British singer song writer Charli XCX reclaimed the word brat. Photo: RNZ / Quin Tauetau
If you were ever called a brat, be glad. The old insult has a different spin.
The new brat is a counter-strike to the overly groomed, perfectly staged aesthetic and put together behaviour that has populated social media in recent years.
Yes, brat is a style -white singlets with no bra, lower back tattoos, smudged eyeliner, messy hair, square-framed sunglasses worn outside and inside. But more importantly, the new brat is an attitude that doesn't care and doesn't conform to expectations.
And frankly - being honest is brat - explaining this cultural moment is hard so let's start at the beginning
Who is Charli XCX?
Charli XCX is a British dance-electro-punk-pop musician. In June, she released her sixth studio album called brat. Its album cover, the word brat in Arial font on a lime green background, could have been done in Microsoft Word. Critics and fans quickly labelled Charli XCX's album the soundtrack for the Northern Hemisphere summer.
The album cover for brat. Photo: Charlie XCX
How does Charli XCX explain the cultural phenomenon of brat?
Brat is more than an album, it is a way of life. Lyrics such as "I went my own way and I made it" paint an image of a brat girl who is confident in her not caring.
As Charli XCX explained on TikTok: "You're just that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes… is very honest, very blunt, a little bit volatile."
She told the BBC that brat "can be quite luxury, but it can also be trashy. Just a pack of cigs, and a Bic lighter, and a strappy white top with no bra. That's kind of all you need".
Glamour Magazine put together an essential Brat style list of grimy neon palettes, makeup that looks like you left it on from the night before and unbrushed hair.
So brat is many, many things.
What is a #bratsummer?
It's all those brat things - lime green, trashy, messy, not caring - just in summer, which is happening now in the Northern Hemisphere, hence #bratsummer which has appeared almost 50,000 times on TikTok.
As Ensemble points out, New Zealand can embrace the brat winter, which could mean "hitting the club at 5pm on the dot because it's already dark," and "a celebration of the unhinged, messy and loud girlies that have always been told they're too much or difficult".
How did brat go from insult to compliment?
Brat is still those things that might have got you the "brat" label when you were five years old - misbehaving, a bit of an attitude and bucking what's expected of you. The difference is the new brat owns those things.
Where does Kamala Harris fit in?
The US Vice President and now presumptive Democrat nominee for president, Kamala Harris, already had a reputation for being herself, a core brat quality not often shared with politicians.
An example of this is in a press conference last year when Harris became animated while rehashing some of her mother's wisdom on existential existence. "I don't know what's wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?" mimicked Harris, before launching into a cackling laugh.
After President Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the presidential race and throwing his support behind Harris, her quick-thinking social media team rebranded her campaign account on X in the style of the Brat album cover - neon green with Ariel font. Harris' press conference which originally had her ridiculed by conservatives, resurfaced and was embraced by her supporters, inspiring countless coconut tree memes.
Harris soon had the ultimate brat endorsement. Hours after Biden's announcement, Charli XCX declared on X that "Kamala IS brat."