Brat Summer: The Hyper-Mainstreamification of Charli XCX

"This is going to sound really cunty but it is hard being ahead", said Charli XCX during her music video 360's viewing party in LA. 

Since its release this last June, it seems like all anyone can talk about is Brat, Charli XCX's sixth and latest studio album. Brat is not only the album Charli XCX always wanted to make but it is also the one that has garnered her the most critical and commercial success as of yet. Those who have been following Charli’s career for the last decade or so know that, however, this last record is nothing extraordinary compared to her previous work since 2016. "Charli’s been doing this," as Lorde puts it. The rest of the world is just now catching up to her. So what is it in the cultural climate in 2024 that has allowed the general public to finally receive both Charli’s sonics and style with fully open arms? We believe that the current Uranus-Pluto trine, as well as the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction happening in the sky might have something to do with it. 

"Charli XCX is living proof that, sometimes, it takes 10 years to be an overnight success and that, sometimes, the universe is preparing you for your moment” says YouTuber Nicky Reardon in his YouTube video The Untold Lore of Charli XCX and Brat. Charli’s beginnings within the music industry are, if anything, Plutonic. As reported in an interview with Dazed in 2009 (when she was only 16), she began her career performing at London’s illegal rave scene (again, when she was only 16!). She then went on to sign a recording contract with Asylum Records and rose to prominence with her collaboration with Swedish duo Icona Pop on I Love It (2012), as well as with her contribution in Iggy Azalea’s Fancy in 2014 and her single Boom Clap from that same year (which was featured in the film The Fault in Our Stars). While she clearly experienced a noticeable amount of fame during her early years, it was not until 2015, when she began collaborating with PC Music founder A.G. Cook and legendary producer Sophie, that the cutting-edge and experimental Charli XCX we all know and love began to take shape. 

Charli’s EP Vroom Vroom in 2016, which marked the drastic shift in style and sound from her previous albums, was released to divided reviews and was even given a 4.5 out of 10 from Pitchfork at the time. “8 years later, the release of the Vroom Vroom EP marks a monumental moment in what pop music has shifted towards today and people are now realizing how ahead of her time Charli and her collaborators have been”, says YouTuber ViDEOGirL in her YouTube video The Hyper-Mainstreamification of Charli XCX (and clearly the one I stole this article’s title from). Since then and regardless of ambivalent critical acclaims, Charli has carried on with this sound and still collaborates with producer A.G. Cook (RIP Sophie, who tragically died in January 2021).  

The genre of music developed by Charli XCX, A.G. Cook, Sophie and others has often been labeled as ‘hyperpop’. “Hyperpop uses the conventional form of a pop song progression but pushes everything else to its extremes”, says Lucas De Lellis for The Gazelle. “Glitches, metallic sound synths and distorted vocals are some of the common features of a hyperpop song”, he adds. But the most important feature of hyperpop might be, however, its refusal to conform. In fact the term ‘hyperpop’ was actually coined by Spotify when it created a playlist (with the term as its title, of course) for a collection of music and artistic circles the industry didn’t have a name for yet (also see: 100 gecs, Dorian Electra, Hannah Diamond, etc.). 

All throughout these years since 2016, as Kristin Robinson for Billboard puts it, Charli has “amassed cultural cachet as an artist far quicker than commercial successes”. “Her cultlike fandom primarily comprising queer kids and partiers (or queer kid partiers) have lauded her as a pop innovator for years, one so cool that the mainstream just didn’t get it”, she adds. Even though she had already built an ultra-devoted fanbase, it is with Brat that we see Charli being propelled back into mainstream conversation since I Love It, Fancy and Boom Clap. And this is due to several reasons. 

The current trends in both music and fashion, for starters, all point to the direction of Charli. Over the last few years, since hyperpop began to emerge during the pandemic, the genre has been increasingly growing in popularity. This year, we have even seen mainstream artists (like Camila Cabello with her single I Luv It) incorporate hyperpop into their music. Along the same lines, we have seen a big resurgence in electronic music for the last few years. Examples of this are Beyonce’s album Renaissance, as well as artist Fred Again’s success as an electronic musician. Therefore, listeners are much more receptive to these types of sonics than they were eight years ago when the Vroom Vroom EP came out. In fashion, on the other hand, what is trending in 2024 can be described as ‘alternative’ and ‘edgy’. As ViDEOGiRL puts it, in 2024, “it is in to be weird”. “There is more emphasis on having a personal aesthetic that derives from a more ‘niche’ style/group of people”, she adds. In this way we see that Charli, not only in music but also in fashion, has for some years been doing exactly what is on trend in 2024. 

Brat (2024): Jupiter-Uranus and Uranus-Pluto

As stated, I believe that two of the current planetary transits have created the perfect cultural atmosphere for an album like Brat to flourish this summer: Uranus trine Pluto, as well as Jupiter conjunct Uranus. 

The Uranus-Pluto archetype is characteristic of, perhaps more than anything, revolution. Examples of this in history would be the decade of the 1960’s (1960 to 1972, to be exact), in which there was a Uranus-Pluto conjunction, as well as the period of the French Revolution (1787 to 1798, specifically), in which there was a Uranus-Pluto opposition. Distinguishing themes of Uranus-Pluto eras are those of female empowerment, lgbtq+ rights, the rise and empowerment of countercultures, the reclamation of wildness, the liberation of Dionysian energies, among others. Interestingly, within Charli’s music and persona (and, particularly, within Brat) we can see all of these themes clearly present. 

While Charli garnered a considerable amount of mainstream fame at the beginning of her career, it is safe to say that, since she began collaborating with PC Music and Sophie, she has been a (crucial) part of the counterculture within the pop and electronic scenes. What is interesting with Charli is that she has not been part of the mainstream all throughout these years not because she could not do it but because she did not want to. During the interview with Dazed in 2009, she said: “I want to prove to people that you don’t have to become this big, commercial pop writing machine to be successful. You can just do whatever you want and it will be fine”. It is incredible to revisit this interview in 2024 and realize that she has managed to, indeed, prove it. 

Charli’s previous album before Brat, Crash, was thought out to be her ‘sellout album’ or, as she told Billboard, “what it would sound like if I sold out”. While Crash was, in fact, more digestible for wider audiences compared to her previous work with A.G. Cook and Sophie, it did not succeed in catapulting her into mainstream fame as it had intended. Conversely, Brat is much more authentic to Charli. And, in this Uranus-Pluto era (Uranus being all about individuation and Pluto about depth), that is exactly what allowed Brat to thrive as much as it did. As YouTuber Nicky Reardon says, “individuality is the most important thing in music right now”. We can also see this as a product of the current Jupiter-Uranus conjunction, as we can think of it as Jupiter (also called “the great benefic”) rewarding and/or aggrandizing Uranus, i.e., authenticity, individuality, the unconventional, experimentation, innovation, etc. As Charli put it in an interview with The Guardian, “more than ever now, people are rewarding the niche”. It is no coincidence that the two other girls in pop music that are rising as much as Charli is in 2024, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, offer us nothing other than pure authenticity and uniqueness. 

As mentioned, a great part of Charli’s fandom up until Brat consisted of members of the lgbtq+ community. All throughout her career, she has also helped promote and grow several up-and-coming lgbtq+ artists such as Christine and the Queens, Pablo Vittar and Dorian Electra. All of this fits right in with the themes of Uranus-Pluto. Along the same lines, Brat, in ways more than one, can be seen as contributing to female empowerment. The album’s cover, for once, which is so distinctly recognizable for its shade of lime green and minimalistic, low-resolution graphic design is, according to Charli, an anti-misogynistic stance. As Charli herself tweeted, “I think the constant demand for access to women’s bodies and faces in our album artwork is mysoginistic and boring”. Likewise, Charli teamed up with Lorde to remix Girl, so confusing, one of the more popular tracks in Brat, which was rumored to be about their friendship (and confirmed with their collaboration). As Charli pointed out in the original version of the song, “people say we’re alike, they say we’ve got the same hair”, Charli’s friendship with Lorde had been strained by the media and public constantly comparing them and pitting them against each other. On this version of the song, as Genuis puts it, “the Kiwi enters the fray to discuss her experiences of friendship, insecurity, and girlhood, creating one of the most unique & honest collaborations in pop history". Charli and Lorde, basically, worked it out on the remix.

Another thing that can be thought of as a product of the current Jupiter-Uranus conjunction is Charli’s sudden growth and rise (or return) to mainstream fame. This combination is characteristic of dramatic breakthroughs and quantum leaps, as well as of unexpected openings and opportunities. In a Jupiter-Uranus aspect, Jupiter is amplifying Uranus’ unpredictable and erratic qualities. At the same time, Uranus is 'shaking up’ Jupiter’s beneficial qualities. Therefore, during a Jupiter-Uranus world transit, it is common to see people experiencing sudden fame and/or fortune. This moment can even be seen as that of a ‘climax’ for Charli, which would definitely coincide with the archetype of Jupiter-Uranus as well. Furthermore, if we consider that Uranus is currently doing a trine with Pluto, the planet representative of all that is massive, titanic and potent, it only makes sense that Charli’s lucky break with Brat (which is, of course, not only because of luck), involves her growing into an artist that, with every move, influences the masses. 

One more Jupiter-Uranus thing about Brat is that it is, undoubtedly, an internet-fluent project. Uranus is typically associated with science, technology, visionary thinking, innovation and social consciousness, all of which have to do with the internet. When paired with Jupiter, Uranus’ internet-y qualities are all the more highlighted. Brat does not only speak internet but it is also made almost entirely for the chronically online (which today is pretty much all of Gen Z, if not everyone). Charli’s 360 music video, as an example, features a group of ‘internet it-girls’: Julia Fox, Rachel Sennot, Gabbriette, Chloë Sevigny, Emma Chamberlain, among others. These girls were chosen by Charli as she thinks they reference “what it means to be a Brat”. They are, as Charli has been for this last decade, ‘internet famous’, owning a massive following but just below the necessary amount of fame to enter the mainstream (maybe with the exception of Emma Chamberlain). 

It can also be said that, thanks to the internet, fans basically carried out the marketing of Brat themselves. Perhaps the most intelligent aspect of Brat’s marketing campaign was its cover design along with the invention of the Brat Generator. Inspired by a 1990s neon rave flyer and the title credits to Gregg Araki’s 2007 comedy, Smiley Face, the album cover’s lime green hue is a genius choice of color as it is so easily recognizable, as well as applicable. She basically chose a shade of green that no one else is using right now, so that every time someone looks at that color, all they can think about is Charli XCX. And that is exactly what ended up happening. Since the album came out, people all over the world have been posting all sorts of lime green things that are now deemed as being ‘brat’. The Brat Generator, which allows fans to make their own Brat album covers with any text of their liking, made it so easy for fans to change their profile pictures as Brat album covers with their names on them, as well as for them to create memes with it. Even companies are starting to use it in order to promote their products. All of this ended up promoting the album massively, without Charli and her team having had to do much, really. As ViDEOGiRL put it, "Brat’s most effective marketing strategies utilize the power of social media and the memeification of pop culture”. 

The genre of Hyperpop itself is also a great example of Jupiter-Uranus and Uranus-Pluto. Uranus is absolutely recognizable in this type of music as Hyperpop is undoubtedly experimental, innovative, futuristic and rebellious. Both Jupiter and Pluto can be seen as magnifying these qualities of Uranus in different ways: Jupiter expands, while Pluto intensifies. I believe that Jupiter and Uranus coming together can also be seen in Hyperpop as it usually contains an ironic, trickster-type-of quality to it. Along the same lines, we can see Uranus-Pluto in this genre within its raw and metallic qualities. As YouTuber Alfo Media describes Hyperpop in his video Charli XCX & Making Fun of Internet Fame, it is “playful and silly but good”. 

Another interesting fact related to Charli XCX and planetary transits is that Charli herself was born in 1992, during a period when there was a Jupiter-Uranus alignment (trine) and, in fact, she was born right when the alignment was peaking at 0º16 degrees. Not only that, but, in 2016, when Vroom Vroom was released and Charli’s work began to take shape as the revolutionary game-changer that it is now, there was a Jupiter-Uranus opposition. It only makes sense that Charli is thriving during this transit, as both she and her music embody the Jupiter-Uranus energy so well. 

An extra thing to point out is that Charli’s previous album, Crash, came out during a Saturn-Uranus transit. Thematically and aesthetically, Crash was inspired by David Cronenberg’s film of the same name surrounding symphorophiliacs, an abnormal sexual arousal or attraction to car crashes. I believe that the concept of the car crash is very Saturn-Uranus, as the combination is usually tied to unexpected disruptions, tension between one’s fear-based and adventurous impulses, as well as loss of freedom. On the other hand, Brat, which was born under Jupiter-Uranus, highlights (Jupiter) the archetype of the rebel or of, quite literally, the brat (Uranus). Additionally, the bright, raw and simple aesthetic of Brat is reminiscent to that of Kanye’s The Life of Pablo with its bright coral hue and sans-serif font, which was released in 2016, when there was a Uranus-Pluto square (2007-2020). 

Like Jupiter-Uranus, brat summer is, more than anything, about a sense of incurable and infectious optimism, as well as of feelings of heightened aliveness. It is also about the reclamation of wildness and liberation of Dionysian energies of Uranus-Pluto. As ViDEOGiRL beautifully said: “brat summer doesn’t come with any expectations other than having the best time and being your most authentic self through the ups and downs”. I would like to honor Charli by proceeding to do just that.