At 14, Charli XCX was playing illegal East London warehouse raves, her parents cheering from the back with a camcorder. She grew up to architect hyperpop and, with the lime green Brat, spark a cultural phenomenon so large it reached a US presidential campaign, all while fighting against traditional pop music the entire way.

We trace her career built on paradoxes, from a mixed heritage that left her feeling displaced, to giving away the smash I Love It because it felt too pop, to burning down her commercial momentum to find her authentic voice with PC Music. The ultimate Trojan horse, she dragged the gritty underground straight into the mainstream fortress.

• Her two half-lives, racist bullying, and finding her tribe in the rave scene
• Signing to a major label at 18 and hating the pop machine she was placed inside
• Han ...