Brat. Julia Fox. Hyperpop. Neon green. Von Dutch. The Claremont Colleges? The sixth studio album “brat” by British singer Charli XCX has taken over Gen Z and made its way to Claremont. To honor this new phenomenon and kick off the semester of 5C parties, Scripps College hosted the first ever 5C Brat Rave on Saturday, Sept. 7.
Since its release on Jun. 7, the album has charted in multiple countries and broken the record for the highest rated album of 2024. “brat” is a blend of hyperpop, 2000s English rave music and electropop, punctuated by infectious hooks made for club nights. The album’s three singles — “Apple,” “Von Dutch” and “360” — have dominated social media for months and become the soundtrack to countless TikTok videos and dances. Yet the album’s most enduring feature has been its cover, which bears a slab of neon green with the word “brat” written in a black, stretched Arial font.
“brat” has seemingly ascended from an album to a lifestyle and even a cultural movement. Vice President Kamala Harris has embraced the album in her 2024 presidential campaign, targeting Gen Z on social media platforms such as TikTok. “kamala IS brat,” proclaimed Charli XCX herself in an X post on July 21.
“One late night with our friends we stumbled into the world of Charli XCX’s music and her new album ‘brat,’ inspiring our generation’s ‘brat summer,’” Scripps Associated Students (SAS) board members, Alex Hamilton SC ‘25 and Sarah Paper SC ‘25 said in a joint statement over email, explaining how the Brat Rave came together. “According to Miss Charli herself, ‘‘Brat’ is a record that brings to life the pleasure of colorful sticky dance floors.’”
The Brat Rave was characterized by bubbles, neon green and a bass-pumping DJ. As the brats walked up to the Scripps campus, the line snaked at least 10 yards from the point of entry on Columbia Avenue and 11th Street.
“It was a great party to open the year, bringing a summer trend that empowers freedom of expression with groovy beats and makes you want to dance your heart out,” Hamilton and Paper said.
Students from across all five campuses waited eagerly for the chance to get in. Despite the organized registration, the ticket line temporarily closed shortly before 11:30 p.m., leaving a long train of disappointed brats.
“We came through Scripps and it was very, very crowded. Once we got in line, people were pushing and it kinda felt claustrophobic and uncomfy. But the party … looked a lot more spaced out. And then there were lots of lights and bubbles and people having, like, a really good time,” Bea Dramm CM ’28 said.
Scripps embraced another element of the brat lifestyle… exclusivity. On Wednesday, Sept. 4 at 5:00 p.m. sharp, the registration form for Scripps College’s Brat Rave went live. Hamilton and Paper said that for safety purposes, SAS had to regulate the amount of brats. They also required signed waivers from all guests for permission to enjoy the foam pits. According to them, the spots filled up within 25 minutes.
“We hadn’t anticipated such a high turnout given that SAS 5C events typically don’t have more than about 300 guests at one time,” Hamilton and Paper said.
A small note: for those truly dedicated to the brat lifestyle, the form secretly opened back up on Thursday, Sept. 5 at 7:00 p.m., but you didn’t hear that from us.
Beyond the rave, brat has become a mainstay of campus culture. Brat is a ubiquitous theme for residence hall dorm decorations.
“That’s the first thing that came to mind because my friends and I had been making drafts of the sounds on TikTok all summer,” Dramm said.
“I think of brat as being cool, unfiltered, honest and definitely kind of against the grain,” Abby Niquette CM ’28 said. “College campuses like to adopt pop culture statements, but particularly, I think brat appeals to youth because a lot of the elements that it embodies are things that youth kind of attach themselves to when they’re experimenting with who they are and trying to be. More vocal and expressive.”
“I think it’s very, like, urban, almost progressive in a way, and I think that kind of matches the vibe of kids who come here,” Dramm added.
To Niquette and Dramm, brat is about embracing the ugly and the selfish.
“It’s like a derogatory word that people use to describe somebody who’s misbehaving,” Yahya Yousef CM ’25 said. “To be brat is to be messy, sloppy, unabashed in the pursuit of fame and fun and fire.”
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