Hyperpop | |
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Stylistic origins | |
Cultural origins | Early 2010s, United Kingdom[ dubious – discuss ] |
Typical instruments | |
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Hyperpop (sometimes called bubblegum bass) [1] is a loosely defined electronic music movement [2] [3] and microgenre [4] that predominantly originated in the United Kingdom during the early 2010s. It is characterised by a maximalist or exaggerated take on popular music, [3] and typically integrates pop and avant-garde sensibilities while drawing on elements commonly found in electronic, hip hop, and dance music. [5]
Deriving influence from a varied range of sources, the origins of the hyperpop scene are commonly traced to the output of English musician A. G. Cook's record label PC Music and associated artists such as Sophie and Charli XCX. [5] Music associated with this scene received wider attention in August 2019 when Spotify used the term "hyperpop" as the name of a playlist featuring artists such as Cook and 100 gecs. [4] The microgenre spread within younger audiences through social media platforms, especially TikTok. [6]
Hyper-pop embodies an exaggerated, eclectic, and self-referential approach to pop music and typically employs elements such as brash synth melodies, Auto-Tuned "earworm" vocals, and excessive compression and distortion, as well as surrealist or nostalgic references to 2000s Internet culture and the Web 2.0 era. [5] Common features include vocals that are heavily processed; metallic, melodic percussion sounds; pitch-shifted synths; catchy choruses; short song lengths; and "shiny, cutesy aesthetics" juxtaposed with angst-ridden lyrics. [5] The Wall Street Journal 's Mark Richardson described the genre as intensifying the "artificial" tropes of popular music, resulting in "a cartoonish wall of noise that embraces catchy tunes and memorable hooks. The music zooms between beauty and ugliness, as shimmery melodies collide with mangled instrumentation." [7] Writing for American Songwriter , Joe Vitagliano described it as "an exciting, bombastic and iconoclastic genre — if it can even be called a 'genre'—[...] featuring "saw synths, auto-tuned vocals, glitch-inspired percussion and a distinctive late-capitalism-dystopia vibe." [3] Artists often "straddle the avant-garde and the pop charts simultaneously." [5]
According to Vice journalist Eli Enis, hyperpop is less rooted in musical technicalities than "a shared ethos of transcending genre altogether, while still operating within the context of pop." [2] Artists in the style reflect a "tendency to rehabilitate styles of music that have long since gone out of fashion, constantly poking at what is or isn't 'cool' or artful." [5] The style may blend elements from a range of styles, including bubblegum pop, trance, Eurohouse, emo rap, nu metal, cloud rap, J-pop and K-pop. [5] The influence of cloud rap, emo and lo-fi trap, trance music, dubstep, and chiptune are evident in hyperpop, as well as more surreal and haphazard qualities that are pulled heavily from hip hop since the mid-2010s. [2] The Atlantic noted the way the microgenre "swirls together and speeds up Top 40 tricks of present and past: a Janet Jackson drum slam here, a Depeche Mode synth squeal there, the overblown pep of novelty jingles throughout," but also noted "the genre's zest for punk's brattiness, hip-hop's boastfulness, and metal's noise." [8] Some of the style's more surreal and off kilter qualities drew from 2010s hip-hop. [2]
Hyperpop is often linked to the LGBT community and aesthetics. [5] Several of its key practitioners are gay, non-binary, or transgender. [8] The microgenre's emphasis on vocal modulation has allowed artists to experiment with the gender presentation of their voices. [5] "Digicore" and "Glitchcore" are contemporaneous movements that are sometimes conflated with "hyperpop" due to its overlapping artists. [9]
The first instance of the term "hyperpop" was seemingly coined in October 1988 by writer Don Shewey in an article about the Scottish dream pop band Cocteau Twins, [10] stating that England in the 1980s had "nurtured the simultaneous phenomena of hyperpop and antipop". [11]
Complex has stated that "the origins of hyperpop are tangled and murky in the way that things conceived on the internet often are." [9] "Hyperpop" was sometimes used within SoundCloud's nightcore music scene as a genre descriptor. [2] Spotify analyst Glenn McDonald stated that he first saw the term used in reference to the UK-based label PC Music in 2014, but believed that the name did not qualify as a microgenre until 2018. [4] Despite many other artists and labels influencing the scene such as Meishi Smile and Maltine Records, [12] the origins of the style are usually located to the mid-2010s output of PC Music, with hyperpop artists either being affiliated with or directly inspired by the label. [4] [13] The Independent 's Will Pritchard stated that "it's possible to see [hyperpop] as an expression not just of the genres it borrows from, but of the scene that evolved around A. G. Cook's PC Music label (an early home to Sophie and Charli XCX, among others) in the UK in the early 2010s." [5]
There were many other predecessors to the genre, as explained by Pritchard, "to some, the ground covered by hyperpop won't seem all that new". He cited "outliers" of 2000s nu rave (such as Test Icicles) and PC Music contemporaries Rustie and Hudson Mohawke as pursuing similar approaches; of the latter two artists, he noted that their "fluoro, trance-edged smooshes of dance and hip-hop are reminiscent of a lot of hyperpop today." Another artist who has heavily influenced the hyperpop scene is Yasutaka Nakata. [12] Heather Phares of AllMusic stated that the work of Sleigh Bells foreshadowed hyperpop and other artists who "brazenly ignored genre boundaries and united the extremes of sweet and heavy;" [14] Ian Cohen of Pitchfork similarly stated that the term described Sleigh Bells before it became a dominant microgenre. [15] Eilish Gilligan of Junkee credited Kesha for impacting the microgenre, stating that her "grating, half-spoken vocal featured in ['Blow'] and all of her early work, in fact, feel reminiscent of a lot of the intense vocals in hyperpop today", as well as Britney Spears, whose "2011 dancefloor fillers 'Till The World Ends', 'Hold It Against Me' and 'I Wanna Go' all share the same pounding beats that populate modern hyperpop." [16]
Spotify editor Lizzy Szabo referred to A. G. Cook as the "godfather" of hyperpop. [2] According to Enis, PC Music "laid the groundwork for [the microgenre's] melodic exuberance and cartoonish production", with some of hyperpop's surrealist qualities also derived from 2010s hip hop. [2] She states that hyperpop built on the influence of PC Music, but also incorporated the sounds of emo rap, cloud rap, trap, trance, dubstep and chiptune. [2] Among Cook's frequent collaborators, Variety and The New York Times described the work of Sophie as pioneering the style, [17] [18] while Charli XCX was described as "queen" of the style by Vice, and her 2017 mixtape Pop 2 set a template for its sound, featuring "outré" production by Cook, Sophie, Umru, and Easyfun as well as "a titular mission to give pop – sonically, spiritually, aesthetically – a facelift for the modern age." [2]
In May 2019, hyperpop duo 100 gecs released their debut album 1000 gecs (2019), which amassed millions of listens on streaming services and helped to consolidate the style. In Pritchard's description, 100 Gecs took hyperpop "to its most extreme, and extremely catchy, conclusions: stadium-sized trap beats processed and distorted to near-destruction, overwrought emo vocals and cascades of ravey arpeggios." [5] According to Vice and The Face , a second wave of the genre emerged in 2019 following the release of 1000 gecs. [19] [20]
In August 2019, Spotify launched the "Hyperpop" playlist which further cemented the microgenre, and featured guest curation from 100 Gecs and others. [4] Other artists featured on the playlist included Cook, Slayyyter, Gupi, Caroline Polachek, Hannah Diamond, and Kim Petras. [21] Spotify editor Lizzy Szabo and her colleagues landed on the name for their August 2019 playlist after McDonald noted the term in the website's metadata and classified it as a microgenre. [4] In November, Cook added artists including J Dilla, Nicki Minaj, Lil Uzi Vert and Kate Bush to the playlist, which caused controversy due to these additions pushing out smaller hyperpop artists who relied upon the playlist for their earnings. [4] [22] In addition, David Turner, a former strategy manager at SoundCloud, noted a "spike in March and April 2020 from new creators," on the platform, many of which were making hyperpop-adjacent music. [23]
The microgenre began to see rise in popularity in 2020, with the prominence of the Spotify playlist and its spread within younger audiences on social media, such as on TikTok, [6] [24] particularly 'alt Tiktok', one of the main countercultures on the app. [25] In 2022, Ringtone Mag suggested that part of the reason the microgenre rose in popularity across the platform was due to its nature of favouring heavy beats to which creators could dance and make transitions. [26] Hyperpop albums like Charli XCX's How I'm Feeling Now (2020) and A. G. Cook's Apple (2020) appeared on critics' 2020 end-of-year lists. [5] Hyperpop artist ElyOtto's song "SugarCrash!" became one of the most popular songs in the app's history, and was used in over 5 million videos on the platform by July 2021. [10]
Internationally, hyperpop gained notoriety in Hispanic countries, such as Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Spain, particularly with Spanish-speaking artists and producers. Nylon 's Ben Jolley cited Putochinomaricón as one of the "biggest names in the scene." [27]
Questions concerning the potential decline of the microgenre, the corporate influences upon it, and the meaning of the 'hyperpop' name, began to be raised in 2021. [9] Charli XCX, in August 2021, posted a tweet asking "rip hyperpop? discuss". [20] [28] In 2022, Dazed noted that since 2019, the word 'hyperpop' "has since become a catch-all phrase for any and all forms of extreme pop music," and that "sonically, you'd be hard pressed to find any internet-born music made in the last decade that hasn't been retroactively brandished as hyperpop", also stating that "almost all of those given the label have grown disillusioned with the term, or grown irritated by its constraints." [29] The same year, prominent hyperpop musician Glaive stated that he and Ericdoa were "working on killing" the movement, [19] though three months later stated that it "will never die." [30] He later stated that the packaging of the community within the name 'hyperpop' for profit led to its music becoming "algorithmic" over time. [23] In June of 2023, PC Music announced that after that year, the label would not be releasing new music, instead turning to archival projects and special reissues. [31] In September 2023 Underscores, another significant contributor to the microgenre, stated that it was "officially dead". [32]
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Bubblegum Bass is sometimes used as a term to define the specific sound associated with art collective PC Music. [33]
Digicore is a microgenre related to hyperpop. [34] The term ("digi" is short for "digital") was adopted in the mid-2010s by an online community of teenage musicians, communicating through Discord, to distinguish themselves from the preexisting hyperpop scene. [9] It differs from hyperpop mainly through the racial identities of its artists but there remains a degree of crossover between the scenes. [9] Artists often pull from a variety of genres such as midwestern emo, trance, and Chicago drill, amongst others. [35] The beginnings of digicore are rooted in internet culture and many popular producers from the microgenre are between the ages of 15 and 18 who use platforms such as Discord to interact. [35] In 2018, Dalton (a digicore artist relations figure) started a Minecraft and Discord server called "Loser's Club" that became a haven for several of the most popular artists within the digicore scene such as Quinn, Glaive, Ericdoa, Funeral, Midwxst, Saturn, Ways, Zoot and Angelus. [35] This sense of community and collaboration have become key tenets within the scene, and have contributed to the rise in the popularity of the microgenre as a whole, with a majority of the scene preferring the idea of rising in popularity as a collective rather than as individuals. [35] In 2021, the digicore album Frailty by Jane Remover received praise on mainstream music sites Pitchfork and Paste . [36] [37]
Glitchcore, a microgenre related to hyperpop [34] and digicore (sometimes characterised as a subgenre of both styles), is often characterised by high-pitched vocals, sharp 808s, and frequent hi-hats. As one article stated, "Glitchcore is Hyperpop on steroids", [38] referring to the exaggerated vocals, distortions, glitch noises, and other pop elements present within Glitchcore. One of the most defining elements of glitchcore is vocal glitch patterns, created by rapidly repeating a section of a vocal sample. 100 Gecs played a significant role in establishing the sound of glitchcore music by blending various genres and pushing the boundaries of sound experimentation. [39]
Stef, a producer of the popular Hyperpop and glitchcore collective 'Helix Tears' stated that there certainly is a difference between the two microgenres, saying "Hyperpop is more melodic and poppy" while "Glitchcore is indescribable". [38] Glitchcore is typically made up of artists that share stylistic similarity's to 100 Gecs, rather than the musicians signed to PC Music. [40] The artist Twikipedia became a major pioneer of the microgenre, incorporating hyperpop's traditional heavily processed vocals with an 8-bit inspired sound.
TikTok played a key role in popularising glitchcore, through video edits to two viral glitchcore songs "NEVER MET!" by CMTEN and Glitch Gum and "Pressure" by David Shawty and Yungster Jack. [40] Glitchcore has also been associated with a specific visual aesthetic where videos are typically accompanied by glitchy, fast-paced, cluttered, colourful edits that are even marked with flash warnings in certain cases. [40] Some popular digicore artists like d0llywood1 even refer to glitchcore as "an aesthetic, like the edits", rather than an actual music genre. [41]
Hyper Mandelão, or Hyperfunky, [42] [43] is the result of the fusion of mandelão, a subgenre of funk carioca and slap house, with hyperpop and influence of industrial music. The main artists of this style are DJ Mu540, DJ Ramemes [44] and Pabllo Vittar.
Dariacore, also known as hyperflip, is a microgenre related to hyperpop. [34] It was coined by Jane Remover following her 2021 album Dariacore and its two sequels, "Dariacore 2: Enter Here, Hell to the Left" and "Dariacore 3... At least I think that's what it's called?". The microgenre gained popularity on SoundCloud in 2021 and 2022. Dariacore is characterised by sped up and pitch-shifted samples from pop music and other popular media, breakbeats, and Jersey club influence. [45] The genre was described by Raphael Helfand of The Fader as "an entire genre in and of itself, taking hyperpop's silliest tendencies to their logical conclusions". [46]
Krushclub is a microgenre of underground music that garnered attention on TikTok in the mid-2020s. This microgenre is a fusion of several distinct musical styles, including Electronic Dance Music and Jersey club, and is notable for incorporating elements from Electro house, Techno, Scene Music, Eurodance and Electropop. [47] [48] [49] Krushclub music combines bitcrushed electrodance beats with melodic pop rap vocals that are layered with autotune and distortion, creating a distinctive "Hexxed" sound. The bitcrushed beats feature a textured, distorted quality that provides a driving rhythm. [50] The vocals integrate the rhythmic flow of rap with melodic elements. Although, this subgenre comes from hyper pop, there is a common thought that it is its own genre, being normally compared with the song 'L.O.V.E' by SOPHIE.
Musicians such as Lumi Athena, Odetari, cade clair, asteria, Britney Manson, 6arelyhuman, [51] 9lives, removeface, jnhygs, xxanteria, kyszenn, and kets4eki saw niche success thanks to websites like SoundCloud and TikTok. [52] [53] [54]
Charlotte Emma Aitchison, known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery by a promoter who invited her to perform at warehouse raves. In 2010, she signed a recording contract with Asylum Records, releasing a series of singles and mixtapes throughout 2011 and 2012.
Sophie Xeon, known mononymously as SOPHIE, was an English music producer, songwriter, and DJ. Her work is known for its brash take on pop music and is distinguished by experimental sound design, "sugary" synthesized textures, and incorporation of underground dance styles. It would help pioneer the 2010s hyperpop microgenre.
PC Music is a record label and art collective based in London and run by producer A. G. Cook. It was founded in 2013, uploading its first releases to SoundCloud that year. Artists on its roster have included Hannah Diamond, GFOTY, Danny L Harle, EASYFUN, Namasenda, and Planet 1999. The label's releases have been showcased on the compilations PC Music Volume 1 (2015), Volume 2 (2016), and Volume 3 (2022). Following a decade-long run, since 2024 the label is now only dedicated to archival projects and special reissues.
Alexander Guy Cook is an English music producer and the head of the UK record label PC Music. Cook released his first solo singles in 2014. He has also collaborated with PC Music artists such as Hannah Diamond, GFOTY, Easyfun, Danny L Harle and Felicita. He formed the one-off project QT with musician Sophie and performance artist Hayden Dunham, producing the 2014 single "Hey QT".
Hannah Amond, known professionally as Hannah Diamond, is an English singer, songwriter, photographer, and visual artist. She has recorded on A.G. Cook's PC Music label since 2013, beginning with her debut single "Pink and Blue". Her music and visual art employs an aesthetic of hyperreality and heavily produced cuteness in tension with sincerity. Diamond released her debut studio album, Reflections, in November 2019. Her second studio album, Perfect Picture, was released in October 2023.
Vroom Vroom is the second extended play (EP) by English singer Charli XCX, released on 26 February 2016 by Vroom Vroom Recordings. It features production work from English producer Sophie.
Emo rap is a subgenre of hip hop with influence from emo. Originating in the SoundCloud rap scene in the mid-2010s, the genre fuses characteristics of hip hop music, such as trap-style beats with vocals that are usually sung. The most prominent artists in the genre were Lil Peep, XXXTentacion, and Juice Wrld.
Pop 2 is the fourth mixtape by English singer Charli XCX, released on 15 December 2017 by Asylum Records. Executively produced by A. G. Cook of PC Music, sessions for the mixtape began several months before its release and featured a wide variety of guest contributions. The mixtape was backed by its only single "Out of My Head" featuring Alma and Tove Lo, released exactly one week before its release.
100 gecs is an American musical duo formed in 2015 that consists of Dylan Brady and Laura Les. They self-released their debut album, 1000 gecs, in 2019 to positive reviews, followed by a companion remix album, 1000 gecs and the Tree of Clues, in 2020. They released their second studio album, 10,000 gecs, in 2023. Their music has been noted for its often chaotic yet catchy mixture of various styles, and has been described as helping to define the 2010s genre hyperpop.
Addison Rae Easterling is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Rae rose to fame on TikTok and amassed over 88 million followers, making her the fifth most-followed individual on the platform.
How I'm Feeling Now is the fourth studio album by English singer Charli XCX, released on 15 May 2020. Released eight months after her previous LP, Charli (2019), the album was conceived in the span of six weeks during the COVID-19 lockdown in a "do it yourself" collaborative process with her fans. Charli XCX, A. G. Cook and BJ Burton served as the album's executive producers.
"Claws" is a song by English singer-songwriter Charli XCX. It was released as the second single from her fourth studio album, How I'm Feeling Now, on 23 April 2020. Like the previous single, "Forever", the song has three official cover artworks, designed by Timothy Luke, Naked Cherry and Sara Cwynar. "Claws" was named one of the best songs of 2020 by NME and Rolling Stone.
Elliott Ferrous Martin-Platt, known professionally as ElyOtto, is a Canadian hyperpop and pop musician. They are best known for their song "SugarCrash!", which went viral on TikTok in early 2021.
"Good Ones" is a song by English singer Charli XCX, released as the lead single from her fifth studio album, Crash (2022). The song was released on 2 September 2021. It is a synthwave, electropop, dance, and synth-pop song that discusses the singer's incapacity to maintain healthy relationships, instead being drawn inexorably back to the dysfunctional and destructive. It received critical acclaim from critics who praised its production and Charli's vocal performance, while also lamenting its short run-time.
Crash is the fifth studio album by English singer Charli XCX, released on 18 March 2022. It was her last album to be released under her record contract with Asylum Records. Charli announced the album title, release date, and artwork on 4 November 2021. Her website was also updated with information about the album's 2022 tour. The album was preceded by the four singles "Good Ones", "New Shapes" featuring Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek, "Beg for You" featuring Rina Sawayama, "Baby" and two promotional singles, "Every Rule" and "Used to Know Me", the latter released as the fifth single in April 2022.
Jane Remover is an American musician. She pioneered the "dariacore" microgenre on SoundCloud with her album of the same name, released under the pseudonym Leroy. She released her debut studio album, Frailty, in 2021, which was followed by Census Designated in 2023.
"Beg for You" is a song by English singer Charli XCX featuring Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama. It was released on 27 January 2022 as the third single from XCX's fifth studio album, Crash (2022). The song interpolates Swedish singer September's 2006 single "Cry for You". The song received widepsread acclaim from music critics. It peaked at number 3 in Malta and number 24 in the UK.
Dariacore is the debut studio album by the American musician Jane Remover under the pseudonym Leroy. It was self-released on May 14, 2021. Described as a mashup album, Remover was inspired by the musician Vektroid and SoundClown music. Its name is taken from the Daria TV series. Dariacore was responsible for the creation of a genre of the same name, which inspired a wave of SoundCloud artists, and was considered one of the best albums of 2021 by The Fader. It received two sequels.
Britpop is the third studio album by English music producer A. G. Cook. The album was released on 10 May 2024 via New Alias. It arrived five months after the announcement that Cook's PC Music label would cease to release any new material. The album is split into separate discs, similar to his debut album 7G (2020), with the three discs on Britpop representing the past, present and future of Cook's artistry. The album was supported by the singles "Silver Thread Golden Needle", the title track, and "Soulbreaker".
Ayesha Erotica is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Known for her elusive media image and sexually-charged music, her songs are often 2000s-inspired and feature a hyperpop sound.