“Did I think me talking about being a messy bitch and, like, partying and needing a Bic lighter and a pack of Marlboro Lights would end up on CNN? No”: Charli XCX on Brat’s viral success and that tweet

She’s undoubtedly been the artist of the summer. Now Charli XCX has spoken about her surprise when her Brat concept and the ‘Kamala IS Brat’ Twitter/X post suddenly became post a talking point in the US election campaign last month.

The comment quickly went viral and before she knew the Harris campaign had adopted it and were using a new Twitter banner in the style of Brat's instantly-recognisable lurid green artwork. 

Then a TikTok video was knocked up of Harris with 360 as its soundtrack and Charli and the whole ‘Brat’ aesthetic were being discussed by earnest news anchors and their guests on CNN. Not the sort of thing that was originally on the Essex-raised singer’s to-do list for 2024.

In an interview with Vulture she admitted. “I obviously knew what I was doing,” before adding: “Did I think me talking about being a messy bitch and, like, partying and needing a Bic lighter and a pack of Marlboro Lights would end up on CNN? No.”

“To be on the right side of democracy, the right side of women’s rights, is hugely important to me,” the singer said. “I’m happy to help to prevent democracy from failing forever.”

Contradicting herself somewhat, she added that despite that she doesn’t consider herself a ‘political artist’. “I’m not Bob Dylan, and I’ve never pretended to be. My music is not political. Everything I do in my life feeds back into my art. Everything I say, wear, think, enjoy – it all funnels back into my art. Politics doesn’t feed my art.”

In the same interview she revealed that she has been in the studio working with Bon Iver and Danielle Haim and that she has another “full-length other project” in the works. She didn’t elaborate on whether this meant a remix album or a mixtape of some description. “But it’s definitely in the bratosphere, so to speak,” she said.

Charli xcx - 360 (official video) - YouTube

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So whilst we might be nearing the end of the Brat summer, don’t expect things to go quiet on the Charli XCX front just yet. Already she’s teased a remix of 360 that interpolates Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams. 

There’s the Mercury ceremony in September, for which Brat has to be among the favourites and oh yes, the little matter of the Brat tour, which kicks off in Detroit in mid September and makes it way over to the UK late November.

In short - if you’re not already sick of hearing the word ‘brat’, by the end of 2024 you definitely will be.