Chxrry’s Ego-Fueled Debut Album Proves She’s the Shit

Chxrry will be the first to tell you she’s all ego. The difference between you and her is that she doesn’t view it as a character flaw. In fact, it’s essential to her craft. When I meet the Canadian-born singer in the lobby of her hotel, I hear her before I see her. The clickety-clack of her pumps against the marble serve as a calling card, much like her signature faux hawk silk-press and sultry, soulful vocals. Four years after dropping her first EP, she’s finally ready to share her debut album, U, Me, and My Ego, with the world. The record is thick with heavy bass lines and lyrics that glamorize the club life, underpinned with a hidden melancholy. Touted as the next big name in alt-R&B with stamps of approval from The Weeknd and Mariah the Scientist, you’d think the pressure would be on. But Chxrry stays cool as I speak with her in the backseat of our taxi. She’s not just made for this, she deserves it. During our drive through the quiet SoHo streets, we dished on dating apps, debauchery, and why her opps never come close to breaking her.

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WEDNESDAY,  9:18 PM, MAY 6, 2026 SOHO

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ARY RUSSELL: It’s a dark and stormy night driving through New York City in this taxi cab. Can you walk me through your fit? 

CHXRRY: My shoes are Manolos. My jacket is some cool vintage brand I don’t know the name of. And my necklace was bought at a consignment store in Arizona called Sisters.

RUSSELL: But you’re not wearing a top?

CHXRRY: My tits are the top.

RUSSELL: That’s so gaggy. See, I got my boobs done to—

CHXRRY: Me too.

RUSSELL: I got mine to be smaller to do stuff like that.

CHXRRY: You have a nice rack.

RUSSELL: You too. Immaculate work. When you’re about to get ready for the club, what are your pregame essentials?

CHXRRY: I’m not going to say basic shit because I know that’s what everyone’s expecting. I need a really good vanity. It doesn’t even need to be expensive, but I love a really good setup. I don’t care if it’s a trap house. Second thing is a really good speaker for good music. And third has to be tequila. But recently, I’ve been converted into loving champagne a little.

RUSSELL: That’s the only alcohol that I can tolerate. I can’t keep shots down. 

CHXRRY: No, we have to work on that.

RUSSELL: But I’ll take champagne from the bottle, babe.

CHXRRY: No, it gets you fucked up fast.

RUSSELL: That’s why I like it. [Laughs] Who is on the pre-playlist? 

CHXRRY: Me. I listen to a lot of rap shit. Right now, I’m really loving Peezy. I’ve been listening to a lot of SahBabii. I love BK and Tennis. Fleetwood Mac, if I’m bored. Don [Toliver]’s album is amazing.

RUSSELL: I always tell people, “Do not come over to my place for the pre because I’m going to play some Lana [Del Rey], and it’s going to get sad.

CHXRRY: It’s going to get weird.

RUSSELL: You’re from Canada, but you’ve spoken about having an immigrant parent background. How did growing up that way shape how you approach your artistry?

CHXRRY: My parents didn’t speak fluent English, so music was like our love language. That’s how they communicated with me and my brother. It kind of gave me a worldly perspective. So even when you hear my album, there’s a lot of range. You can tell I have a lot of influences. I wanted to appeal to more than just one type of audience. I’m creating a whole new lane. 

RUSSELL: Were your parents strict about the music that you listened to?

CHXRRY: Oh, yeah. My dad was like, “Not a chance are we listening to the radio.” But then my mom was really lenient and a pushover. We’d be like, “We’re putting this on and you’re not saying anything.” And she’d be like, “Okay.”

RUSSELL: We’re not on our way to the club but if we were, what time do you get there?

CHXRRY: At this point in my life, I got to get there around like 12:30, 1:00.

RUSSELL: What time do you leave?

CHXRRY: Probably like 5:00, including the afters.

RUSSELL: What is it about the club that you connect to so much?

CHXRRY: I just love music. I love a dark space where I’m inebriated, and there’s really loud music playing, and there’s people to watch. People love to act like nature’s fun, and be like, “Let’s get hobbies. The club is so tacky.” Shut the fuck up. 

RUSSELL: We’re in such a loser epidemic. Everyone’s like, “While you guys are at the club, I’m at home doing my face mask.”

CHXRRY: “There’s so much drugs at the club,” I don’t give a fuck. It’s the only place where you could wear something really scandalous and nobody gives a fuck.

RUSSELL: No, I need debaucherous behavior.

CHXRRY: I’ll sleep when I’m dead.

RUSSELL: Your album’s called U, Me and My Ego. What role did your ego play in the creation of this album?

CHXRRY: I am my ego. Genuinely, I’m more ego than I am…

RUSSELL: Human? [Laughs]

CHXRRY: But I don’t look at ego like a negative thing. I don’t look at it as a thing that’s like, “Fuck you, I’m better than you.” And that’s what this album’s about. It’s challenging the word and the taboo behind it. Why is it so negative, especially with women? Ego is just another layer of how confident you are. I don’t think I’m better than anyone else, but I do think I’m the best. 

RUSSELL: Being a woman in the industry, did you find that people needed to take you down a peg?

CHXRRY: The whole internet. But I’m used to it. I have a Pisces father and a Virgo mother. It’s going to take so much more to break me. And my parents are African. Come on.

RUSSELL: True.

CHXRRY: I’m surrounded by loveliness all the time, and really amazing people, and it’s a reflection of who I am. I just attract really cool, genuine people. Even you. I could have had anyone interview me, but you feel like my cousin. Shit like this happens to me every day.

RUSSELL: Are you spiritual in that way, like everything happens for a reason?

CHXRRY: I’m Christian. Does that count?

RUSSELL: Yeah, divine intervention. “God has a plan” and all that.

CHXRRY: I have a lot of angels. Even when things seem so fucked up, it’s never that deep. If we’re not dead, it’s not over.

RUSSELL: So you just finished supporting Mariah the Scientist on tour and she’s on the album. How was that experience?

CHXRRY: I learned so much about being present. Mariah’s very present with her fans, and she’s never too worried about the future. She’s never too worried about numbers or perception. She’s genuinely somebody who just goes through life with a really positive attitude and positive energy. More than anything, she made me want to be what she is to me for someone else one day. I really hope that the next girl I bring along my journey with me, I make them feel the way she makes me feel.

RUSSELL: You want daughters?

CHXRRY: Not even daughters. She doesn’t make me feel like I’m her daughter. She’s a sister. The stage is big enough for everyone. 

RUSSELL: In “Groupie,” you write, “I’m a superstar, but for you I’m a groupie.” Who’s someone that if you met, you’d turn into a groupie?

CHXRRY: Oh, my god, I can’t say it. Maybe like, [REDACTED]. I really think I’m going to end up with a rock star.

RUSSELL: Would you go on Raya?

CHXRRY: I don’t even think they’d let me in that bitch. Should I download it?

RUSSELL: I’m going to show you. [Opens app] The guys are not good though. 

CHXRRY: Don’t you have to be famous or something?

RUSSELL: No, he’s a student.

CHXRRY: Oh, fuck that. I thought it was, like, some exclusive shit.

RUSSELL: It’s Khias on there.

CHXRRY: Not Khias. [Laughs] You’re so on Twitter.

RUSSELL: I really love “If You Don’t Want Me, I Know That The Club Will.” Can you talk about using partying as a form of escapism? 

CHXRRY: I don’t know if this is dark, but when I was 14, my mom died of cancer and I thought my house was haunted. So every weekend, I would go somewhere. I would pack my shit and I would go to a friend’s house, or a boy’s house, and I would always go out. The club became my escape. 

RUSSELL: Did you have a fake ID?

CHXRRY: I did. 

RUSSELL: What was your first club experience? Do you remember?

CHXRRY: I was probably really drunk. I remember I went to church one Christmas, and I made all my friends go to this big house party, and we all got caught. The police came, and my dad came, and he’s like, “Of course, you’re the fucking ringleader.” I got in so much trouble. I’ve always been a rebel, but I was also an angel. Even in all my fucked-up-ness, I was always really honest. Even in music, honesty has a way of making people like you, even when they don’t agree with you, because everyone respects the truth.

RUSSELL: That could be easy to say now, but as you get bigger, there’s some celebrities that say, “I almost wish I wasn’t as honest.” People start to use it against them.

CHXRRY: Yeah, they do. Now, my relationship with music and fans and the internet is very limited. I don’t get too high, and I don’t get too low, and I don’t give too much, and I don’t give too little. But you’re right. 

RUSSELL: That relationship might change. I notice that when people are small, they have their community that they know is supporting them, so there’s no pressure to hide themselves. And then they realize, “Okay, well, actually…”

CHXRRY: “I can’t.” Once you realize you can’t actually get canceled, you just can’t give a fuck anymore. Look at Zara [Larsson]. They try to cancel her every week, and she’s back like, “Hi, I don’t give a fuck.”

RUSSELL: I know this is going to be your debut album. If people have never heard of Chxrry, what do you want their first impression of you to be?

CHXRRY: “She’s the real deal.” I want people to see that everything I’m saying is from lived experience. I’m not pretending to be something I’m not. I’m really authentic.

RUSSELL: Authenticity is expensive.

CHXRRY: It is. Fuck.

RUSSELL: Sir? You can take us back now.