Charli XCX’s lime green Brat cover artwork has played a key part in making the album a cultural phenomenon, but the British artist certainly didn’t plan it that way. In a recent interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, she revealed it was done for budgetary reasons because she didn’t think the project was going to be a hit.

“Where the actual first idea of doing a text cover came from was to save money,” Charli explained, “I was like, ‘This album is not going to appeal to a lot of people.’”

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As a result, it made more sense to allocate money elsewhere: “I was like, ‘I think I will do a press shoot and then maybe we just save on the album cover.’”

When Charli’s manager, creative director, and friends all thought the text cover was “the stupidest idea ever,” she dug in her heels. “It actually feels like it very much embodies the word ‘brat’ to kind of not be there because that is sort of less of the norm, I suppose, for female artists.”

She continued, “I knew that a lot of people would be sort of frustrated or disappointed by it. And I think for me, it’s like I would rather have those conversations, which actually in some cases became quite explosive, than a picture where people are like, ‘She looks good.’”

It turns out Charli was right, and the blurry text cover was intrinsic to “brat summer.” The cover’s impact even bled into politics when Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign replicated it as a Twitter banner in acknowledgement of Charli tweeting, “kamala IS brat.”

Charli is set to release a Brat remix album titled Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat, featuring appearances from Ariana Grande, The Japanese House, Bon Iver, The 1975, and more.

You can catch Charli XCX supporting the project on the “Sweat” tour with Troye Sivan. Read our review of their recent Nashville stop, and get tickets here.

@applemusic

“I was like this album is not going to appeal to a lot of people.” @Charli XCX shares the origin story of BRAT’s iconic text cover. #CharliXCX #BRAT #MusicOnTikTok

♬ original sound – Apple Music