When Charli XCX dropped her latest single “Boys” in July, it was love at first sight and sound. Simple in concept but difficult in execution, Charli showed off her impressive friend list by casting literally dozens of musicians, actors, and personalities. The group represented a wide range of fandoms and genres, with one thing in common – they’re all boys.
The earworm clocks in at under three minutes, but Charli manages to pack more celebs into her video than a red carpet. Riz Ahmed, Stormzy, Dolla $ign, Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, Charlie Puth, Bring Me to the Horizon’s Oliver Sykes, Chromeo, Flume, G Eazy, Joey Badass, Kaytranada, Portugal. the Man, The Libertines, Panic at the Disco’s Brendan Urie, Jack Antonoff, Rostam Batmanglij, Mark Ronson, Mac DeMarco, Wiz Khalifa, Will.i.am, Joe Jonas, Diplo, Khalid, Tom Daley, Cameron Dallas and more appear in “Boys,” making it one of the must-see videos of the year.
Flipping the male gaze, the video shows the famous men posing in front of various screens of pink and white while engaging in a number of fantasy-like behaviors, including lifting weights, jumping around in a pool, looking cool with a chainsaw, and laying in a pile of roses.
Considering Charli’s incredible discography both as a solo artist and writing for other musicians, we weren’t overly surprised that the English performer was able to score so many big-name cameos. What was surprising was that she or anyone was able to get this many celebs together without handing out an award. So how did she do it?
It turns out, Charli went to where the boys are.
In her brand-new behind-the-scenes video for the making of “Boys,” Charli and her team travel to Coachella to film with as many male celebs as possible. This trip included scoring shots with Joe Jonas, G Eazy, Khalid and more, with the power of Charli evident in the singer’s ability to get her friends to take a break from the biggest partying weekend of the year to help her shoot a music video.
The video shows Charli doubling as both a performer and director, jumping in front of the camera to show her famous friends exactly what she was looking for in her music video. Puppies, pancakes, and cute boys. If this music video doesn’t win Charli XCX a few awards than we don’t know what will.
Check out Charli XCX behind the scenes on her “Boys” shoot below.
