A Summative Review of Brat Summer

On June 7,  2024, Charli XCX released her album, Brat, debuting as her highest-charting album in the U.S. Not only did this album surmount to critical acclaim, popularity on social media, a significant brand, and notable features with other influenced artists, but it also served as an epicenter for the defining term of the 2024 summer season, “Brat Summer.”

Whether it was at a boiler room show, blasting in people’s cars, or used for “TikTok” dances, there’s no denying how intertwined Brat became with Gen Z culture this summer. The vivid lime green hue and Arial font set the brand apart for its simplistic, yet meaningful motivation, with most of the Brat album and movement advocating for a rally on women’s expression.

Simone Carroll, a Music Major at Cal State Northridge and an active member of the Los Angeles Music Scene, shares her perspective on the Brat album’s popularity in the context of the 2024 social and political culture.

“I took a class and it was about culture, and sort of, the waves of culture and how it just swings like a pendulum. So all my professors last year were fully anticipating a wave of women’s music, and Charli XCX brought that with Brat and its marketing,” said Carroll.

This wave of music doesn’t exist with Charli XCX exclusively, as shown through Brat’s collaboration with Billie Eilish. In August 2024, upon the release of “Guess” featuring Billie Eilish, the internet was enlightened and in admiration of Eilish’s proud and honest LGBTQ+ expression in her verse. 

In Eilish’s 2024 album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, she features songwriting that told a story about her experiences as a bisexual woman. This was prevalent in “Lunch,” a song exploring her relationship with a female muse. Throughout this album, Eilish exhibits a modern transparency of identity at a major radio level that has been virtually untraceable in the past decade. 

Women’s Expression Then and Today 

While “Brat Summer” offered extensive opportunities for past trending artists to shine their new work, it also made waves for women re-branding their music and artistry. 

More specifically, Sabrina Carpenter’s sixth studio album, Short n’ Sweet, completely reinstated Sabrina as an artist. In Short n’ Sweet, Carpenter exhibits the innermost, unfiltered expressions of her experience as a woman, both in love and loss.

Sabrina characterized this album and brand with light, buoyant colors, and her classic makeup and hair compositions. They are reminiscent of a 1950s style that reflects on the femininity of the past while embodying the uninhibited nature of her modern womanhood. Lyrically, this album explores the heartening emotions of love and attraction, while acknowledging her self-worth and value, reflecting the key elements of honest femininity and confidence present in “Brat Summer.” 

Additionally, it is undeniable that Chappell Roan has completely changed what it means for women to demonstrate their identity and beliefs in the music industry. Throughout her branding and signature motifs, Roan explores the fun and eccentric sides of fashion and performing. With this, she is connecting her femininity with extraordinary expression. 

Roan utilizes her promotion of drag queen culture and her musical identity as a gay woman to put her avocation for spirited disclosure at the forefront of her movement as an artist. Roan’s public acknowledgements and musical dedications to the LGBTQ+ community create a role model relationship with her fans, building communities for those who lack this allyship. Additionally, in a majority of her songs, Roan flaunts her position as a woman of groundbreaking exhibition, and echoes a mission for her audience that encourages them to join her in the crusade of effervescent femininity.

Among a student-conducted, non-peer-reviewed survey of the student body, at least  72% of the questioned respondents confirmed their acknowledgment of emerging waves of female artistry, namely with Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. Additionally, 50% of the student body selected that they listened to Chappell Roan on a daily or weekly basis. The trends and interests of local students exemplify the mainstream effects of “Brat Summer” and how it impacts student’s perspectives and music taste. 

Chappell Roan’s skyrocketing success and notoriety marks a groundbreaking asset to the woman-embodied pop scene of 2024. Despite this, Roan is not the first woman in the music industry to break boundaries of expression. 

When it comes to the 80s, and the achievement of women’s expression and liberation, Madonna is a staple in the confident feminine culture she helped establish. Most predominantly, her album, Like a Virgin, exhibited the diverse ranges of femininity she expressed as a pioneer of woman in pop. 

Whether it was the more scandalous lyrics of the title track, “Like a Virgin,” or the pop-centric empowerment track, “Material Girl,” Madonna stood for a new dimension of expression in the more conservative era of the 80s. Through her style and pop music, Madonna set the visual era of the 80s apart by inspiring the prominent vibrant colors, and extensive styles that characterize the decade to this day. 

Through the use of alter egos for performance like Chappell Roan and Madonna’s the music industry creates a second dimension of identity for the performers and listeners.

Popular music programs such as Huntington Beach High School’s Academy of the Performing Art’s (HBHS APA) very own Music Media Entertainment Technology (MMET) program serves as an example of the industry on a concentrated scale; a microcosm. 

Distinctively, in “Playlist,” MMET’s all-original and contemporary music show, music from the previous five years is featured along with more than a dozen original songs written and composed by MMET students. In terms of this guild as an industry in itself, songs are chosen based on relevancy as well as advocacy, guild director Nicole Kubis explains.

“We’ve worked hard to make sure everyone’s vision gets heard, and are being conscious of the music we choose, wanting the lyrics and artists to be inclusive, and for them to be valued by the students,” said Kubis.

One of the many women songwriters that will be featured in “Playlist,” HBHS student Storm Anderson, speaks on her perspective of feminism and women’s opportunity in MMET.

“90% of MMET vocalists are female, so why wouldn’t we try to highlight more of these female artists? Especially in our benefit shows, in whatever genre, not just pop,” Anderson said.

Anderson’s vision for a more diverse culture of music, not just in the pop genre, emphasizes the necessity of women’s voices in the music industry. 

In the pursuit of her album, Charli XCX has redefined the insult of Brat, which is often cast on young women, to stand for empowerment, liberation, and careless enjoyment. Through this marketing, she is debilitating the effects of misogyny and prejudice on consumers, and sending a message to reject bitterness, and instead have strength and resilience.

A Women’s Renaissance in Modern Times

The shining moments of the “Brat Summer” period such as a renaissance of women’s music and LGBTQ+ expression not only transcended the music industry, but created a fan base of people of many different backgrounds and identities. This all-encompassing support of these women artists standing for issues exhibits how a cause can turn into a full-force movement, and even explains how “Brat Summer” rose to such high notoriety, because it was accepted and adored by all.

Innovative movements like “Brat Summer” serve as a reminder of where music and the industry has come from, and where it lies now. As the world moves forward into a new era of women-led movements, music, businesses, and possibly countries, it will be refreshing to observe how people work to redefine standards, shift culture, and inspire the next generation.