Digital Cover: Chxrry
Chxrry wants to make one thing clear: her ego isn't the enemy.
Photographer: Jasmine Johnson
For most people, the word ego carries a negative connotation — arrogance, self-importance, an inflated sense of self. For Chxrry, it's something else entirely. It's a protector. A source of confidence. Sometimes, it's even her best friend.
That relationship sits at the center of U, Me & My Ego, the debut album from the Toronto artist born Lydia Habtemariam. After years of building her artistic identity through projects like The Other Side and Siren, Chxrry arrives on her first full-length project with a newfound sense of clarity - embracing every side of herself rather than trying to separate them. The vulnerable Lydia, the larger-than-life Chxrry, and the ego that often occupies the space between the two.
"I wanted to romanticize this word [Ego]," she tells LISTEN. "What if I talked about her like she was my best friend?"
The result is her most fully realized work to date. Across 10 tracks produced entirely by Believve, Chxrry constructs a sleek, self-assured universe where confidence isn't something to apologize for, and vulnerability isn't mistaken for weakness. On songs like "Blockstar" and "Main Character," she leans fully into the audacious persona she has spent years developing. At the same time, tracks like "Bible" and "Boring" reveal the insecurities and bruised feelings that exist beneath the surface. Rather than choosing between those identities, U, Me & My Ego allows them to coexist.
It's fitting for an artist who seems more comfortable in her own skin than ever before. The mystery that once surrounded Chxrry hasn't disappeared; it's simply evolved. The mask, the blue-tinted visuals, and the carefully constructed world of this era all serve a purpose. They're extensions of a character she has intentionally crafted, one that allows her to move through life with the kind of confidence she believes more women should embrace.
When LISTEN caught up with Chxrry ahead of the album's release, we spoke about treating ego as a companion, building her most confident body of work yet, the song that manifested an entire era into existence, and why she thinks humility is overrated.
LISTEN: I want to jump into making the album. Where did the title come from for U, Me & My Ego?
Chxrry: Well, I feel like I have a really big ego. I think that's a good thing. I think having a bad ego is so taboo.
Just the word itself is so taboo that I am very drawn to things that people don't necessarily like or that we're supposed to be ashamed of. Like, I was the kid that, like, they were like, ‘Don't put your hand on the oven,’ and I was like, ‘Ha ha, watch.’ Yep. That was me. So one day I was lying in bed after I made “Main Character,” and I was like, ‘I wanna say something.’
And the concept came to me, and I was like, what if I just romanticize this word and this thing, and I made it a good thing, and I just talked about her like she was my best friend or something?
LISTEN: You can definitely hear that theme throughout the album, you know?
Chxrry: Yeah. I think I have this unfiltered, I don't give a fuck attitude towards life and towards everything, and I think that is a common theme of this album
LISTEN: Which I love personally. How did creating this project feel different from your other EPs?
Chxrry: Well, this one I feel like I have more of my foot in the game. So I have more freedom to say what I want, which is weird 'cause more people feel free in the beginning, but I feel like the bigger I get, the more I give less of a fuck, and the more I'm like, yeah, like, let's just say the thing or let's just be the thing 'cause I think that—what I've learned— is the more yourself that you are, the faster the people that are meant to fuck with you, find you.
Photographer: Jasmine Johnson
LISTEN: Totally.
Chxrry: With this album, I wanted to go all the way.
LISTEN: It really feels like you found your sound. Like your sonic identity, and it feels so different from Siren and your earlier work. So I just feel proud as a fan.
Chxrry: Thank you.
LISTEN: Also listening through it, there was this intense storyline of infatuation and limerence kind of throughline from start to finish with like, "Call Security" and "Groupie," and even, "Hall of Fame."And towards the end we pivot into the more feelings of disappointment with "Bottles and Lights".
LISTEN: Are these songs and these stories based off real-life experiences, or is it a character that you present in the music?
Chxrry: Everything I write is based on real life.
I think with this album, the reason why I even named it U, Me and My Ego is 'cause I kinda categorized the songs by either it's about me, which is, like, Lydia Habtemariam, me, and that's just the vulnerable songs called "Bible" and "Boring." It's like my true dark inner thoughts. And then there are songs like "U, Me My Ego," which is Chxrry, and “Blockstar” songs like that are really audacious and, like, I don't give a fuck, fuck everything, fuck you.
Then there's songs about you, which are, like, usually a guy or, like, somebody I'm dealing with. So yeah, that's kinda how I broke it down.
LISTEN: I also love the theme you have within your visuals where you're keeping your eyes covered, whether it's in your performances, your videos, and even some of the photos for this era. What's the choice behind that direction?
Chxrry: I feel like everything we've done in the last year visually was very intentional. And even with the braids and the hair and, like, just creating this character. I feel like the mask was the final thing, the final touch. Because the mask is kinda like my ego. It shields me, and when the mask is on is when I'm the most Chxrry.
That's why for a performance, I always have the mask on, or, like, the album. Even just the blue being masculine and all these different things. Um, yeah, it was just all... It's basically like my ego mask. I don't really know how to explain it.
When it's on, the ego's on.
LISTEN: I know what you mean. Kinda how people present different faces to each other, and then once you put your mask on, it's your kind of artist persona, if that makes sense. You know?
Chxrry: Yeah. My ego's kinda like my protector. When... Having a big ego has protected me from a lot of things that I would haven't settled for because I'm like, ‘What the fuck? Who do you think I am?’ Like, I would never da-da-da-da-da. And, you know, to a lot of people, that's just like, ‘Oh, you're not humble. You're not this.’ But I think if more women played into their egos and really embraced it the world would be a better place.
LISTEN: I agree. Fuck being humble! Like, you don't need to!
Chxrry: Fuck being humble! For what?
LISTEN: For what?!
Chxrry: Let them be humble!
Photographer: Jasmine Johnson
LISTEN: Exactly! What was the most memorable song for you to make on this project?
Chxrry: I feel like I've said this answer so many times... so maybe I should give you a different answer.
I'll say “Bottles and Lights”. I really enjoyed making that with Riah, and I played it for her after a festival that we were in, and she loved it and just got on it right away, and it's just been really fun, and we actually just entered the Billboard R&B charts.
LISTEN: Hell yeah!
Chxrry: At number 18, so that's fun!
LISTEN: I've been streaming it nonstop. Congratulations! I got to know you early in your career with your debut, and I've been following you for a couple years now. I got to know you as Chxrry22, so I wanted to know why you dropped the 22.
Chxrry: I think we never wanted a 22.
LISTEN: Really?
Chxrry: We never wanted a 22 originally. We just did it for like legal reasons, and legally I had to add something to Chxrry in order to like copyright it. I guess it's cleared up, so they just let me drop the 22.
LISTEN: And I did grab this from a story you made a couple months ago about you wanting journalists to shake the table a bit and ask some fun questions. So marry, fuck, kill, and this time it's just with your singles “Just Like Me,” “Main Character,” and “Groupie.”
Chxrry: “Just Like Me” has to die. I fucking hate that song!
LISTEN: Oh my God!
Chxrry: I know! That was an easy no-brainer. What were the other two?
LISTEN: “Main Character” and “Groupie.”
Chxrry: Fuck “Groupie,” marry “Main Character”. “Main Character” is like my favorite song ever.
LISTEN: Real. Why is it your favorite song ever?
Chxrry: 'Cause it was like, it was like a renaissance. I made it, and honestly, no one around me really got it or understood why I loved it so much, and I was like, ‘Watch, the world's gonna love this.’ And then that song did everything that I said it would do. It was like a prophecy. Like, even everything I said, like, call that bitch my carbon copy, everything came to life after that.
LISTEN: It was your affirmation.
Chxrry: Yeah. Literally. It was my manifestation song, so.
LISTEN: What are your thoughts on the Michael Jackson and Prince beef?
Chxrry: I don't think it was real beef. I think they were both just great. And when you're great, you just get compared, and I don't know. I just like the, at the, in the end, they're both legends, so it's like, who gives a damn?
LISTEN: I just keep thinking about whenever you have a great idea, and it's like, ‘God's gonna give it to Prince.’ I think about that all the time.
Chxrry: Oh my God, I think like that too.
LISTEN: What are your favorite conspiracy theories?
Chxrry: Oh. I'm lazy. Like, I don't even think about shit like that. It's so fucked up
LISTEN: Not one?
Chxrry: I need to like read more and like… No, I don't really have any. I'm just kinda like getting by every day, you know?
Hoping to have a good time. Just wanna have a good time.
LISTEN: That's real. I feel that. And then my last question is: who are you currently listening to right now?
Chxrry: There's a girl from Atlanta. Her name is Bby Kell. She's fire. I think she's gonna blow. I like Trim. I like my album. I like Ella Langley
LISTEN: I don't think I know who that is.
Chxrry: You don't know who Ella Langley is?
LISTEN: I'll tap in.
Chxrry: She's a country artist. But yeah, I'm with the girls right now. Girls are killing it.