In mid July of this year, I was in the car with my dad. We had just arrived home when suddenly he asked, “What is brat?”
”Brat?” I asked.
“Yeah, uh, like brat summer?”
I honestly didn’t know a single thing about what he was talking about. I pulled out my phone, went to Safari, and searched whatever he was rambling about, unaware of what was to come. As the screen loaded and the results poured in, I sat there dumbfounded of what 2024’s summer had become. What is ‘brat summer'?
On June 7, 2024, English singer and songwriter Charli XCX released her sixth studio album titled “brat”. You may know her from her collaboration with Icona Pop to create “I Love It” or her music from the Barbie Movie “Speed Drive”. The album features a total of 15 tracks, with three more added in her deluxe album, all having electronic pop styles. The album cover follows the same pattern as her past albums, now featuring a memorable lime green background with blurry black arial text displaying the simple word: “brat”. The album debuted at #2 on the Official UK’s Album Chart and was received well by many the public. Almost too well…
Immediately, fans poured all over social media praising Charli and declaring for this summer to become brat themed. Charli describes her album as “me, my flaws, my f--- ups, my ego all rolled into one.” She also described the “brat” aesthetic in a TikTok interview, saying, “You’re that girl who is a bit messy and loves to party and maybe says dumb things sometimes. She’s honest, blunt and a little bit volatile. That’s Brat.” The aesthetic follows the uprising of y2k, while also implementing being wild, and standing out.
Apple Dance, Kamala Harris, DTI
Although the “brat” album stands alone by itself, there were also many other factors that contributed to its fame.
A popular contributor would be the “Apple Dance”. Choreographed by Kelley Heyer on TikTok, the dance is based off “Apple” from Charli XCX’s album. In an interview with Guardian, Kelley Heyer says, “The rhythm in Apple made me want to dance in a certain way… I basically woke up, stood in front of a mirror and took everything from the lyrics.” The dance blew up overnight with a lot of people finding the dance simple to replicate and post. Many tiktokers and celebrities jumped on the “brat” chain with the Apple Dance.
The next big contributor is Kamala Harris in mid July. During the ongoing 2024 presidential election, we had received news regarding Joe Biden dropping out of the race and instead endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. While many news stations were bustling about this new change for the elections this coming November, Charli XCX (although being British and not eligible to vote in the US) took to Twitter just a day after, stating: “kamala IS brat.”
Her tweet took off, spiraling into many memes regarding Harris. However, it also boosted her ongoing popularity. The Kamala HQ also embraced this culture, sporting the new look of their banner, the lime green background of brat with “kamala hq” in that same black text. Charli’s tweet certainly made Harris appealing to the young Gen Z and may be the reason for some of her votes in the upcoming election.
Our last contributor would be the hit Roblox game, “Dress to Impress”. If you aren’t aware, “Dress to Impress” (or DTI for short) is a fashion game where you dress up and create outfits based on a theme while competing against other players. The game surged in popularity for its fun & simple mechanics. It has great graphics that appeal to teenagers and children alike, as well as story and lore that developers have created to keep players engaged. On August 17th, a “brat” update was added to the game, which had many players surprised by the collaboration with Charli XCX.
The game update featured many “brat” related items, including clothing items and poses, new themes to match the “brat summer” aesthetic and a map revamp to show off the neon green that took over the summer. Many fans were pleasantly surprised with this update, and was definitely an introduction to the “brat summer” for those who were not active in the music world.
Unlike 2023’s Barbie summer, our world was shaken by the neon green of Charli XCX. Along with great music being released, “brat” created a new subculture, completely transforming and dominating 2024’s summer. So… what’s next? Will our next season be Lana Autumn with her upcoming release of “Lasso”? Or perhaps a Goth Winter may be brewing up a storm. Whatever happens next, it's safe to say our viral era of Brat Summer was certainly a great one.
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