Lorde has been discussing the current state of pop music and her own rise to fame in the wake of her hit single ‘Royals’.

In an interview with The Observer the 17-year-old sensation said she doesn’t consider her contemporaries to be inspirational figures as she stated:

“I don't think people look at how pop stars live and feel anything aspirational at all.”

Lorde – whose real name is Ella Yelich-O'Connor – also hit out at the rivalry people like to see between female artists as she explained:

“It just seems so strange to me, the way the media pits girls against each other to make sure there's always some battle like that going on... Nobody asks me about what male musicians I think about; I only ever get asked about females.”

A further topic the teenage New Zealand singer-songwriter tackled in her interview is her young age as Ella confided:

“I'm 17 now: what happens by the time I'm 21, am I a burn-out or something?... I've been in some situations where people have treated me like a fascinating toy. You know, it's just like an interesting kind of fun thing to have a play with. It's very weird for me. I feel like a tiny baby.”

Watch Lorde giving a recent rendition of 'Royals' below: