PopDash Meets... Cher Lloyd!

PopDash recently met up with Cher Lloyd to talk to her all about the last eighteen months of her life. This time last year she was competing in The X Factor, now she has two hit singles, a debut album and more headlines to her name than practically any other popstar. With so much to get through, let's kick things off...

PopDash: Congratulations on the success of your new single 'With Ur Love'. Did you always know it would be a big hit?

Cher Lloyd: Yeah, I think so. It feels great to have two hits now because, for me, the whole point of making music is to better what you did before so to be able to say I've got two hit singles is fantastic.

PopDash: How did you come to work with Mike Posner?

Well, you know how it works. Come on.

PopDash: Yeah, obviously, but it ties in really nicely with your story doesn't it? (Cher performed a Mike Posner song quite badly during an early X Factor audition).Totally. We invited him into the record purely because I did balls his song up. It's a track for all the people who laughed at me for messing up when I was ill.

PopDash: There are lots of guest stars on the album, such as Busta Rhymes. How does it feel going toe to toe with an icon like him?

I didnt actually go into the studio with him unfortunately. Thats something I learned through making the album actually. As a kid I always thought that any duets or collaborations, both people were in the room with each other but thats not always how it works out.

PopDash: It must feel great to have such big names on your debut album though...

Absolutely! Im so happy with everyone who is on the album. I couldnt be happier with how it turned out. I didnt ac! tually h ave a list of collaborators though. I was helping co-write the songs on the album and occasionally names of people we felt would be right for the song came up.

PopDash: Did you co-write every track on the album?

I did every one except three.

PopDash: How did you find writing your own material?

I feel like theyre my songs much more than I would have done. I was worried that Id just be given a CD and told to go and record it but it wasnt like that at all.

PopDash: We saw a picture of you with Lil Wayne taken when you were recording your album. How was it to meet a hero like that?

Nobody told me he was coming so I didnt have time to get nervous about it. It was a huge shock to be honest and weird to think that Im in a situation where Im in the same studio as Lil Wayne and we can chat to each other.

PopDash: Did he pass on any advice to you?

Not really, he did say my accent was cute.

PopDash: What about his voice? Did you understand him? He slurs his words quite a lot

Of course! Ive grown up listening to him so I knew everything he said.

PopDash: Do you get star struck around people?

Totally! Even coming into places like this (Were speaking to Cher at her record label offices) I get worried Ill see someone and make a fool of myself. I try to act like it doesnt phase me because I dont feel like I fit into that bracket at all yet.

PopDash: That comes with time.

I dont think it will though, its just a part of me.

PopDash: Is you album, Sticks and Stones, everything you hoped it would be?

Its more. I was worried I would be given a disc with twenty songs on it and told to go and record them. I was really lucky to have a record label that trusted me to start writing on my own songs so early in my career. Not many people get that opportunity.

PopDash: When did you start wor! k on the album?

Basically. I didnt know I was signed and I went into the studio with Will.I.am the day after I got voted off The X Factor last year. I was in the studio immediately and I said to someone, So have I got a record deal? and they were like, Err yeah!.

PopDash: Do you remember when you recorded Swagger Jagger?

I was in Miami and there was a lot of police around, I think someone got shot actually. It was crazy. For some reason one of the writers I was with was humming My Darling Clementine and everyone was going crazy.

PopDash: Did you feel vindicated at all when the song went straight to number one?

Totally, yeah. It was peace of mind for me. People seem to focus so much on negativity these days and its something I dont understand. People seem to bounce it

PopDash: How do you mean?

Well I dont know if its just a thing with this country but people seem to want to hate. We should be supporting our acts!

PopDash: Its like a pantomime though, isnt it? Someone we all love to hateYeah but it was different for me. I dont care though, I dont need to rant and rave. Let them all do the talking for me.

PopDash: How does it feel to be the person that made the word Swagger so well known? Even Louis Walsh is saying it now!I dont know how I did it or why I did it but its out there now. Lots of other artists have used it in songs before me though.

PopDash: Do you have a favourite song on Sticks and Stones at all?

Over The Moon. Its very personal and is a song about my Uncle, who passed away. Theres lyrics on there that people will never get their heads around.

PopDash: Have your family heard that song?

Its my Mums favourite song actually. Its nice to be able to write something you can cherish like that.

PopDash: The album is a really great mix of pop and hip-hop. Would it be far to say that hip-hop is where your heart! lays?

I suppose but then before The X Factor I was a country singer. Its a bit of a surprise but yeah, I used to sing country music songs in really rubbish clubs to a load of old people. They werent even listening most of the time.

PopDash: Theres a big link between Country and Hip-Hop too

Totally! I think my voice has a lot of country influences in it actually, theres a twang in there.

PopDash: Can you see yourself pursuing a more hip-hop direction in the future?

People should be prepared for me to get a lot harder with my music. I want to go right in at the deep end, full on stuff. I want to be a lot more edgy and I do want it to be more explicit and a bit controversial.

PopDash: Who are the artists you grew up listening to?

I was a huge fan of Sean Paul and Timbaland when I was younger. I listened to a lot of grime too, Dizzee Rascal, Dot Rotten and Ghetts too.

PopDash: Those last two feature on the album dont they? Was it important for you to have Uk MCs on there with you?

Its a big respect thing for me. The fact theyre on the album means more to me than having Busta Rhymes and Mike Posner.

PopDash: Do you have plans to tour next year?Of course! Ive got fans who want to hear me and I cant wait to get out and perform these songs for them. If you dont play live then youre not a proper artist. Its alright sitting in a studio and having some man turn a load of dials but youve got to get out there and play live too.

PopDash: How does playing live with your own songs compare with performing on The X Factor?Its massive, you cant compare. I finish a show and I look on Twitter and theres people writing my lyrics. You dont get that on The X Factor and as much as I put my heart and soul into that competition its just singing.

PopDash: You have a lot of tattoos, including song lyrics on your arm, have you noticed fans getting Cher ! Lloyd ta ttoos?

Ive met a lot of people actually. I met a guy the other day who had the word Brrap tattooed down his arm. It was massive. I was like, Youre crazy!.

Cher Lloyd's album 'Sticks +Stones' is out now.

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