As July draws to a close, Gen Z is still waiting for 2025’s song of the summer.
After Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hot Girl Summer” became a cultural phenomenon in 2019 and Charli XCX’s “Brat Summer” turned 2024 into a neon-drenched rebellion, fans are watching summer 2025 with one question: who will define it? In recent years, pop singers haven’t just dropped songs—they’ve shaped the season’s mood, aesthetics, and politics—confidently using their artistry to influence millions. Their summer anthems have launched viral Tik Tok dances, fashion trends, and even political campaigns—proving pop isn’t just background noise, it’s cultural currency.
Over the past several summers, social media trends have accordingly reflected school-age Gen Zers’ hopes for the summer at hand. The “Hot Girl Summer” trend of 2019—which, according to Megan Three Stallion, was about “being the life of the party”—has remained in the public lexicon and represents young people’s continued desire to live life to the fullest following social distancing mandates.
The nostalgic revival of ‘indie sleaze’ set the scene for Charli XCX’s 2024 “Brat Summer” trend, noted for its “trashy” vibe that defied the exclusive clean-girl aesthetic and encouraged fans to embrace their messiest selves.
The singer of the summer calls the shots on what’s currently cool by embodying “cool”. Coolness is not effortless, however: seasonal success is the result of careful engineering behalf of an artist.
Taking over summer requires strategic moves on the artist’s part. Singers must navigate trend cycles to ensure internet popularity. Charli XCX excelled with Brat’s simple lime-green branding, which was easily recognizable on social media platforms—visibility being a must-have quality in the current online era.
Branding that’s easy to recognize online is easy to share, contributing to further virality. Internet virality can be a powerful marketing tool, which savvy summer artists use to their advantage.
Megan Thee Stallion still reaps the benefits of her “Hot Girl Summer” trend through her new swim line, whose wearers proclaim to the world they’re still celebrating Hot Girl Summer. After Charli XCX declared “a strappy white top with no bra” a part of Brat Summer’s uniform, white tank tops increased in popularity.
When pop artists use clever marketing strategies and unqiue branding to capture online attention, they appeal to massive amounts of young, voting-aged people. During the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the “song of the summer” led to real-world political impact.
Last summer, Charli XCX leveraged Brat-inspired popularity to support presidential candidate Kamala Harris. XCX’s tweet that “Kamala IS brat” opened the floodgates for a green-tinted, meme-fuelled campaign strategy which attracted younger voters—an undeniable result of Charli XCX’s own social-media savvy marketing techniques.
A new aspect to the “seasonal song” trend emerged therefore as a result of Brat’s political influence be crowned queen of the summer, and you can rule it all.
Now, topping the summer hierarchy isn’t just about the music. Successful summer artists dominate popular, political, and consumer culture to connect with audiences.
So far, summer ’25 can’t seem to carry a tune. There are certainly contenders. Addison Rae, sometimes considered the heiress of Charli XCX, released a well-received album and has captured Gen Z audiences with her authenticity. Similarly, Sabrina Carpenter’s newest single, “Manchild.” debuted in June at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her style trends have certainly influenced audiences.
No single artist has successfully captured the internet’s attention in 2025 the way artists like Charli XCX and Megan Thee Stallion have in the past. The winner, if this year has one, will depend on how expertly these pop artists can curate a marketable and influential summertime vibe.
With several weeks left of summer, there’s certainly still time for a winner to take centre stage.
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.