Looking back on what’s happened since May, we’ve had a gold mine of cultural moments that have taken the Internet by storm. It isn’t odd for online society to choose a piece of media and define it as the media of the summer. We saw this happen with Barbenheimer: whenever someone saw a bright pink square, we’d know that it was a reference to Barbie. This summer, the phenomenon has repeated itself again with “brat,” Charli XCX’s most recent album.
“brat” is mostly associated with club beats, raw and honest lyricism, and, of course, lime green. This signature lime green brings to mind what can only be described as a “brat” mentality: a mindset extremely interconnected with clubbing culture and the personality that comes with it. Lyrics throughout “brat” describe an aggression, smugness, and popularity that is often associated with frequent partygoers. “brat” and its effects have even been seen with Kamala Harris’ election campaign, like temporarily changing her X banner to a lime green, immediately cuing to a younger audience the cultural phenomenon that is “brat.”
Music is continuously one of the major forces of cultural shifts, yet also one that cannot be easily categorized and monitored. Let’s not forget about when Drake and Kendrick went back and forth releasing diss tracks for weeks — a major pop culture event that’s still talked about months later. It started with “Like That,” a fast-paced, hardcore hip-hop track featuring Kendrick dismissing the “big three” of rap, instead asserting that he is the best of the best in the genre. Later, Drake released two tracks attacking the validity of Kendrick’s fame. It took a week and a half to receive Kendrick’s response — a worthwhile wait — as he dropped two tracks “euphoria” and “6:16 in LA”, not attacking Drake’s fame but rather gray spots in his morals, ethics, and past decisions. The silence didn’t last long between the release of “6:16 in LA” and Drake’s “Family Matters,” which dives deeper into rumors of infidelity and domestic abuse. A day later, Kendrick hits back with “Meet the Grahams,” an ominously monotone track and non-conventional deviation from previous releases, attacking Drake’s parenting skills and moral character. Later that day, Kendrick dropped “Not Like Us,” ultimately the most popular of all releases which delved into the possibly pedophilic relationships in Drake’s past. The immediate aftermath of this release is when attention to the battle peaked, but it quickly dissipated with music video releases and remixes. Besides being a massive public spectacle, these battles once again raised questions on abuses of power, misogyny, and general ethical issues seemingly rampant in the music industry.
Aside from pop culture, a major global event over the summer was the Summer 2024 Olympics. This year’s Summer Olympics, held in Paris between July 26 and Aug. 11, spurred discourse over many subjects, including the first gymnastics specialist for the U.S. team, Stephen Nedoroscik. Specifically, he drew the world’s attention for taking the bench during the majority of the events until the pommel horse where he promptly took off his glasses — thereafter giving him the nickname ‘Clark Kent’ — and put on a performance that helped the U.S. men’s gymnastics team win a medal for the first time in sixteen years.
The Artistic Gymnastics performances this year could be discussed on their own. A moment that will undoubtedly go down in history was the first-ever podium to be held by all Black women: Rebeca Andrade, a Brazilian gymnast who took home gold for floor exercise, followed by American gymnasts Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles, who secured silver and bronze, respectively. These three women, marvels in their own ways, came together and cherished this historical moment — Biles and Chiles bowing down to Andrade, but still uniting in their success together.
