Zara Larsson Credits Black American Culture For Her New Pop Era

Zara Larsson is opening up about exactly where her love of music began, and she is giving credit right where it belongs. In a thoughtful new conversation on The New York Times‘ Popcast, the Swedish pop star traced her entire artistic dream back to American music and art culture, and Black American culture in particular, calling it “expressive in a different way” and something that genuinely moves her. It is a gracious, clear-eyed acknowledgment from an artist who has become one of pop’s brightest global names.

The Icons Who Inspired Zara Larsson

Growing up in Sweden, Larsson has shared, she did not have that kind of expressive culture around her in the same way, even though the entire world was shaped by it. She named Beyoncé and Whitney Houston among the towering figures whose voices, artistry, and stage presence first lit the spark for her, the kind of performers who made a young girl thousands of miles away dream of the stage. That early devotion, she reflected, ran deep. “Being so into, like, American culture and American Black culture because we didn’t have that in Sweden like that,” she explained, describing just how fully she absorbed those influences from afar.

Zara Larsson on Pop Going Global

The heart of the conversation was Larsson’s honest reflection on whether an artist still has to “make it” in America to truly make it at all. For decades, she noted, that was simply the rule, from the 1980s through the 2000s, and she admitted with a laugh that “the propaganda machine really worked on me.” But she sees the landscape shifting. Pop today is far more globalized, with countless genres and subgenres each capable of building a massive worldwide following, and she is no longer certain that a single American zip code is the measure of success. Still, she confessed with warmth, part of her would love just one American arena tour.

Why Zara Larsson’s Reflection Resonates

What makes the whole conversation land is Larsson’s grounded sense of what actually matters to her. More than selling records, she shared, her true love has always been performing live. “My goal has always been to have a live audience. Like, I really want to go around the world and perform for people,” she offered, before gently questioning whether she really needs to live in Los Angeles to chase the dream. It is the sound of an artist who knows her roots, honors the culture that shaped her, and is writing her own definition of success on her own terms. For Zara Larsson, the music comes first, and the gratitude runs all the way back to where it started.