In the summer of 2024, Charli XCX released her album “Brat,” which quickly became viral due to its vibrant nature and the collaborations that were featured. Simultaneously, it was announced that Joe Biden would be dropping out of the presidential race and that Kamala Harris would be replacing him.
A presidential election and the album release of a pop star don’t seem to be two things that would overlap. However, politics and media have always been interlinked, and this is no exception. The trend began after the pop star tweeted that ‘Kamala IS brat.’
This brought together two popular trends, and turned it into a voice for Gen Z. This soon led to the summer of 2024 being known as “Brat Summer,” and it will forever be associated with XCX and Harris’ campaign.
In addition to the Harris campaign, the famous pop star has also allied herself with other social movements, such as the LGBTQ+ rights movement. With previous speculations of her sexuality, she clarified that she was straight, but made sure to show her support for the queer community in previous interviews.
Throughout her career, she has upheld this by regularly collaborating with queer artists such as Troye Sivan and Kim Petras, as well as fostering a safe space where queer fans can express themselves.
In addition to bringing a political campaign to life, XCX has also been a significant contributing factor to keeping the partying culture alive. In a time where people are glued to their phones and romanticizing tradwife culture, there is no doubt that partying culture has universally died down. However, XCX has helped bring life back to the partying scene through her music.
‘BRAT’ is all about being a little messy and dancing your problems away at a party.
XCX has admitted that she would ask her parents to take her to raves as a teenager and felt like partying was in her words, “part of my DNA.” This is seen in her music as it doesn’t feel performative, but more so, part of her identity.
Arguably, the most popular song from ‘BRAT’ is ‘Girl, so confusing’ featuring the pop star Lorde. The two stars have often been compared in the media as they have similar features and emerged in popularity at the same time. Due to this, the two stars had some secret animosity between each other which XCX expressed in the original version of the song.
This led to Lorde responding, and two pop stars worked it out on the remix. The theme of this song is universally common amongst female friendships as the resentment and comparison that sometimes exists can make it easy to forget the love that is shared. This song pointed this idea out and showed women that openly talking about their insecurities and rekindling their friendship is something that so many of us can relate to.
XCX has been culturally significant not only in the realm of pop, but also in politics and even became the forefront of a political campaign. She has become a voice for this generation’s fight against conservatism and has proudly endorsed this title.
So, the next time you feel like you’re being too messy or feel like your life is falling apart a little, remember that you have one pop star who’s got your back.