Photo Credit: Boston Lynn Schulz

Coachella, one of the most highly anticipated music festivals, featured Charli XCX as one of the performers on both weekends. On June 7, 2024, XCX released her very popular album, Brat, which gained immense popularity and she gained a lot more fans than what she had before. Even after the release of Brat, she released another album, Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat. Before her newfound fame, she was also popular in the 2010s with the release of her single “Boom Clap,” which was featured in the movie, The Fault in Our Stars. Since XCX’s fame in the 2010s, she unfortunately became a forgotten artist until her recent album. 

Since XCX’s album became incredibly popular, Brat was not just an album, but also a cultural reference, like having a “brat summer.” Not only that, the lime green background with the black text became an iconic meme as well, people putting their own writing with that background and the same font. In an article by NME, Brat became so popular that it was also incorporated in former vice president Kamala Harris’ campaign.

Since the entertainment industry is incredibly hard to get into, and XCX would know how difficult it is, she has decided to pass on the torch and have other artists take the lead. At the end of her weekend two Coachella performance, the screen behind her said, “maybe it’s time for a different kind of summer?,” and then continued to list different artists that could take over for XCX this year by saying “Addison Rae summer,” “Lorde summer” and other artists as well. In her way, this was how XCX is trying to share the spotlight with artists who are gaining their own fame and reputation and working their career in the entertainment industry.

Watch XCX’s promotion for other artists.