Hi. Who's a brat? Did I hear you correct? Did I hear you correct? Jesus Christ. Kamala Harris is a brat? Copmala Harris is a brat. Why not me? Why not me? I've been sitting here for months doing everything I can to become a brat to the best of my abilities, and yet I sit here still not a brat. When is it going to be my time? Life just isn't fair sometimes, and you got to roll with the punches.

I don't know if you guys have been living under a rock on social media, but it just so happens that Mr. Joe - can't string a sentence together - Biden has dropped out of the presidential race. He's no longer running. Given that Kamala Harris is the next in command, it just makes the most logistical sense in terms of getting her in there, getting her to run, getting the party to all convene, delegates-wise and all, and just support her. It's the quickest point A, point B fashion of going about things.

I'm not here to talk your ear off about politics or anything like that. Really just the weird and unexpected ways in which music culture has tied in with political culture here. It would seem like in preparation for really building Kamala up to start running for that presidential position, her campaign is for quick and easy ways to resonate with people.

This strategically, of course, means embracing things about Kamala's public image or things floating out there on the internet that are already working in her favor. Most notably, this whole weird speech of hers that has popped off on TikTok within the last year or so, where she's talking about living in a greater context of events and things and ideas. She makes a metaphorical comparison to being clueless or out of the know with a falling out of a coconut tree. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? As a result of that, this has become a big meme. People who are supporting Kamala Harris in this upcoming race are going as far as to call themselves coconut-pilled.

Another weird thing that has been tying in with Kamala Harris as of late, even before inklings of Joe Biden dropping out of the race, is this idea that Kamala is somehow inadvertently a representation of Charli XCX's BRAT vibe and esthetic from her latest full-length LP. I guess in some ways the BRAT ethos is supposed to be representative of a woman who's maybe a wee bit messy, a party girl, smoke some cigs, is maybe a little chaotic, not a care in the world. Maybe in some way like Kamala Harris with all of her uncontrollable laughing, as well as weird turns of phrase and generally zonkt out, xanned out demeanor. It seems like there are some people who are making a connection to BRAT Summer or the brat vibe to her, where Kamala and images of her dancing and talking and giving speeches are cut against music from the Charli record.

These Kamala / BRAT connections have been getting thrown out there by the fans, at least. But now that it's official that Kamala is really going to be pushed to to run for this presidential position, it would seem there is an open embrace of the Kamala / BRAT connection happening from both sides, not just through her campaign and this whole Kamala HQ, which is like a rebrand with brat text and brat green.

Also, Charli XCX literally went to Twitter to post that 'kamala IS brat', which I wonder if that happened organically, if there was some coordination there. Not that it It wouldn't make me think less of either party if that was the case. I feel like that's just what political campaigns do these days. If Charli's brand is going to be co-opted in this fashion, like a lot of politicians do in order to make themselves look cool, embrace certain music and artists and so on and so forth. Hopefully, she's getting frigging paid.

kamala IS brat

— Charli (@charli_xcx) July 22, 2024

Either way, though, really strange times that we live in where things have lined up in such a way to where a politician is just so openly embracing a pop artist that is of Charli's alternative stripe. But I mean, I guess if it makes it less likely that Kamala is going to walk to a podium at any point with something blasting over the loudspeakers like, 'This is my fight song, Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.' If this completely eliminates the likelihood of something like that happening, it's probably for the best.

I wonder if Republicans will say that Kamala is a cocaine-sniffing 365 party girl as a result of this whole BRAT rebrand. And does Kamala being Brat curious mean that she's going to embrace softer drug policies into the future? Who knows?

I guess I'll close this out talking about what exactly the optics are here for everybody involved. I'll say in Kamala In this case, it's all positives. It's all on the up and up. It's all gravy. I don't really foresee this working out badly for her, per se, because not only is it funny and not only does it make her look hip and in touch, but also on top of that, I feel like Conservatives would actually have to have a working knowledge of what Charli XCX and BRAT are in order to turn this into any attack, and most of them are too clueless for any of that to land.

Do you really want Brats to run this country? They already do enough damage. You don't understand the essence of BRAT Summer? I don't see this working badly in Kamala's case at all. However, in the case of Charli, I feel like there maybe is some risk at play here because obviously, due to the fact that you've embraced a politician in this fashion, anything that she does or endorses or pushes policy-wise from this point, there are going to be some people who, unfortunately, will look back at you, like right now when it comes to the Biden administration, when it comes to anything DNC-related, there are a lot of very questionable policy ideas and decisions at play here that could reflect badly upon Charli. Be that Gaza, be that a lot of other things.

With that being said, though, while I am excited that Charli has had this opportunity for this once-in-a-lifetime political endorsement, I do hope that she herself is a bit skeptical in terms of how much clout she is lending to the situation here, and maybe at some point can leverage this into something in terms of advocating for the sorts of communities that tend to love her music most. I feel like at the very least, as somebody who is, again, using her brand and using her platform to endorse and embrace such a candidate and such a thing, that would be great.

Let me know in the comments if you are coconut-pilled.

Anthony Fantano, BRAT, Forever.