Trying very hard to explain what's going on with Kamala Harris and ...

I am trying to imagine telling me six months ago that I would be spending a random Tuesday in July writing an article about my favourite semi-mainstream, semi-underground pop star crossing over with the potential next president of the United States and feeling very surreal about it. But this is where we are. Brat summer and all it contains has reached fever pitch – after weeks of coconut tree memes and Brat crossovers, Charli XCX and Kamala Harris are in their respective primes and running parallel to each other online with major overlap. CNN last night discussed Charli XCX, Brat summer and Kamala Harris in a news report. This is where we’re at. But what does it all mean? Here, I will try as best as I possibly can to explain what the actual hell is going on with Charli XCX and Kamala Harris as Brat takes over the political stage.

I think first we need to get in to a little summary of Brat fever. Charli XCX released her sixth studio album this year, and it’s kinda changed everything. Charli has been a name in pop music who teetered on the hinge of mainstream and underground acclaim – with some early big chart success thanks to collars with Icona Pop and Iggy Azalea and the smash hit from The Fault in Our Stars soundtrack Boom Clap. Charli then went left field and collabed more with the PC Music collective and experimented with weirder sounds that made her a pioneer in pop, underrated by the mainstream but worshipped by music nerds and queer and LGBTQ+ fans.

After a few years of sort of balancing both sides of her artistry – with big hits on the Barbie soundtrack but still making weird pop that got acclaim but little chart rippling – Charli XCX has emerged in 2024 with her Brat album that has become the most critically acclaimed record of the year (and 16th most acclaimed ever) and her most commercially successful both in her native UK and in the US.

Whilst not outperforming the likes of Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department and Cowboy Carter by Beyoncé, Charli has done the unprecedented by leaning into viral phenomena and creating a Brat text generator that has resulted in endless memes and Brat becoming a conversation on everyone’s lips. As a huge fan, it’s surreal. My sister told me her straight lad ex boyfriend told her even he’d pressed play on it. This hasn’t really happened before.

‘Brat summer’ is everywhere. Charli describes Brat as a “pack of cigs, a Bic lighter and a strappy white top with no bra”. She also said

“You’re just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things some times. Who feels like herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of like parties through it, is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things. But it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat.”

And whilst Brat has been going crazy viral for Charli XCX, Kamala Harris has been memed to the high heavens, running in parallel. Kamala Harris said an anecdote of “You think you fell out of a coconut tree” and history was made – even before Joe Biden stepped out of the race and she became the Democrat candidate for president in this year’s election. Whilst everyone online has been making Kamala fan cams using the coconut tree meme, there has been a lot of Brat crossover.

Everyone woke up yesterday morning to see Charli XCX had tweeted “Kamala IS Brat”. The tweet has been viewed over 46 million times. Kamala Harris followed Charli XCX on Twitter and Instagram, and then proceeded to rebrand the official Kamala HQ Twitter account for the campaign to the Brat aesthetic using the generator.

This has caused a frenzy – because it’s pretty wild to see a future president lean into viral meme culture in such a major way. It’s also wild because the Dems are going hard on the whole Brat thing when the party record is pretty wild in its lyrics that reference drug use – 365 contains the lyrics “shall we do a little key, shall we have a little line.”

It’s got to the point where yesterday CNN had a panel of political commentators on to discuss how Charli XCX and Brat might genuinely influence the election and Kamala Harris’ campaign. It’s a bit unprecedented to see pop music and gay twitter meme culture become such high profile news.

The Kamala Harris campaign raised a record breaking $81 million in its first 24 hours. Maybe the Charli effect works after all. Bumpin’ that.

• Think you just fell out of a coconut tree? Here’s the crazy Kamala Harris meme explained

• Here’s how much Charli XCX is allegedly making in royalties whilst we have a Brat summer

• This is exactly which Brat song each UK uni would be based on vibes and vibes alone