanwhile unreleased Charli XCX tracks began to leak on the internet. The mixtape was delayed until March due to label conflicts.[26][27] In May 2017, the album was delayed again with an expected release date for spring 2018, and a second single, "Boys", was released along with a music video directed by Charli XCX herself, with additional direction from Sarah McColgan.[28][29][30] The video, which featured cameos from a wide variety of male celebrities including Joe Jonas and Wiz Khalifa, went viral, racking up almost 3 million views within a day.[31] During August, more leaks from the album sessions appeared online, and the project was scrapped.[32][26]

Recording[edit]

Recording for Pop 2 began in September 2017, just two months before the mixtape was to be completed, with Charli reaching out to producer and PC Music founder A. G. Cook to suggest they work on a new project following their previous mixtape Number 1 Angel (2017) appointing him as executive producer.[2] Cook stated that "we wanted it to feel like a complete restart in terms of the image and style of it" in comparison to their previous project.[2] The majority of recording took place in Alicia Keys' old New York studio, with other sessions occurring in London.[2] Charli extensively utilized Auto-Tune, which Cook experimented with and manipulated on particular tracks. She stated that "the mixtape is in this very free, fast, and experimental world. But it's also still intended to be pop. It's what I naturally gravitate towards."[2]

Charli XCX explained the decision to put out Number 1 Angel and Pop 2 as mixtapes instead of studio albums in a 2019 interview with The Fader:

Maybe I just wasn't sure people wanted it from me, honestly. Also, I'm signed to a major label, so the second you call something an album, there's all this stress and fear and pressure and scheduling. They're like, "Oh, she's putting an album out. When's Ed Sheeran releasing his album? We got to make sure it doesn't go anywhere near that," and all that. It's like a schedule. The second you just change the language to mixtape, nobody cares. So, I was just like, "Cool, I'm doing mixtapes then." Then it was just like there was no kind of logistical stress, even though it's the same thing. I mean, it's 10 original songs, it's artwork, it's features, it's whatever, it's the same.[33]

Collaborations which appear on the record include Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen, Brazilian singer and drag queen Pabllo Vittar, Estonian rapper Tommy Cash, German pop singer Kim Petras and Korean-American hip hop artist Jay Park among others.[2] Charli stated that "this mixtape isn't necessarily about me – it's really about giving everybody their moment to own the song."[2] The mixtape was to feature a contribution from rapper Lil Peep, which was shelved following his death in November.[2]

A reworked version of "Track 10", titled "Blame It on Your Love", was later released in May 2019 as the second single from her third studio album Charli.[34]

Singles[edit]

The first single from Pop 2, "Out of My Head" featuring Tove Lo and Alma was released on 8 December 2017 along the pre-order of the mixtape on digital platforms.[35] The song "Unlock It" featuring Kim Petras and Jay Park was premiered on 11 December 2017 on radio program Beats 1, being named its release day's World Record.[36] Another track called "I Got It" featuring Brooke Candy, Cupcakke and Pabllo Vittar was released on 13 December 2017 as the final promotional single before the mixtape's official release.[37]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[38]
Metacritic84/100[39]
Review scores
SourceRating
Consequence of SoundB+[40]
Crack Magazine8/10[41]
Exclaim!7/10[42]
Financial Times[43]
The Guardian[44]
NME[1]
Pitchfork8.4/10[45]
Q[46]
Spectrum Culture[47]
Tiny Mix Tapes[48]

At review aggregate site Metacritic, Pop 2 has an average score of 84 out of 100, based on eight reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[39] Meaghan Garvey of Pitchfork, who gave the album an 8.4/10, called it "the best full-length work of both Charli and PC Music's respective careers," opining that "though Pop 2 sounds like the future, even more delightful is the way it hybridizes sounds from the past two decades of weirdo electronics."[45] Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of the Financial Times wrote that Charli XCX "stands out as a paragon of progressiveness," opining that "on the majority of the tracks Charli and her producer Cook deploy their meta-pop tactics with a skilful sense of dramatic engagement."[43]

In 2019, Pitchfork ranked the album 40th in its list of "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s". In the album's entry, Hazel Cills considered it Charli XCX's "best full-length to date" and felt that throughout it, she "solidifies her mastery of the strange, wonderful new pop world she continues to build."[49]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Backseat" (featuring Carly Rae Jepsen)
3:58
2."Out of My Head" (featuring Tove Lo and Alma)
3:55
3."Lucky"
  • Aitchison
  • Cook
  • Ö
  • Cook
  • Ö
3:35
4."Tears" (featuring Caroline Polachek)
  • Aitchison
  • Cook
  • Polachek
Cook4:13
5."I Got It" (featuring Brooke Candy, Cupcakke and Pabllo Vittar)
  • Cook
  • umru
3:51
6."Femmebot" (featuring Dorian Electra and Mykki Blanco)
  • Cook
  • EasyFun
  • Gamson
3:38
7."Delicious" (featuring Tommy Cash)
Cook4:32
8."Unlock It" (featuring Kim Petras and Jay Park)
  • Aitchison
  • Cook
  • Petras
  • Park
  • Cook
  • Life Sim
3:52
9."Porsche" (featuring MØ)
  • King Henry
  • Cook
  • EasyFun
3:26
10."Track 10"
  • Cook
  • Lil Data
  • Life Sim
5:26
Total length:40:26

Notes

  • "Delicious" features a brief sample of Charli XCX's 2014 single "Boom Clap", with the song being depicted as a phone ringtone.
  • "Unlock It" samples A. G. Cook's 2014 single "Beautiful". Following the resurgence of the song's popularity on TikTok, it was retitled "Unlock it (Lock It)" on streaming platforms in May 2021.[50]
  • A later vinyl release included all ten tracks of Pop 2 combined with the ten tracks of Number 1 Angel.[51]

Pop 2 Tour[edit]

Pop 2 Tour[52][53][54]
Date City Country Venue
15 March 2018 Los Angeles United States El Rey Theatre
18 March 2018 New York City Elsewhere
19 June 2018 London United Kingdom Village Underground
20 June 2018 Paris France La Maroquinerie
23 October 2018 Sydney Australia The Metro

In addition to the Pop 2 performances, Charli additionally hosted and performed at numerous afterparties during the Reputation Stadium Tour during this period, further promoting the mixtape and singles.[55][56]

Personnel[edit]

Musicians

  • Charli XCX – lead vocals
  • A. G. Cook – programming (all tracks), synthesizer (6)
  • EasyFun – programming (1, 6, 9), synthesizer (6)
  • Sophie – programming (2)
  • Ö – backing vocals and programming (3)
  • David Gamson – synthesizer and programming (6)
  • Umru – programming (5)
  • Caroline Polachek – backing vocals (7)
  • Life Sim – synthesizer (8, 10)
  • King Henry – programming (9)
  • Lil Data – synthesizer (10)
  • Noonie Bao – backing vocals (10)

Production

  • A. G. Cook – executive producer, engineer (3, 5–8)
  • Stuart Hawkes – mastering engineer
  • Geoff Swan – mixer
  • Noah Passovoy – engineer (2)
  • Brendan Morawski – engineer (3, 4, 6–8)
  • Stargate – vocal producers (10)

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for Pop 2
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Australian Vinyl Albums (ARIA)[57] 8
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[58] 169
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[59] 78
Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)[60] 14
Scottish Albums (OCC)[61] 6

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Daly, Rhian (18 December 2017). "Charli XCX – 'Pop 2'". NME. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Myers, Owen (15 December 2017). "Charli XCX and A. G. Cook explain the secrets of her ambitious new mixtape". The Fader.
  3. ^ Gore, Sydney. "TRL's Top 20 Albums of the Year". MTV. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  4. ^ Breihan, Tom (12 December 2017). "Album Of The Week: Lemuria Recreational Hate". Stereogum. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Pop 2 by Charli XCX on Apple Music". iTunes. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  6. ^ Kim, Michelle (13 September 2019). "Charli XCX: Charli Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 13 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  7. ^ "'Pop 2' by Charli XCX". iTunes. 15 December 2017.
  8. ^ Stubblebine, Allison (7 December 2017). "Charli XCX Confirms 'Pop 2' Mixtape Featuring Carly Rae Jepsen, CupcakKe & More Out Next Week". Billboard.
  9. ^ "Riot Girl: Charli XCX Rages Against the Pop-Music Machine". Time. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  10. ^ Shannon, Mahanty (8 July 2015). "seven minutes with charli xcx". I-D. Vice.
  11. ^ "Charli XCX Says She Plans To Drop A Mixtape Before Releasing Her Third Album". The FADER. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  12. ^ DeVille, Chris (21 April 2015). "Charli XCX & Bleachers Announce Charli & Jack Do America Tour". Stereogum. Los Angeles: Eldridge Industries. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  13. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (21 August 2015). "Charli XCX, Bleachers Cancel Rest of Co-Headlining Tour". Billboard. Los Angeles: Eldridge Industries. Archived from the original on 20 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Charli XCX announces Vroom Vroom EP, shares "Trophy" -- listen". Consequence of Sound. 23 February 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
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  16. ^ "Charli XCX Gets Extremely Real About Her Mixtape And New Music". The FADER. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  17. ^ Picton, B. J. F. (1 November 1912). "An Album of Songs. Second Album of Songs". The Musical Times. 53 (837): 721. doi:10.2307/906497. ISSN 0027-4666. JSTOR 906497.
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  22. ^ Spanos, Brittany (9 January 2017). "Charli XCX on Making Album She Could 'Get F--ked Up To'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  23. ^ "Charli XCX + SOPHIE @ Exchange LA 11/10/16". Secondhand Setlists. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
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  26. ^ a b "WHO IS REALLY TO BLAME FOR THE DELAY OF CHARLI XCX'S NEXT ALBUM?". 8 March 2024.
  27. ^ Michael Cragg (14 March 2017). "Charli XCX: the mixtape mystery and a pop career in flux". The Guardian.
  28. ^ Kaplan, Ilana (12 April 2017). "Charli XCX's new mixtape is her latest on a quest for pop perfection". Time Out New York. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  29. ^ Erica Russell (13 May 2017). "Charli XCX's Third Album Likely Pushed Back to 2018". popcrush.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  30. ^ Reed, Ryan (26 July 2017). "Charli XCX Recruits Joe Jonas, Wiz Khalifa in Celeb-Packed 'Boys' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  31. ^ Hyun Kim, Michelle (27 July 2017). "We Need to Talk About Charli XCX's Very Important "Boys" Video". Pitchfork.
  32. ^ "Charli XCX: When my songs were leaked it felt like my life was invaded". Evening Standard. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  33. ^ Maicki, Salvatore (19 September 2019). "Charli XCX is making space for the pop music we deserve". The Fader. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  34. ^ "Charli XCX - "Blame It On Your Love" (Feat. Lizzo)". Stereogum. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  35. ^ Nied, Mike (8 December 2017). "Charli XCX, Tove Lo & ALMA's "Out Of My Head" Is A Glistening Bop". Idolator. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  36. ^ Rettig, James (11 December 2017). "Charli XCX – "Unlock It" (Feat. Kim Petras And Jay Park)". Stereogum. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  37. ^ Patrick Hosken (13 December 2017). "Charli XCX's 'I Got It' Is The Weirdest, Most Exciting Peek At Her New Mixtape". MTV News.
  38. ^ "Pop 2 by Charli XCX reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  39. ^ a b "Pop 2 [Mixtape] by Charli XCX Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  40. ^ Geffen, Sasha (22 December 2017). "Charli XCX – Pop 2". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  41. ^ Ma, Nathan. "Charli XCX – 'Pop 2'". Crack Magazine. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
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  44. ^ Petridis, Alexis (4 January 2018). "Charli XCX: Pop 2 review – kick-ass hits from a parallel universe". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  45. ^ a b Garvey, Meaghan (20 December 2017). "Charli XCX: Pop 2". Pitchfork. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  46. ^ Robinson, Peter (March 2018). "Charli XCX: Pop 2". Q (382): 115.
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  48. ^ Hannah, Sean. "Charli XCX – Pop 2". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  49. ^ Pitchfork staff (8 October 2019). "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  50. ^ "Unlock It (Lock It)". Spotify. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  51. ^ Graves, Shahlin (14 April 2018). "Pre-order: Charli XCX's Number 1 Angel / Pop 2 vinyl". Coup de Main. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  52. ^ "CHARLI XCX on Instagram: "💜 POP 2 LONDON & POP 2 PARIS. 19TH & 20TH JUNE. WITH SPECIAL GUESTS. TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY 💜"". Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2019 – via Instagram.
  53. ^ "CHARLI XCX on Instagram: "💜 POP 2 SHOWS. LA & NY. MARCH 15 & MARCH 18. LOTS OF SPECIAL GUESTS. TICKETS ON FRIDAY 💜"". Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2019 – via Instagram.
  54. ^ "CHARLI XCX on Instagram: "POP 2 SYDNEY 💜 OCTOBER 23RD 💜 TICKETS ON SALE NEXT WEDNESDAY 💜‬"". Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2019 – via Instagram.
  55. ^ "CHARLI XCX on Instagram: "💕 CALLING ALL ANGELS FROM ATLANTA, MIAMI, MINNEAPOLIS, NEW ORLEANS & HOUSTON!! I WANNA PARTY WITH U!!! I'M THROWING A PARTY IN UR CITY WITH…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  56. ^ "Charli XCX Throws Late-Night Party in New York After Taylor Swift Show: Watch". Billboard. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  57. ^ "ARIA Top 20 Vinyl Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. 24 July 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  58. ^ "Ultratop.be – Charli XCX – Pop 2" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  59. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Charli XCX – Pop 2" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  60. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista (fizikai hanghordozók) – 2023. 29. hét". MAHASZ. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  61. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
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