If you are online, you may have encountered the phrase “brat”, which has taken the internet by storm for the past few months. The textbook definition states that a brat is “a child, typically a badly behaved one” but the brat I am referring to is different. This type of brat characterizes a carefree behavior that borrows from the early 2000s Y2K aesthetic. Since the release of Charlie XCX’s sixth studio album in June 2024 entitled “Brat”, the summer was henceforth declared a “Brat Summer”. However, some argue that a brat summer is more than a momentary trend and has instead become a way of life. Let’s take an in-depth look at the album and why “Brat” seems to have such a hold on pop culture. 

Brat is a 15-track album allotting a listening time of 41 minutes and 30 seconds. Beginning with a track entitled “360” and ending with “365”, Charli XCX uses just a small piece of time to take listeners through a complete journey. These songs feature a lively club sound directly influenced by Charli’s experiences as a rave DJ. Charli frequently partners with “Boiler Room”, which is a brand that televises underground music worldwide to a large online audience. Sets are meant to be intimate, with guests close to the DJ booth. Through this and her previous albums, Charli has created a close relationship with her fans which undoubtedly contributed to the popularity of Brat. Still, with five previous albums, why was Brat her most successful? 

Brat was Chari XCX’s highest charting album, debuting at number 3 on Billboard 200. By commercial metrics, it was a hit as well with the debut being her biggest sales week and streaming week. Even more impressive, it is her highest-selling U.S. album ever and tapped into a market that her previous albums struggled to. Some attribute Brat’s success to social media sites such as TikTok and Instagram. This argument has an issue when considering that her 5th studio album, Crash, was released in just 2022. TikTok was arguably quite popular during this time, so if it is the reason for Brat’s success then it should have made Crash successful too. However, as Charli describes it, Crash was “vanilla pop” and Brat was a risky experimental combination of sounds that gave listeners fresh air. I personally listen to slower songs, but Brat took me by surprise. It has such an infectious sound that I too found myself singing songs like “Von Dutch”. And so, people of varying ages, beliefs, and preferences found themselves having a “Brat Summer” and don’t plan on leaving it. 

Brat has even been used as a marketing tool for the Kamala Harris campaign. On X, “Kamala HQ” mimicked the lime green background and black font that Charli used on her album cover. Kamala has been able to appeal to a world of young voters by engaging with this trend and fans have even said that Kamala is “Brat”. With Brat putting such a stamp on pop culture many believe that it is here to stay. Perhaps this freeness is exactly what people need.