What exactly is a Brat summer? How Charli XCX’s album suddenly became part of the presidential race

It’s a Brat Summer, and the vice president’s newly launched presidential campaign is the latest to join the fun.

“Kamala IS brat,” the singer - born Charlotte Aitchison - shared with her 3.6 million followers on X, referencing her blockbuster sixth studio album, Brat. With the album sparking the “Brat summer” trend on social media, it is no surprise that the 21 July post went viral among Gen Z, garnering over 18 million views and 244,000 likes.

But what does a Brat summer mean?

When Charli XCX’s sixth studio album Brat was released on 7 June, it went viral across social media platforms for its catchy, future club classics. A slight departure from the artist’s hyper-pop era, this album embraced grungy house beats beloved in the late 2000s and early 2010s, arguably creating this generation’s party anthems. Charli XCX has been around since the 2010s, hopping on Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” to singing the effervescent “Boom Clap” from the Fault in Our Stars soundtrack, but she hasn’t enjoyed as much mainstream success as she has since Brat’s release this summer.

From getting the reclusive Lorde to hop on a remix of the song Charli wrote about their friendship “Girl, so confusing” to a TikTok dance to “Apple” going viral, Brat has become a pop cultural phenomenon among Gen-Zers and millennials.

As for “Brat summer,” the movement bucks convention and social constructs and rejects the strait-laced “clean girl” aesthetic, and instead celebrates the unapologetically messy party girl. Gone are the days of Barbie pink, with the album’s neon green shade seen seemingly everywhere this season.

“You are just that girl who is a little messy and maybe says dumb things sometimes, who feels herself but then also maybe has a breakdown, but parties through it,” the “Apple” singer explained in a TikTok video. “It is honest, blunt, and a little bit volatile. That’s Brat. Think Courtney Love in the ’90s, Amy Winehouse in the early aughts, and Ke$ha in the 2010s.”

How has it been interpreted, and what are people doing to embrace Brat summer?

Many people have been embracing their inner brat this summer, taking the grungy, it girl energy of the album and imbuing it into their daily lives.

If the ambiance of a hot, jam-packed dance floor could be encapsulated in one album, it would be Brat. It captures the feeling of being sticky, slick with sweat, and standing in the back of the club debating whether or not you want a drunk cigarette. There’s a hint of existential ennui, wanting to numb all that ails you during the day with a feral night out, with Charli vocalizing her fears of getting older and singing how she wants to hit the rewind button on “Rewind.”

The album is nostalgic for the old club days when iPhones weren’t recording every little second, with frequent 2000s nods in the lyrics and song titles like “Von dutch.” It embraces the idea of being messy and wild without the fear of being captured on camera. It’s all about the chaos. The key tenet of being a “brat” is not caring what people think of you and what they have to say. It’s about owning your wild side, and as Charli sings in “Club Classics,” never stopping the party until the morning light.

How can I have a Brat summer?

In order to embody brat energy, one must arguably channel Charli XCX’s muses, including Julia Fox and Gabriette.

Fox is referenced in the lyric from the song “360,” “When you’re in the mirror, you’re just looking at me / I’m everywhere, I’m so Julia.” The Down the Drain author is widely known for her penchant for pushing boundaries, no-holds-barred attitude, and raw honesty. She’s confident and unafraid to challenge the status quo, rejecting prettiness in favor of looking iconic. By experimenting with your look, you too can be “so Julia.”

In the “360” music video, model Gabriette mentioned that it’s all about looking hot and scary, wearing slightly smudged eye makeup à la Effy Stonem, or channeling Mia Goth’s eyebrowless look. Reject the socially acceptable sleekness and opt for the just rolled-out-of-bed flair that Ke$ha perfected in the 2010s.

According to Charli, anyone can be a brat. In an interview, she said: “It can go that way, like, quite luxury, but it can also be so, like, trashy. Just, like, a pack of cigs, and, like, a Bic lighter, and, like, a strappy white top. With no bra. That’s, like, kind of all you need.”

How is Kamala suddenly involved?

After President Joe Biden announced he was ending his 2024 presidential campaign and later endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place as the democrat presidential nominee, the 31-year-old British pop star voiced her support, which then spawned an onslaught of memes embracing Harris’ nomination.

From fan cam edits and compilations to remixes, TikTok users began to use songs from Brat to immortalize the vice president’s most meme-worthy moments, including, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”

After the @BidenHQ official campaign X account transformed into @KamalaHQ, the campaign rapidly capitalized on Charli XCX’s viral post, updating its cover photo in the Brat album’s slime green shade with “kamala hq” in the same minimal black font. Not only that but Harris’s personal social media accounts also followed the pop star - on X and Instagram.

“Kamala Harris running for president in 2024 is so Brat summer and you can’t tell me otherwise,” one person tweeted, while another said: “The Brat summer x Kamala crossover wasn’t one I expected but am fully here for as my worlds collide.”