If you’ve been on social media at all recently, you’ve likely seen the iconic bright green signs that say “brat.” Representing the newest album by Charli XCX, the images, and the album itself, have gone viral, and have been painted everywhere from walls to t-shirts. This summer has officially been coined as “brat summer.”
Brat is Charli XCX’s sixth studio album, and was released on June 7, 2024. The album has since gone completely viral, and for a good reason. (If you haven’t listened yet, do it immediately.) This album, along with being bold and catchy, is chock-full of cool-girl pop-culture references, including some that are suspected to be about Taylor Swift: In her song “Sympathy Is A Knife,” she references another woman who brings out her insecurities, and talks about not wanting to see her backstage while at her boyfriend’s show. Charli XCX is currently engaged to a member of the 1975, George Daniel, and fans have theorized that she is talking about Swift in this song, as she was famously linked to another member of the 1975, Matty Healy.
But the main reference that has blown up recently is the lyric that says, “When you’re in the mirror, you’re just looking at me / I’m everywhere, I’m so Julia” in her song “360.”
Fans of the song “360” have flocked to TikTok, posting videos with the caption “I’m so Julia” to describe themselves as an it-girl. But amid all these videos of people using this song as a confidence boost, there were questions about what the lyric even means, and who “Julia” even is.
Turns out, this lyric refers to none other than Julia Fox, the actress and socialite who shot to mainstream stardom with the movie Uncut Gems. She is now an author, soon to be television host, and co-host of a podcast. Basically, she is everywhere, just like the lyric says.
Julia and Charli actually sat down for an interview for Interview magazine in December 2023 in which they discussed this specific lyric. Charli told Julia, “Before even reading your book, I wrote this song, which is basically about how you started every trend of 2022. And there’s this line in it that goes, ‘I’m everywhere. I’m so Julia,’ as in, I’m the f*cking reference. I’m everywhere like Julia Fox is everywhere.”
Basically, because Julia is a wildly popular public figure, she is the perfect reference for being “everywhere.” She’s an icon, as is Charli, so it’s a perfect pairing.