As someone with a self proclaimed “diverse music taste,” I always find it important to explore all genres, not just the ones that are more mainstream or widely accepted. However, hyperpop is one of those grey areas. Hyperpop’s roots start in the early 2010’s with electric pop. Think back to songs like “Like a G6” by Dev or “Let’s Take a Selfie” by The Chainsmokers. This quickly reached mainstream audiences and hit people like a truck. Some loved it; the powerful electronic sounds mixed with fun and catchy lyrics. While others completely rejected it; seeing it more as a messy jumble of sounds that honestly don’t go together. Regardless of the public’s stance on electronic pop, it brought rise to many artists we know and appreciate today like Calvin Harris, CHVRCHES, Passion Pit, and tons more.
These artists paved the pathway for hyperpop, and in turn inspired artists like Charli XCX and 100 Gecs to experiment more with synth sound and drums. In 2019, 100 gecs released their album 1000 gecs and within a few months they had really taken off. Ironically enough, I saw them in concert in November of 2019 when they opened for Brockhampton, not knowing all but one song—Ringtone.” That song had reached the masses of Tik Tok early on and it was already way past viral. 100 gecs created a worldwide fanbase in a very short time and the pressure was on to put out new music. They then called for the help of more mainstream artists like Charli XCX and Rico Nasty, both of which have music heavily inspired by hyperpop. They released 1000 gecs and the Tree of Clues. The album had remixes to all of the songs on their first album and in some ways created new songs entirely.
With music it is easy to manipulate synths and sounds, but in hyperpop, the trick is creating a way for them all to sound melodic together. One of the more controversial Kanye West albums (among his fans) is Yeezus, which has a lot of hyperpop elements. He brings electronic voice modification to a whole new level in songs like Black Skinhead. When he released it, West himself was at an odd time in his career so the accompanied album made fans appreciate his versatility and ability to create the unexpected tunes on the record. Hearing hyperpop related music a hip-hop/rap space expanded the genre and led to collaborations within the hyperpop community to spread their wings and explore rap elements. Another amazing example of this is Rico Nasty. Her third record, Sugar Trap 2, takes the elements of hyperpop such as, pitch shifts and metallic voice changes while still boasting her female rap image. Both Kanye and Rico created a bridge between the genres and continue to promote genre-bending within the music industry.
With all this being said, it’s easy to see how hyperpop scratches that itch in the brain. From the quick sound changes, to high pitched chipmunk voice notifications, hyperpop is on to something and that’s no question. Although it is still a very new genre, it has garnered a lot of love and criticism alike. The future for hyperpop is going to be quite something, and it’s something I’d keep my eye on!