The Pits: “Your favourite reference baby” – Charli XCX and the viral joke of Brat

By Katlyn Mortimer

Being authentic and capturing a niche are foundational aspects of a good artist, and Charli XCX knows how to be niche. I first started tuning in to the works and tweets of the former pop-pariah at the beginning of 2023, just as she released a remix of Caroline Polachek’s ‘Welcome To My Island’. Looking back, I would perhaps consider this to be the true beginning of the ‘Brat Era’ – the name given to the period of time since the singer began promotion for her latest album, Brat. A sold-out tour, a slot hosting and performing on Saturday Night Live, and seven Grammy nominations later, ‘Brat’ has been divided from any previously held meaning. Now, a brat is someone who is messy, loves to party, and is somewhat of an emotional wreck beneath it all. Or, as Lena Dunham aptly described, “Brat is a cat, and maybe a rat, but it is never a dog” – got it? In the year before Brat promotion and subsequent cultural takeover began, I became a true fan of Charli XCX, and witnessed the deep connection she has with her fans, and the dedication she had towards making a record which was cathartic, rather than commercially appealing. So, having had this perspective of Charli’s sudden emergence into the spotlight, it's obvious that she has been waiting, with sunglasses at the ready, for the world to recognise her visionary. Keeping this in mind while watching her recent performance in Glasgow, it was clear that the joke is not yet tired, but like Charli, has kept reinventing itself. In this month’s edition of The Pits, I’ll be talking about how viral moments can be incorporated into, and are created from, a live show.

With the warmth and frivolous charisma of “Brat Summer” long forgotten, I found myself queuing outside the OVO Hydro on a chilly evening in early December, for the last show of Charli’s UK Brat Tour. Surrounded by fans all donning the same shade of acid green which has become synonymous with the singer, reporters stalked the length of the line to interview concertgoers who were dressed in drag, or in leather chaps, and ask about their feelings towards the artist and her latest album. This demographic of party girls and gay men filled every inch of the arena, and as I stood a couple of metres from the stage, the environment of the pit was different to that of most recent gigs I have attended. Sharing a similar feeling of pride to that of the crowd waiting for Chappell Roan, we all knew that we were lucky to be there since the artist’s post-ticket-release mainstream blow up. If Charli is “cult classic,” we are the cult.

But crucially, it must be mentioned that the adoration Charli’s fanbase has for her is almost like no other, and this is what made Brat work. Throughout her performance, each song saw another level of excitement, a new maximum volume of lyrical screeching, and another brief scent of poppers in the air. At the beginning of the show, a friend group stood behind me in the crowd chatted about their love for the singer, with one fan sharing that he had travelled from London that day and phoned in sick at his job as a high school teacher in order to make it to the show. That’s pretty brat.

But more so than most other artists today, the 32-year-old understands the internet culture that surrounds her and her music, and knows how to build a personal connection with fans online. Having created a private Instagram account (@360_brat) where she shared snippets of some tracks before the album’s release, she implored fans to keep what she posted a secret so that it did not meet the judgement of outsiders before it was ready. As well as this, she released vinyl record variants exclusive to the followers of @360_brat, and often answers fan questions on her story. The element of exclusivity for Charli’s secondary Instagram account is something that has strengthened her connection with fans during a point in her career which would typically see the opposite occurring. When tiktok user Kelley Heyer created a dance to the track “Apple” that proceeded to go viral, Charli had Heyer perform the dance during her concert in New York City. In doing so, the singer gave praise and thanks to Heyer for creating the dance, and the spiral of virality continued from that point.

As Charli took the stage in Glasgow with a green curtain backdrop which read “brat”, it was clear that she was taking her brand to the maximum level, and unapologetically so. While the echo chambers of the internet had been debating if the joke was over, having made its way onto the prompt cards of CNN reporters and Lorraine Kelly, the singer is clearly unphased by these claims. Like any internet meme, it is perpetuated by fans and those who simply love a good reference. The night was full of these moments, from an autotuned speech about the troubles of female friendship and the importance of therapy, to projecting fans doing the “Apple Dance” on a large screen at each show, the musical universe which has spawned from Brat continues to evolve. In a particularly heartfelt moment, a track by the late producer SOPHIE played just moments before the headliner took the stage, and the audience sang along in celebration for what we all understood to be an accreditation to Charli’s friend, whom she said “changed my life.”

Charli XCX has kept the meme-ification of Brat running since its announcement earlier this year, but it was the music, performances, and her fanbase that prevented it from ever becoming tired and overused. Since the release of the standard edition of the album in June, there have been several tours and one-off performances, countless memes, and a whole remix album which is quite literally “completely different but also still brat.” With her self-referential lyricism and ability to both set and capture trends, Charli’s place in the spotlight feels well deserved, and perhaps worth the wait.

This was clear as she was performing her penultimate song of the evening ‘Track 10’, under a shower of water and strobe lighting. Then, closing with her 2012 hit ‘I Love It’, she struggled with a minor wardrobe malfunction and quickly tried to adjust her clothing, all while soaking wet. Eventually giving up, she turned her attention back to the crowd, who needed no instruction to jump along. Similarly, her Manchester show featured a camera operator falling while on stage, and videos of it received millions of views on social media. At the following shows, the singer acknowledged and gave thanks to her cameraman, and her fans for their dedication to her. These incidents speak to Charli XCX as both a performer and a person – in favour of the party above all else – but does so with a distinct professionalism. Perhaps to be “Brat” is simply to be grateful.