What is 'brat'? An explainer of the Gen Z term named Word of the Year 2024

The slime green and gritty noughties club girl vibes became deeply intertwined with the summer of 2024, and Gen Z fully embraced it. 

Charli XCX is all grown up but still making the kind of music she would have done at the height of her youth

Clean girl? We’re so over you. Honestly, some of us never really liked you to begin with.

If you haven’t heard of ‘brat summer’ or Charli XCX by now, I’m actually kind of impressed. 

The slime green and gritty noughties club girl vibes have become deeply intertwined with the summer of 2024, and Gen Z have fully embraced it. 

In Charli’s own words, the essence of brat can be summarised as “a pack of cigs, a Bic lighter, and a strappy white top with no bra.”

For a while the classic soft pop genre had my generation in a chokehold – half of TikTok singing along to the latest Taylor Swift hit, dressed in dulcet neutral tones, the other posting carefully curated montages of perfect Pinterest photos accompanied by an inoffensive piano track. Oh how times have changed...

Now, don’t get me wrong — I love Taylor as much as the next Swiftie, but something about the emergence of the care-free hyper pop girlie has changed the game entirely.

For me, 2024’s fun pop era has been a much needed throwback to when summertime truly felt like summertime; the infamous Lady Gaga’s ‘Judas’ moment, when wearing smudged eyeliner, frizzy hair, and ripped fishnets was the cool thing, not looked down on as dirty by the ‘cool girls’. Now we are the cool girls — how cool is that?

Charli XCX attending the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition Preview Party held at Burlington House, London. Picture date: Tuesday June 6, 2023.

Before Charli XCX broke the internet with her banger-after-banger sixth studio album, artists such as Chappell Roan, Reneé Rapp, and Sabrina Carpenter were putting an end to the good-girl pop era — we just needed Brat to “bump” us over the edge.

But why are Gen Z running away from the soft pop hand that fed us so well? Is it becoming monotonous? Are we simply craving nostalgia? Or is it something deeper?

In a time period where we’re witnessing some of the most catastrophic and world changing events, I think young people might just be in need of a release.

When you really think about it, this generation has lived through ‘unprecedented’ historic events constantly. Even one of these world-changing events would be enough to rattle, but living through countless can really take its toll. 

We’ve made it out of a pandemic, only to find ourselves in a cost of living, environmental and housing crises. 

Gen Z are now bearing witness to a rise in far-right violent attacks at home and abroad, and a genocide taking place in front of our eyes, with graphic footage appearing on our social media feeds day in and day out. It’s a lot to take in for an increasingly left leaning and liberal generation.

In this context, is it any surprise the Gen Z population were eager to shed the suffocating rules of the ‘Clean Girl’ aesthetic that has been plaguing the internet for the past few years? The 10-step skin care routines and slicked back buns just pushed the ‘Rat Girls’ over the edge.

The grungy, grimy club aesthetic was well due a revival anyways, and this summer has proven that it needs to stay. The ‘brat’ look is a much more affordable and effortless way of life for the Gen Z demographic, and with Charli XCX as ringleader, it’s undeniably cooler, too.

CLUB CLASSICS

Charli, the Essex raised singer-songwriter, hasn’t come out of nowhere. Tracks like ‘I Don’t Care’, ‘Boom Clap’, ‘Girls’, and ‘Vroom Vroom’ have been a feature in clubs for years. 

But this summer has made her a true household name. Could there be an element of nostalgia attached to her sound?

As an older Gen Z, a lot of Charli’s older tracks remind me of a far simpler time — secondary school. A time when summers were long and always full of fun, experimenting with new makeup and hairstyles, when our music taste was just properly forming.

There’s an added layer with an openly queer artist like Chappell Roan. For the LGBTQIA+ community, Roan’s music and gigs create a safe space for young queer people – something that is badly needed in a world that is seeing a rise in the far-right.

Chappell Roan has also helped put an end to the ‘good girl’ pop era.

The fact that 32-year-old Charli is all grown up now (either engaged or married, we’re still waiting for the wedding pics to drop), but still making the kind of music she would have in the height of her wild youth also provides a sense of solace for those of us on the older side of the Gen Z demographic. 

It provides confirmation, maybe even permission, to still have fun and be messy outside of corporate jobs or serious, real life issues entrapping our day to day 9 to 5. 

While maybe slightly more explicit and cheekier, Brat brings back the carefree memories of our Kesha-blaring, daisy-headband-wearing youth, reminding us Gen Z folk of when hyper-pop was having its first moment.

The brat era cares less about Shakespearean style beautifully crafted bridges, replacing this lyrical satisfaction with booming bass and dance-ability.

And honestly? It’s nice to not have to decode songs for a change or listen to heartbreakingly emotional first voice note drafts of haunting ballads (sorry Taylor).

Sometimes, life needs to just be a bit of fun. And in a world where everything seems to be getting worse by the day, are we not entitled to a bit of that? ‘Please, please, please’ just give us a catchy, dance trend worthy chorus with a one-liner that buries its way into our brains for the day and we’re happy out.

What do I think is the main lesson to take from Gen Z fully embracing the cheeky pop of Brat summer? Care less, dance more, and embrace the silliness of it all.

This article was first published on August 25, 2024 and updated when 'brat', the term coined by British singer Charli XCX, was named the Collins Word of the Year 2024.