Girl, It's So Confusing Sometimes To Be a 'Brat'

Why I'm still "bumpin' that" long after Brat summer and the genius behind Charli XCX's seminal work.

'Brat' album cover

The last thing I would describe myself as is a 365 party girl, or “so Julia,” or a brat. Yet, I’m still playing Charli XCX’s sixth studio album long after Brat Summer is over. Why? The cultural phenomenon of "Brat" has overshadowed the fact that this album is so much more than it appears, much like Charli herself. 

Outside of the viral TikTok dances, abrasive neon green, and the sunglasses worn in the club, Brat's sincerity is a deep dive into a cultural moment of identity confusion for millions of young people. There's been a cultural shift bubbling up over the past couple of years - "clean girl," "vanilla girl," "IT girl." This performance of nonchalance is only that, a performance. Hiding a deeper, unspoken conversation between a generation who feels more disconnected and isolated than ever. The internet has magnified the stage, specifically for women, constantly making them feel they must adopt an easily digestible and distinguishable persona. Cringe is a word that has spread like wildfire online. Failing is cringe, trying is cringe, being ugly is cringe, being awkward is cringe, oversharing is cringe, and being yourself is cringe. That's the message subtly but constantly dominating the conversation. So while Charli may play the hot, cool girl in the corner of the rave, don't conduce her to be that one note. "Brat" is confessing that isn’t the whole story.

If you asked an average person what "Brat" is about, they would probably tell you it's a bona fide electro club album. And yes, that is true. But the duplicity and genuine vulnerability hidden behind the hyper-pop beats is the album's true genius and what keeps me returning to it. “Brat” can be seen as two conversations; one is about Charli XCX, the famous person, and the other about Charli XCX, the person. These two are battling against each other, clutching the mic in a desperate attempt to be heard. Songs like "Von Dutch" highlight her place in cultural conversation as a topic of obsession. She's playing the nonchalant attitude to the full extent here, "it's ok to just admit that you're jealous of me," she sings in the first line. They overlap when Charli talks about how she feels about her famous self compared to her old life. "Rewind" is the pivotal example of this. Longing for a simpler time, she talks about wishing she didn’t care about Billboard and how she used to sit in her room painting her toenails without care. It’s laced with the discomfort she feels about the performance of being famous and doing celebrity things, like calling the paparazzi or pining for commercial success. “Brat” asks the question: Is it bad to want it? Is it bad to embrace that cringe and try? This topic comes up again in "Sympathy is a Knife," a track rumored to be about Taylor Swift. Swift's commercial success is undeniable, especially in the past year, as she has dominated culture on a commercial level that has never before been seen. Charlie sings, "I couldn't even be her if I tried; I'm opposite; I'm on the other side." But that realization doesn’t quiet the evil head of jealousy. Taylor has never been shy about her desire to make it, garnering much criticism throughout her career. Yet, she keeps succeeding. So, while Charlie is forced to perform this unconcerned attitude, Taylor continues to climb, unafraid of displaying her hunger. The thing is, Charli's self-aware of this fear, and “Brat” is so successful because she is finally embracing this desire to want it.

When it comes to music, authenticity always wins. Not only did Charli produce a contemporary confessional work, but she then innovated again with the remix album "brat and it's completely different but it's still brat." Charli takes the original concepts of the songs and reinvents them to describe new challenges in a post-Brat world where she's infinitely more famous. Again, we can look at "Sympathy is a Knife." The remix, featuring Ariana Grande, is no more a commentary on the girl Charli didn't want to see backstage at her boyfriend's show. It's been flipped on its head to talk about how different her stature in the world is now. "It's a knife when you're finally on top 'cause logically, the next step is they want to see you fall to the bottom," she and Ariana sing. This song isn't only a commentary on Charli but also on Ariana. A hot topic during the release of this album, Ariana adds another layer of cultural relevance and commentary to "Brat," discussing the analysis of her body, face, and fall from grace in the public eye. The exit of the body positivity movement is clear, and Ariana Grande is one of its worst victims. What Charli highlights more than ever is this shift in toxic judgment, assumption and the expectation of perfection. Every blink, movement, or choice is dissected for public consumption. "All this expectation is a knife," she writes. This is exemplified by unachievable beauty standards becoming common trends on online platforms. Do you have doe eyes? What about siren eyes? A round face or a square face? One common slight to Ariana Grande - she’s skinny but is so too skinny? It seems 2000’s fashion isn’t the only trend from that era coming back. We brought the toxic diet culture with it.

“Sympathy” isn’t the first or last time body insecurity comes up on “Brat,” and it's far from the last time Charli talks about comparing herself to other women. Take "Girl, so confusing." How can you not feel insecure in a social age of constant comparison? This is what Charli explores in this song and again in the remix version, featuring the song's muse, Lorde. The original is Charli vocalizing her uncertainty about where they stand and the pressure of the public constantly comparing them, "can't tell if you want to see me falling over and failing," she repeats in the song's pre-chorus. The remix adds new context, with Lorde also bearing her insecurities. In an "it's not you, it's me" fashion, Lorde confesses she never had feelings against Charli; she, too, was fighting her innermost demons. Lorde sings, “‘Cause for the last couple years. I’ve been at war with my body. I tried to starve myself thinner.” It’s a lesson in the ignorance of assumptions and a toxic culture of comparison. Behind every dispassionate party girl or sardonic poet, "a young girl from Essex" is fighting her own insecurities. Again, Charli captures the confusion this generation feels about who to be, with the phrase “it’s so confusing sometimes to be a girl” going viral. 

"Brat" is an onion constantly revealing itself. Charli's desire to open herself up so holistically has brought her into a new stratosphere of success. She created an album so personal that it became universal. The embrace of “Brat” is the rebellion of the exhibitionist perfection. “Brat” is messy, it’s unruly, and it’s freeing. It's something you want to get up and dance to, but the candidness is what makes it so relatable and re-listenable. Only by sharing her ugliest truths and deepest wounds could Charli capture the zeitgeist of this social media era. If being "Brat' means being vulnerable, then we should all be more brat.