Charli XCX‘s brat album became the soundtrack of the summer this year, and the iconic green cover has inspired everything from makeup looks to Halloween costumes.
Turns out, the lime green text-only cover was chosen for a surprising reason.
“I was like, this album is not going to appeal to a lot of people…I thought maybe I’d do a press shoot and then save [money] on the album cover…and then everyone was like, ‘That’s the stupidest idea ever,'” the “365” singer told Zane Lowe.
However, the tables turned when brat became her most popular album ever and one of the most critically acclaimed of her discography.
READ MORE: Charli XCX Embodies ‘Brat’ Energy as the New Face of SKIMS
“I know that I won’t have this moment again in this exact same way. The success of ‘BRAT’ is also in ways a curse. I’m not going to be able to market my next album in the same way. I’ll pivot,” she said of the album’s surprise smash success.
“Whatever I do next will be compared to it, even if the music is completely different…I’m aware that whatever comes next, this is kind of the albatross,” she added.
brat became such a juggernaut that even presidential candidate Kamala Harris‘ campaign adopted the aesthetic to appeal to Gen Z.
“They picked it up and ran with it. That was cool. I think that was a young gay man on that campaign who said, ‘Let’s go.’ I’m happy to be on the right side of history,” Charli said.
Now, after memorializing brat summer for us all, the era is not over yet.
Charli is set to drop the brat remix album on Oct. 11 featuring a plethora of collaborations with a range of artists.
Some of the star-studded collabs include Ariana Grande, Tinashe, Bon Iver and even TikTok star-turned-pop artist Addison Rae.
Welcome to brat autumn.
Barrier-Breaking Women in Music
To celebrate these pioneers, Stacker used data from primary news sources to compile a list of 50 women who broke barriers in the music industry. Many of these names are well-known; but are you familiar with know about one of the first Indian singers who won over crowds in North America? What about the rock star who opened up doors for hip-hop icons? Or the pop star who became an owner of a professional football team?
Gallery Credit: Seth Berkman