When Charli XCX wrote her sixth studio album, “Brat”, the now 32-year-old singer had spent years living on the fringes of the general public’s consciousness. In 2014, Charli XCX scored two top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. In the 10 years since then, the singer had failed to chart any songs within the top 10. A large part of “Brat” focuses on the pop star’s complex relationship with success and fame.
“I used to never think about Billboard / But now I’ve started thinkin’ again / Wonderin’ ’bout whether I think I deserve commercial success,” Charli XCX rapped on “Rewind”, one of the featured songs on “Brat.”
In the track “I might say something stupid,” she sings about the paradox of how she is famous but at the same time not. It is ironic then, that “Brat” has become Charli’s most successful-selling album to date, spawning a cultural phenomenon with its neon green album cover and bold aesthetic. Five months after its release, the color fluorescent green has become almost synonymous with the album; everyone from teenagers on TikTok to U.S. Presidential candidates has had a “brat summer,” and Charli XCX is more famous than ever.
It is only fitting that Charli XCX’s imperial phase continues alongside her “Brat” era, and continuous releases have only bolstered her popularity. Most recently, Charli XCX released “Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat,” a companion album where each song is remixed with a feature from another artist. However, instead of a typical remix, the featured artist just adds some vocal flairs or a verse. Many of the songs on this album are completely reworked, taking only the bare bones of the original song and creating an entirely new melody or re-centering around a different theme.
Take for example the remix of “Sympathy is a knife featuring ariana grande”; this does both. In the original “Sympathy is a knife,” Charli XCX showcases the “Brat” signature — brutal honesty — while bemoaning the internal comparisons her head performs. In the remix, in addition to writing a completely new melody, she shifts the song’s focus to the pressures of the newfound fame she previously, during “Brat,” longed for: “It’s a knife when you’re finally on top / ‘Cause logically the next step is they wanna see you fall to the bottom.” Much of the remix album has shifted thematically away from longing for fame and instead addresses the negative effects that come with it, an inevitable change in perspective that Charli XCX’s audience can watch happen in real time as her fame grows.
Furthermore, Charli XCX’s success with “Brat” has allowed her to become even more self-referential on “Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat”. On the original “Club classics,” Charli XCX sampled old interview clips of herself in the intro, and the song had lyrics such as, “When I go to the club, I wanna hear those club classics,” and “I wanna dance to me”. In its remix featuring bb trickz, Charli XCX sings the same lyrics, but also samples “365,” another song from “Brat,” implying that the “club classic” that she wants to hear is “365.”
Although “Brat Summer” led to an influx of internet memes and viral trends like the “Apple” dance, its impact on Charli XCX’s career may be overstated. After influencing a U.S. election and trending for months on end, one might think that “Brat” would be at least the most popular release of 2024. Instead, “Brat” has been incredibly overshadowed and outstreamed by Billie Eilish’s “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” and Ariana Grande’s “Eternal Sunshine.” While it may have been ridiculous to compare Charli XCX with Billie Eilish or Ariana Grande just a few months ago, her omnipresent figure has seemingly captured the ever-fleeting monoculture, making her success appear equal to theirs. However, Charli XCX’s music, even “Brat,” has not felt the full extent of her recent main-pop-girl-ification.
