It has been a while, dear readers… I have been fully engrossed in brat Summer. It has been a whirlwind. I have been trying to listen to new music, or anything else for that matter, but I have failed. I keep coming back for more. The memes were flowing. TikTok user Kelley Heller (username kelley.heyer) created a viral dance to the track “apple” that seemed to be pushing the popularity of brat on the platform. Everything seemed to be in its right place. Charli was experiencing the largest amount of mainstream success since her 2014 Fault In Our Stars era. Things began to muddy when Joseph Robinette Biden decided to suspend his presidential reelection campaign. This seemed like a reasonable move, considering that his senility was on full display in the first presidential debate. Immediately, Biden endorsed Kamala Harris to step up as the democratic nominee. The Twitter account Biden HQ then changed to Kamala HQ with the bio “providing the context” and a brat background.

I, for one, was gagged. This did not come from the void. Through the Biden presidency Kamala has created many viral “slay-mother” type moments. Most notably, her speech about context and coconut trees was just the perfect amount of absurd, ironic, and pragmatic to resonate with Gen-Z. Kamala’s perception before this event was staunchly negative. To our generation, she seemed like a tough-on-crime DA who would arrest us for “bumpin’ that.” Furthermore, the Biden administration’s apathy towards the genocide in Palestine furthered Harris’ poor image with young voters. Seeing her image trend upward in any capacity (coconut tree-related) was jarring.

A Twitter user (@ryanlong03) on July 3 (my birthday) posted an edit of Kamala clips to “Von Dutch.” Bringing Charli into the mix. This tweet went viral (4.1 million views) and is the genesis of the Charli-Kamala connection. Harris must have a savvy gen-z intern who correctly explained the hidden hoard of rabid, brat-centric, easily influenced, 18-24-year-olds. The same day that Kamala HQ put their brat profile up, the internet exploded. People didn’t know how to feel. To further the panic, Charli tweeted, “kamala IS brat” later in the day. To almost 51 million views.

From there, the brat-Kamala steamroller knew no bounds. The connection spread to TikTok, where a myriad of videos were posted with different brat tracks and different Kamala bits. It then hit mainstream news. Nothing could have prepared me to see Jake Tapper try to understand what the meaning of brat is. He said, “I will aspire to be brat” on national television. CNN aired a discussion on the move. Then Fox News. Numerous news sites, from NBC to The Guardian to USA Today, were weighing in. It became apparent that the somewhat insular British pop star would become a fundamental part of the American election cycle.

I am writing in intense hyperbole, but this unfolding gave me whiplash. Charli was incredibly mainstream at the onset of her career. After Sucker, she faded into relative obscurity. The LGBT community became her fans and supported her through a bevy of musical experimentations. This era has given her a wider audience, but I had no inkling that it would lead to something this insane.

The response was understandably mixed. Some enjoyed the absurdity and pleaded that the situation was drenched with irony. Another group had a strong negative reaction to this pairing because of the previously stated Kamala transgressions. I will say that I thought the memes were funny, but the minute that I started getting TikToks trying to change the narrative on Kamala’s DA days, I was out. To me, this is one of the most effective ways a politician has tried to levy young people. Normally we got some half-assed “Pokemon go to the polls” type beat. An attempt that is so obviously disingenuous that it is never offered the time of day. But the Charli move was natural. People on Twitter were already genuinely making content around this. I went deep into ryanlong03’s tweets, and nothing screamed psyop. Just a run-of-the-mill brat gay with too much time on their hands. I’m sure after the July 21st tweet from Charli Kamala’s forces got to work.

I do love this Venn diagram :). The final question is, “Is brat summer over?” Did Kamala kill the wave that Charli was riding? Many outlets seem to think so. Pitchfork put out an article with a puke-green “rip” on the cover. I don’t think this is the end of brat summer. This has done damage, but I don’t know how long the ironic, post-absurd Twitter feelings will last. At some point, it will start to feel like Hillary and Pokemon Go. When that time comes, we will be ready to accept the brat back with open arms. In response to this criticism, Charli posted on Instagram, “Oh, just wait until next week.” If we get the remix album, everything will be back in equilibrium.

I wanted to talk about Clairo’s new album, but this Kamala stuff became too much. I will be coming in hot next week with a breakdown of Charm, I promise.

besos,

Jonny :)