MusicThe curious reason for the blur on the cover of Brat, by Charli

Brat(2024), by Charli XCXis one of the biggest hits of the year — and, interestingly, its blurry cover is part of that. Composed only of a lime green background with the title in black, in a simple font, the image has an aesthetic that went viral on the networks. There was even a connection with the presidential election in the United States.

Nothing was by chance. There’s a surprisingly simple reason for this peculiar look.

The topic was addressed by the singer in an interview with Zane Lowefrom the Apple Music (via NME). The British woman revealed that the final result was the result of — that’s right — a lack of money.

At the time, the artist admitted that she did not expect the album to be well received. Therefore, he decided to save money to invest in other aspects of the launch. According to her:

The initial idea of ​​making a cover with text came from saving money. I thought: ‘this album won’t please a lot of people’. I thought, ‘I guess I’ll do a press photo shoot and then maybe save on the album cover’.”

Regarding the use of the word “brat” (which can be translated as “sassy girl”, “bad manners”, “bad behavior” or similar), Charlie explained that even without being the idea in the beginning, the cover set the tone for an issue she would like to raise: the image of women in pop music. The singer said:

(The cover) really seems to personify the word ‘brat’ a lot. I’m not in the picture. That’s kind of the norm, I believe, for female artists. I knew a lot of people would be a little frustrated or disappointed not to see me on the cover. However, I would rather have these conversations, which in some cases have become quite explosive, than a photo where people would say: ‘she’s pretty’.”

Charli XCX and the subtle criticism of machismo

The topic had already been raised by Charli XCX as soon as the cover was revealed, shortly before launch. In an interview with the magazine Vogue from Singapore, the artist declared:

They were like, ‘Why isn’t she on the cover? She has to be on the cover’. But why should anyone have this level of ownership over female artists? I wanted to use an offensive, unfashionable shade of green to activate the idea that something was wrong. I would like us to question our expectations in pop culture. Why are some things considered good and acceptable, and others considered bad? I’m interested in the narratives behind it and I want to provoke people. I’m not doing things to be nice.”

In your profile on X/Twitterat the beginning of 2024, the singer was even more direct. She wrote:

I think the constant demand for access to women’s bodies and faces on our album covers is sexist and boring.”

“Bratsummer”

In the end, the cover was so successful that it became a kind of meme. Sites offer the generation of images similar to art Bratallowing you to change the blurred text against the green background.

Even the campaign Kamala Harris — who ended up losing the election to donald trump — joined the game that became known as “Brat summer”.

The deluxe version of the album, with extra tracks, features a cover with a white background and the text “Brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not”. and”).

In the remix, which features several appearances, lime green appears again, but this time the words are reversed. The title is: Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat (“Brat is completely different, but it’s also still Brat”).

Collaborated: André Luiz Fernandes.