Ibtissam Belkoutbi, Jadetimes Staff
I.B, is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Cultural News
Within the past couple of years, the music scene has taken a dramatic turn defined by the upsurge of new sub-genres. These newly developed styles not only show but also answer the rapid social, cultural, and artistic changes that the world is experiencing and witnessing in various facets of life.
Among the newer emergent subgenres of music, there exists what is more commonly termed "Hyperpop." It's an interesting combination since it draws on elements from pop music, electronica, and rap. It all gets put together in an imaginative, experimental manner, really making the overall sound feel alive, dynamic, and exciting. The excess use of digital sounds is one of the main characteristics of this unique musical genre. You hear the extreme volume of sound effects, commonly containing electronic guitars. Often, you hear oddly syncopated vocal clips, and sometimes, it deliberately distorts human voices, rendering them unfamiliar, strange, and changed.
With this, in particular, hyperpop enlists the young as its consumer, and such novelty of interactive and thrilling consumption invites listeners to engage with what feels like an enchanted imaginary digital realm. This charming genre also puts quite a strong emphasis on the blurring of lines that usually separate reality from imagination, whether it is in lyrical content or innovative sounds used within the music.
Within the context of such an amazing development and emergence of this astonishing musical genre, several influential artists came into the spotlight and left their signature in this direction. The brightest and most pronounced stars that lead the innovative wave "hyperpop" are Sophie, being even referred to as one of the founding fathers, because her approach to creating music was quite peculiar and experimental; and 100 gecs, who managed to win unprecedented success all over the world, only because they allowed their listeners to be taken in the absolutely new and different type of musical expression, which denied all the canons of classic music.
This genre, in particular, has constantly created a better relationship with mainstream music because of various collaborations that include artists from several diversified musical genres.
The impact that hyperpop has had on the music business
Hyperpop redefines pop music, one that challenges the conventional limits that were preconceived. It's an approach very maximalist with high-energy beats, distorted vocals, and very unconventional song structures. 100 gecs, SOPHIE, and Charli XCX really pushed those limits out of conventional radio formats. That opened up questions about what constitutes mainstream music and gave other experimental genres a broader opening.
Informed Production Methods: Hyperpop has absolutely been everywhere in the last few years, and usually draws upon the newest developments in technology while using advanced software applications to exemplify just how extraordinary the latest development found within methods of music production can be. Typically, producers working within this genre will pitch-shift, layer, and apply digital effects to a number of different sounds to create a sound that is both glossy in its finish but chaotic in delivery. This new shift in production methods has sparked a new generation of up-and-coming producers to ambitiously try to experiment with production methods of their own, engendering a spirit of innovation and creativity within the music industry as a whole.
Shaping Marketing and Distribution: The whole movement of hyperpop, which seems ignited on the popular public social media, especially TikTok, can easily reach stratospheric success and go viral in just a few seconds. This gives way to heavy reliance on progressive digital marketing strategies, really changing the framework on how to market and distribute music, relying even more on organic involvement than former methods of advertising. A lot of hyperpop artists take matters into their hands by developing and fostering their devoted fan bases through direct, personal engagement on a host of platforms like Twitter and Instagram. These dynamic communities foster strong support that extends into actively promoting their favorite acts and musicians.
With its intrinsically eclectic nature, hyperpop does inspire a host of collaborations between genres musically, making for a creative mashup of styles that was, until recently, quite uncommon in the mainstream music world. This has created a culture wherein several hyperpop artists collaborate with artists from various genres to create new works and attract audiences that are larger than ever. In addition, such genre-bending has had a deep impact on artists working with hip-hop, rock, and electronic music and, thus, has served to encourage an exciting culture of experimentation and collaboration that is reordering the contours of contemporary music.
Nurturing Diversity and Inclusivity: Hyperpop is very inclusive, given the vastness of perspectives related to the LGBTQ+ community, spurred on further by non-binary identities grossly diverse in cultural influence. Resolute attention to representation has dramatically appealed to repressed communities who find themselves in musical contexts represented and heard accordingly, and by extension a far more dynamic and diverse music scene. With musicians of various backgrounds both emerging and finding success, the overall music world is catching on to an important factor: diversity in its products. It is almost reasonable to assume such a trend will, finally, bring about a much larger sense of what pop has to offer its listeners.
The Changing Role of the Artist: The hyperpop scene is dynamic, fast-changing, and not usually susceptible to single, complex, and multiform roles that the artist may well assume. A musician in this genre is also a visual artist, influencer, community builder, and a figure of immense influence. This holistic practice of being an artist expands what an artist can be while encouraging innovative approaches to performer-audience relationships usually having little to do with the musical elements themselves. It creates a stronger bond between performer and audience, and cements their brand identity within an ever-growing pool of competition.
Is hyperpop a genre of the future?
Hyperpop is one of the most outstanding and influential genres to emerge from the music scene as of late, with its maximalist and often experimental approach to popular music. This genre, first coming into prominence during the beginning of the 2010s, indeed managed to merge different sides of electronic music, hip hop, and dance music while still incorporating pop sensibilities, creating a unique sound which was at once both familiar to listeners while being incredibly avant-garde and innovative at the same time.
Hyperpop, with the consideration of 2024, is an ever-changing genre of music; 100 gecs, Charli XCX, and Rina Sawayama are only a few examples of artists who push the genre further.
While these numbers are big for hyperpop, it's still very much a niche genre prized above all for its experimentation and cultural heaviness.
If hyperpop were to continue developing and expanding, then it had the potential to greatly influence more mainstream music creation and inspire even more. It would make the general musical world much more critical in diversity
