2019-09-01 Rolling Stone

The Mix

24 | Rolling Stone | September 2019

ILL

US

TR

AT

IO

N^ B

Y^ L

AR

S^ L

EE

TA

RU

Real-life advice from a guy

who’s seen, done, and survived

just about everything

GOT A QUESTION FOR CROZ?

Email [email protected]

CROZ

ASK

I have been clean from cocaine and

heroin for a year, and I think I can start

smoking some pot. What’s a good strain

to keep from getting back on the coke

and smack?

—Mark, Alamosa, CO

As if there were a strain for that, you nin-

compoop! Coke and heroin take you over

the way fire takes over a building. For me, it

was 10 years before the slip dreams stopped

and I was pretty sure it wasn’t snapping at

my heels anymore — and I waited almost five

years after that before I smoked pot. Give

yourself some time with sobriety.

What advice would you give about

living with the existential dread of being

a hippie in America? I’m as gentle as Mis-

ter Rogers, but because of my appear-

ance and the associations it brings, I’ve

faced intimidation in certain situations.

—Carl Thomas Hriczak, Niagara Falls, NY

Have any black friends? They’ll tell you all

about it. I think it’s very educational for a

white person in the American scene to be

treated like a second-class citizen. Rather

than resenting it or trying to avoid it, you

should experience and learn from it.

I’m a professor at a small liberal-arts

college. A beautiful young woman in my

class was very flirty with me throughout

the semester, and now the class is over.

Would I be a fool to invite her to dinner?

—Name Withheld

You’re holding all the power. It bends the re-

lationship. And, to use an old expression,

don’t shit where you eat. It’ll compromise

your relationship with that student, and with

all your other students, who are watching

and will know. If you’re a teacher, you have

a role to play. It doesn’t involve taking some-

one out and trying to get her in bed.

Let It Get Weird

In 2014, Charli’s career

blew up, set off by a

trio of pop hits: “Fancy”

with Iggy Azalea, solo

single “Boom Clap,”

and omnipresent Icona

Pop collaboration

“I Love It.” “But did

it” — “it” meaning

“global success” —

”make me feel fulfilled

artistically?” Charli

asks. “No.” So for

her third album, she

stopped worrying and

embraced the odd. On

dissonantly Auto-Tuned

songs like “Click” and

“Next Level Charli,”

she leans into the

organized electronic

chaos introduced on

mixtape Pop 2. “I’m not

thinking, ‘Is this too

weird?’ ” Charli says.

“I don’t care that it’s

not going to get on

the radio.”

Make Music

You Can Party To

The last album Charli

released wasn’t up to

her standards in one

crucial way. “Even

though I’m very proud

of Sucker,” she says, “I

knew I wasn’t making

the ultimate music I

wanted to hear when

I was partying.” So

this spring, she and

PC Music founder

A.G. Cook spent eight

weeks recording that

ultimate music in

Los Angeles. How did

they start the Charli

party? “We were like,

‘Fuck it,’” she says.

“ ‘Let’s do it.’ ”

It’s Better

To g e t h e r

Christine and the

Queens co-wrote

verses for new single

“Gone.” Troye Sivan

repartnered with Charli

for their “1999” follow-

up, “2099,” because,

she says she told him,

“I love you and I love

that song, but now we

have to do something

for the gays.” And

when she came up

with stark New Wave

jam “Cross You Out,” it

was the perfect excuse

to finally hook up with

Sky Ferreira. (The pair

have shared magazine

covers and stages

since meeting as teens,

but never released a

song together.) For

Charli, collaborating is

a master class: “I learn

so much.”

Expose

Yo u r Te n d e r

Underbelly

In a fit of self-

awareness, Charli

realized she saw music

as a competitive sport.

“Sometimes I think

I’m better than every

one of you, and other

times I feel like I’m

literally nothing,” she

says of her place in

the industry. “There’s

so much pressure to

be the funniest and

know your brand and

be the wokest and not

upset anyone, but also

be provocative. I don’t

have to feel like that

superhero all the time.”

In the six-year “break” between Charli XCX’s Sucker and Charli (out

September 13th), she put out mixtapes, an EP, and six solo releases

— and teamed up with Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes, and Camila Cabello.

Now, Charli’s back from her working vacation and getting serious(-ish).

“It’s fun to write songs about cars,” she says of Charli. “But I began to

analyze my emotional state.” Here’s how she got it done. BRITTANY SPANOS

Charli’s Weird-

Pop Reinvention

MUSIC

PHOTOGRAPH BY Griffin Lotz