Kamala Harris Is Brat & 9 More of Her Best Musical Moments

On day one (July 22) of her campaign, Harris walked out for her first press conference to the strains of Bey’s Lemonade cut “Freedom.” The song was Harris’ theme music as she addressed the press at her Wilmington, DE campaign headquarters, and according to CNN the permission to use the track came directly from Queen Bey herself.

Back in September 2023, Harris hosted the “50 Years of Hip-Hop” celebration at the official vice president’s residence in Washington, D.C. “Hip-hop now shapes nearly every aspect of American popular culture, and it reflects the incredible diversity and ingenuity of the American people. I truly believe hip-hop is one of America’s greatest exports,” Harris said to the gathering of 400 artists, executives and politicians. The event found Harris and husband Doug Emhoff dancing along to sets from Lil Wayne, Common, MC Lyte, Wale, Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick and more.

Harris’ presidential bid got off to a scorching start when, just a day after hopping into the race her campaign busted out a TikTok video pitching the VP as the best alternative to Trump set to Chappell Roan’s “Femininomenon,” juxtaposing pics of the sweaty, grim-faced looking 78-year-old former president golfing in his MAGA hat against stills of a smiling, youthful Harris.

At June’s second annual White House Juneteenth Concert, Harris was pulled up on stage by gospel great Kirk Franklin, who implored the VP to join him and then executed a series of smooth spins, turns and hip shakes as the band played “I Smile.”

Watch video of the moment here.

In her 2024 financial disclosure report, Harris revealed that she was gifted tickets to one of 2023’s hottest concerts: Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour. The VP and husband Doug Emhoff joined the Beyhive at FedEx Field in Landover, MD in August, posting a picture of the couple afterwards with the caption, “Thanks for a fun date night @Beyonce.” Back in 2018, Harris also praised Bey’s iconic Coachella headlining set, saying it was, “inspiring and gave me much HBCU pride.”

In February, Harris dropped by Della Soul Records in Grand Rapids in the swing state of Michigan and offered an impromptu lesson about giving up the funk and supporting Black businesses. After scooping up greeting cards featuring Ella Fitzgerald and the Notorious B.I.G., some Miles Davis vinyl and a George Clinton Funko Pop figure, Harris showed her haul off to the camera and asked, “Does everybody know who George Clinton is?” in reference to the legendary funk icon. “Do you know P-Funk? No, okay, well there is lessons to be taught,” she said. Harris also visited Home Rule Records in D.C. in May for Small Business Week, leaving with vinyl by jazz greats Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Charles Mingus and Roy Ayers.

During Pride Month in 2023, while lashing out at anti-LGBTQ laws, Harris visited the legendary Stonewall Inn in New York and danced along to the summer’s hottest queer anthem, Kylie Minogue’s “Padam Padam.” In the face of a wave of laws from conservative legislatures targeting the gay and trans communities, she told Bravo’s Andy Cohen, “We are all in this together. We are fighting for the ideals of our country. We believe in its promise of equality and freedom. We are not going to be deterred, we’re not going to tire, we’re not going to throw up our hands — we’re going to roll up our sleeves.” She also hosted a pride event at her official D.C. residence that month with drag star Pattie Gonia, where she and the environmental activist grooved to Minogue’s unstoppable jam. “‘Padam Padam! You Know it!” Harris told Gonia enthusiastically.

In 2023 Harris released her official Spotify playlist of her favorite African music after her first trip to the continent. At the time she said “My Travels: Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia,” was designed to “amplify the artists and sounds from my travels.” The curated list included songs from Ghanaian and Ghanaian-American artists including: Amaarae, Moses Sumney and Black Sherif; Tanzanian and Tanzanian-American artists Harmonize, Zuchu and Alikiba; and Zambian and Zambian-American artists including Chile One Mr. Zambia, Yo Maps and Chef 187.

In addition to her nods of support from Beyoncé, Demi Lovato, Katy Perry, Carole King and many more, Harris got perhaps the most coveted 2024 pop stamp of approval when Charli XCX cheered on her decision to get in the ring by announcing “Kamala IS brat.” The reference to the title of the British singer’s latest album, Brat, came in the midst of “brat summer” and was quickly adopted by Harris’ campaign, which switched the banner of its X account to the signature Brat lime green palette and font.

During a trip to The Late Show in 2019, then Senator Harris shared her “Mood Mix,” a compilation of songs she said that always make her dance (A Tribe Called Quest’s “Check the Rhime”), songs from her favorite movies (Prince’s “Purple Rain” and Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s “Shallow”), a perfect cookout vibe (“Lemonade,” Beyoncé), songs to lift the spirit (Edwin Hawkins Singers’ “Oh Happy Day”), songs that have to be played loud so you can feel the bass (Bob Marley and the Wailers’ “Sun Is Shining”) and a jam that reminds her of her HBCU alma mater, Howard University (Salt-n-Pepa’s “Push It”). She also included tracks by Aretha Franklin, Too $hort, Kendrick Lamar and Funkadelic.