You may feel out of the loop if you’ve been on X, Instagram, TikTok and Reddit as of late, wondering: “Why do people keep talking about brats?” Other new catchphrases you might have come across include “So Julia,” “365 party girl,” “bumpin’ that” and last but not least, the pop culture moniker of summer 2024: “brat summer.”
If all of this sounds like gibberish, it is.
But it’s brought the internet — particularly Millennials and Gen Zs — a much-needed sense of frivolous fun and glamour.
The concept began with the June 7 release of “brat,” the bold and brash club-pop/hyperpop sixth album by British musician Charli XCX. Though she’s been very successful — and influential — in the decade since her debut, “brat” marks a significant mainstream success for the 31 year-old best known for hits like “Boom Clap” and “Boys.”
The tracklist of “brat” features a variety of dance-pop and electronic songs, often reminiscent of techno music from the 1990s and early 2000s. The album’s iconic but polarizing neon green cover also helped propel “brat” into meme-status, with several online generators created that mimic the album’s somewhat visually offensive shade of green and black Arial font (see the featured image on this very story for a visual example).
The album received much critical acclaim, including the prized “Best New Music” label by music outlet Pitchfork, and shot to no. 3 on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts. The album and its themes of empowerment through friendship, having fun and partying particularly resonated with women and the LGBTQ community, especially amid ongoing political turmoil that directly affects them. Though it should be noted that listeners of all sexual identities and genders have notably been excited by this album.
Over the weeks since the release of “brat,” the music, the memes and the club aesthetics it references morphed into “brat summer” — which is kind of this year’s big internet phrase named after a kind of mindset and outlook on life. One notable previous version of this is the Megan Thee Stallion-inspired “Hot Girl Summer,” which encouraged everyone (not just girls) to feel confident and proud of the way that they look.
The concept of “brat summer” is much the same, though with a slightly very-Millennial bent. As with anything relating to Millennials’ lives, there’s also a darker meaning behind the partying, too. Essentially, “brat summer” encourages enjoying life as much as you can in spite of the struggles you’re facing.
Millennials, the beleaguered generation that Charli herself belongs to, have faced seemingly endless setbacks in their quest for adulthood, and all the trappings that they were brought up to signify being an “adult.” As many Millennials give up hope of ever owning a home or raising a family without going into further debt, a prevailing attitude among many is to just enjoy trips, friends and experiences while we still can.
Though “brat” does focus on partying and having fun, some of the albums’ more introspective tracks find the artist opening up about struggles many Millennials are facing as they near their 40s or enter them. For instance, “Rewind,” finds XCX lamenting her youth, when she was more carefree and confident in herself. Meanwhile, tracks like “So I” and “I think about it all the time” explore the loss of a close friend and the conflict/fear of deciding to have a child.
As we near the end of July, “brat” fever has infiltrated mainstream in ways you might not be aware of. It’s found its way into the new presidential campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris (more on that below) and even into a fake letter posted online claiming former Pres. Jimmy Carter had died (which the Carter Center assured was not true).
Additionally, have you seen an “Apple dance” trend on TikTok? That would be track 11 on “brat.”
Now that you’ve gotten the background, here’s a quick vocabulary lesson on some “brat”isms you may be seeing a lot of.
‘Brat’ vocabulary
“365 party girl” — Anyone — man or woman — who parties hard and often (figuratively, 365 days a year) and is loving life. A lyric from the closing track of “brat,” the infectious and overwhelming “365.”
“bumpin’ that” — A lyric featured in both album opener “360” and its counterpart, the aforementioned “365.” May be slang for “jamming out to your favorite songs” or a reference to certain party drugs.
“Let’s work it out on the remix” — A lyric sung by New Zealand musician Lorde in her verse on the “Girl, so confusing” remix. While the version featured on “brat” doesn’t feature Lorde, the song discusses XCX’s strained relationship with Lorde, whom the internet has often compared to Charli. According to Lorde’s verse on the remix, while she was shocked to hear that Charli had felt slighted by her, she said she “wanted to work it out on the remix” — the phrase instantly become a meme-able moment and a phrase to say amid a disagreement with friends.
“So Julia” — This lyric, sung by Charli on “360,” is a reference to the social media influencer Julia Fox, known for her role in the Adam Sandler drama “Uncut Gems,” in addition to her style and dating life. On “360,” Charli sings “I’m everywhere, I’m so Julia” — the phrase is a jokingly boastful exclamation about her own influence, which, like Fox’s, can be seen everywhere. “So Julia” can be used as a compliment for something you or someone else do that’s great (“That’s so Julia”!)
“The airport” — Can be heard on the TikTok hit “Apple,” in which Charli discusses her sometimes-tense relationship with her own parents. In the song, XCX sings that her parents never seem to understand her, so she leaves their home and drives to “the airport, the airport, the airport, the airport, etc.”
“You walk like a b—h” — Another lyric sung by Lorde on the “Girl, so confusing” remix. The singer explains that she’s often insecure about how she comes off — an insecurity that dates back to when she was 10 years-old and someone told her she walked like a “b—h.”
‘Kamala is brat’
Finally, this past weekend, VP Kamala Harris — now presidential nominee Harris — became a major fixture in the world of “brat.”
The Harris-XCX connection occurred after three things happened: 1) social media users began making edited videos (also called fancams) of Harris’ various viral moments with songs from “brat” laid over them 2) the videos spreading so far they made it onto national news broadcasts and eventually the actual Harris campaign embraced the memes and 3) Charli herself repaying the favor by posting on X: “Kamala IS brat.”
The Charli post only sent the memes and videos into overdrive (cue Charli’s previous hit “Vroom Vroom”), with a seemingly endless stream of “coconut tree” and “existing in the context” content taking over social media sites.
Though July is nearly over, there’s still plenty of time to enjoy “brat summer.” You’ve got until Sept. 22 to keep bumpin’ that.
