XCX World is an unreleased third studio album by English singer and songwriter, Charli XCX written and recorded throughout 2015-2017. After being delayed multiple times, "XCX World" was eventually shelved, and leaked. Despite being given a name, tracklist, and cover art, Charli XCX has confirmed that her fans made all of these decisions, and in reality there was never a finished work. "XCX World" was originally going to be released in September 2017 by the name of "XCX World", however due to leaks and Charli's record label, it has been permanently scrapped.
Background and cancellation
In July 2015, Charli XCX interviewed that she was working on her third album and described it as "the most pop thing, and the most electronic thing" she has ever done. Scottish producer SOPHIE, along with BloodPop and StarGate, were confirmed to be involved in the album's production. She worked with other pop hitmakers such as MNDR, The Invisible Men and MNEK during the album's sessions as well. In October 2015, Charli XCX premiered a new song called "Vroom Vroom" on the Beats 1 Radio Show as a "preview" to see what's she's been working on in the studio. she set up a new label called Vroom Vroom Recordings, and she would later release an EP titled,'Vroom Vroom under this label. The songs from the EP were all recorded with intention of being included on the album. In July 2016, it was announced that British producer A.G. Cook, founder of record label PC Music, had signed on as Charli's creative director. On 28 October 2016, the then lead single, "After the Afterparty", was released. A music video was released two days later. It charted at 29 in the UK Singles Chart, and was certified silver by the BPI. On 8 February 2017, she performed it on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, along with titled "Bounce", featuring Japanese hitmaker Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. She said in an interview that month that her album was finished and to be released in September. The album was allegedly edited a bit in Early 2017, with the more experimental songs being cut and more mainstream songs such as Boys and Blame It on Your Love replacing them with the concept still yet changed. On 20 August 2017, multiple songs from the album was leaked onto the internet after being scammed from a hacker who was mastering the album. This led to the album being cancelled and Charli deciding to remake an entirely new third studio album which resulted in the album "Charli", after releasing two mixtapes called "Number 1 Angel" and "Pop 2". In September 2019, Charli revealed in an interview with FADER stated that she never officially gave the album a title as XCX World was just a name fans had given to it and stated that the album "was never really a fully formed thing". She had also stated that she had shot the album artwork and was about to shoot music videos. After leaks, Charli XCX confirmed scrapping the entire project and deciding to make a new album.
