Kim Petras Claps Back After Being Accused of Selling Out: I ‘Was Punished’ for ‘Doing What People Wanted’ (Exclusive)

Kim Petras is making music on her terms again.

The pop star is preparing her next album, which she’s already teased with three singles: “Polo,” “Freak It” and “I Like Ur Look.” And she promises that the project will be a departure from Feed the Beast, her 2023 major-label debut released on Republic Records.

Petras tells PEOPLE she’s “kind of pissed” as she heads into this new era — and that is fueling the album.

“I did a few albums that felt like I was doing what people in the music industry wanted from me, and then I got punished for that as an artist,” says Petras, 33, who says she was accused of selling out for some of the moves she made in recent years, like scoring a Nicki Minaj collab on her last album (“Alone”) and teaming up with David Guetta on “When We Were Young (The Logical Song).”

“I’m like, ‘Everybody would do a Nicki Minaj feature if they got the chance to do it. Why, when I ‘sell out,’ is it the worst thing in the world? Because I’m a trans artist and I’m supposed to be better for the community?’” Petras says. “I wanted to make a David Guetta song and a Nicki Minaj song, and I wanted it to be tacky, and I love tacky pop music, and I don’t feel apologetic for that. And I do feel like I need to defend music that people think is tacky. That’s my favorite music.”

Petras felt that “people really just roped me off and were like, ‘You’re over, bitch. You sold out.’” she adds. “I have a lot of bones to pick.”

Now, she’s pouring her frustrations with the music industry into her next record.

“On this one, I just am pulling the curtain back and being like, ‘I know you think that I completely sold out, but I did it only so I could have creative freedom completely on a project like this and write it completely with friends and really be brave and do things that might not be digestible,’” she says. “And I’m down to get punished by my label and get no budget and work my ass off to make the visuals and do all of that for making music that I care about. And that was always my plan.”

After establishing a fan base with her breakout singles “I Don’t Want It at All” (2017) and 2018’s “Heart to Break,” Petras went on to make history, becoming the first trans woman to win a Grammy for Best Duo/Group Performance for the 2022 Sam Smith collab “Unholy.”

After the Grammy win, “I don’t give a f— about anyone’s opinion anymore, and I do what I want,” Petras says. “And I feel like I found that through doing what I’m told to do, I was like, ‘My soul can’t do this anymore,’ and I feel like I’m not making art and just falling into depression over that because literally I feel like my body just rejected being fake.”