Charli XCX Says the Industry Is 'Catching Up' with Her Music and Not Only 'Weird Kids' Understand

Being weird is cool — just ask Charli XCX!

As the British pop star gears up for the release of her fifth album, Crash, set for release on Friday, she opened up to Apple Music 1's Zane Lowe in a new clip shared exclusively with PEOPLE about the progression her music has made over the years — and the role it has played in the industry.

"I'm on my fifth album in my five-album deal. I've arrived at this place where I'm incorporating all of the different things that I've done in the past into one body of work," the singer, 29, told the host. "I also feel like — and this might sound like a negative but I actually think it's a positive — I also feel like we're at a time in the music industry where the music industry is beginning to catch up with me a little bit."

She continued, "We're at this time now where being an artist like me is actually quite common and the norm and with things like hyper pop existing. It's like that is now a tangible genre that not only weird kids who have great taste can understand but playlisters can understand or whatever."

Noam Galai/Getty Charli XCX

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She added, "This album feels very cyclical in many ways… people can understand who I am now."

The full episode will air at 1 p.m. ET Wednesday on the Zane Lowe Show.

The album features previously released tracks "Every Rule," "Beg For You," "Baby," "Good Ones," and "New Shapes" — and follows Charli's 2020 album This Is How I'm Feeling Now, which she released during the pandemic.

Charli (real name Charlotte Emma Aitchison,) appeared on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest earlier this month after her initial performance scheduled for December 2021 was canceled due to the omicron COVID-19 variant.

During her appearance, she brought her sass to the stage and performed two singles from Crash titled "Beg for You" and "Baby."

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Aside from her singing performances, Charli was also featured in a sketch as a singing meatball growing out of cast member Sarah Sherman's underarm.

In August, the singer spoke to PEOPLE about her new music and said she had "no regrets" about her sound evolution.

"It is the start of a new era," she said at the time. "It's one that I've been dying to do. It's the most pop record I've ever made. I'm completely giving my soul away with this record."

Crash is out Friday.