365 Days of ‘Brat’: How Charli xcx Cultivated a Pop Cultural Phenomenon Her Own Way

“It’s hard being ahead,” Charli xcx declared at an early viewing party for her sixth studio album, Brat, last May, roughly a month before the record’s debut. “We’re all ahead because everybody in here, like, gets it.” 

Flash forward a year, it’s been exactly 365 days since Charli debuted the project that defined the summer of 2024 (a la “Brat summer”), had everyone wanting to be a party girl and now unofficially defines the lime green color. A year later, it still feels like Brat summer still hasn’t ended yet (perhaps because she’s still touring the record this summer).

At this point, though, most know that the Essex singer-songwriter breach’s into commercial success was a long-time coming. Of course, Charli broke out years ago, earning her first (and sole) No.1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with she and Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” in the summer of 2014. 

Coincidentally, the track debuted at the top of the charts dated June 7th, the same date that she released Brat a decade later. Brat went on to dominate the pop culture zeitgeist after its release, though the album’s chart and streaming success didn’t necessarily match its cultural impact. 

Before Brat arrived, Charli brilliantly arranged its release. First, there was “Von Dutch,” released in February, followed up by a remix featuring A.G. Cook and influencer turned artist Addison Rae, which some didn’t understand at the time. As Charli said before, “it’s hard being ahead,” giving an early peek into Rae’s blossoming career that’s now happening in real time (she dropped her debut album Friday, garnering lots of buzz in the chatter in the process) and, ironically, the moment Charli was about to have that summer. 

Charli built the album’s hype further with the release of the single “360” and its adjoining music video, jam-packed with It Girl after It Girl. The widespread public may have not recognized its stars in Julia Fox, Gabbriette, Rachel Sennott, Chloë Sevigny and Alex Consani upon first glance, but it’s likely you recognize their names now, a year later.