British singer Charli XCX accidentally inserted herself into Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign with an offhanded X post, as the Democrats try to co-opt pop culture and Gen Z parlance.
Charli XCX, who appeared to embrace Harris’s campaign in July when she posted “kamala IS brat” to X, recently told Vulture that she meant for her post to be “something positive and lighthearted” rather than a political endorsement.
But accounts associated with Harris’s campaign started co-opting the pop star’s album cover style in social media posts — a development that Vulture acknowledged has resulted from a possible “brand misstep” by Charli XCX.
The “Apple” singer’s sixth studio album, “Brat,” has resulted in an abundance of memes, TikTok dances, the coining of new catchphrases, and the addition of the word “brat” to Generation Z’s ever-evolving lingo.
Notably, the word has been reconceptualized and is no longer being used as a pejorative. According to Charli XCX, “brat” can be summed up as “Who gives a fuck?”
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When a young person calls themselves “brat” they may also be conveying that they embrace “a messy and unbothered attitude” or that they are against traditional elements of fashion, according to a report by Teen Vogue.
There is also the “brat aesthetic,” which has been known to feature an admittedly “ugly” shade of green.
Charli XCX went on to tell Vulture that she doesn’t want to be a “political artist.”
“My music is not political,” she said. “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.”
“I’m not Bob Dylan, and I’ve never pretended to be,” the singer added.
Charli XCX attends the Balenciaga Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2024-2025 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 26, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty)
The pop star, however, confessed, “I obviously knew what I was doing,” when she posted the Harris-related X post, but admitted she didn’t expect “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.”
Nonetheless, Charli XCX said she would like to be “on the right side of democracy,” and “the right side of women’s rights,” saying those issues are “hugely important” to her.
“I’m happy to help to prevent democracy from failing forever,” the singer added, apparently unaware that many consider Harris having been undemocratically “installed” as the Democrat Party’s running-mate after President Joe Biden was ousted from his reelection campaign via a coup.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
