How Hyperpop Became a Force

Emma Madden at Billboard:

Canonized by a team of Spotify editors, including Lizzy Szabo in the summer of 2019, ‘Hyperpop’ was a term taken from Szabo’s data science colleague Glenn McDonald, in an attempt to contextualize the growing traction surrounding an internet infected duo named 100 gecs, and the scene of like minded musicians who seemed to be forming around them. Artists operating under the Hyperpop rubric — from established stars like Charli XCX to Gen Z newcomers like osquinn and ericdoa — have concurrently played a hand in boosting it from a niche internet scene to a viral talking point, having received unexpected cosigns from the likes of YouTuber pewpiedie and and EDM superproducer Skrillex. Practitioners seek to accelerate and exaggerate pop music to the point of abrasion and absurdity. And while no formal genre conventions truly exist across its spectrum — much like Spotify’s playlist, Hyperpop is scene-led rather than genre-led — a prototypical song will usually sound like the meeting point between experimental sound design and EDM influenced pop from the 2010s.

Unlike punk, emo, grunge, psychobilly, this niche that’s been called “Hyperpop” for at least the past year and a half is keen to reach the mainstream, albeit through experimental means.

more here.

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