We were so inspired by BAXTR’s new single, “In Pop We Trust,” that it got us thinking about pop music in general and how it has been portrayed throughout the cultural landscape over the past 30 years.
“Pop” was coined as a short term for “popular.” Top 40 reigned in the sense that if you heard it on the radio, it was then deemed worthy of your attention and that notion still reigns true today. However, not everyone got behind that mindset, and understandably so.
NSYNC’s 2001 hit, “Pop,” delved into the stigma of being labeled a pop artist, stating that they were just doing what they loved and labels weren’t something they necessarily adhered to. “Dirty pop” was also coined a term at the time by the band, giving it two connotations – the word “pop” in itself being used as a dirty word to be avoided if you wanted to stand out, while reclaiming the word as a new genre of sorts where the “pop” artist had more control or say over how their music was perceived.
Pop music of the 90’s and early aughts was often described as “disposable” at the time. But now that those consumers of pop have all grown up – yes, that’s us, folks – we are proving day in and day out that the music of our formative years was anything but; the craving even more palpable now, whether for nostalgic purposes or not, pop music will always reign. As artists of today try to recreate what made us fall in love with pop music some 20 years ago, we are now observing how that fight to end pop discrimination, for lack of a better term, has made such a difference in the musical lives of upcoming generations.
Today, “pop” feels more like a joyful definition than a dirty term to pigeonhole an artist, though artists do still fight to be seen more than just a byproduct of the pop market. However, that branding feels less heavier than that of the past. What the Britneys and the boy bands carried heavy on their shoulders now a somewhat nonexistent burden to modern day Duas, Olivias and Arianas. Now, pop music is more celebrated as the word itself is now seen as simply a genre rather than something that is merely just popular or something phony that needs to be destroyed.
Artists of all calibers are basking in the glory of pop – up-and-comers BAXTR a thriving example. With their high-energy and effervescent aesthetics, pop rocks out now with the stigma virtually nonexistent thanks to those that came before them. Here’s to you, Miss. Avril Lavigne…and the darling Ashlee Simpson. We miss ya!
Though there are some notions of pop still being a guilty pleasure, we hear, “They say ‘trash’ and we say ‘treasure.’ There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure.”
So crank your speakers on full volume, because there is nothing better than basking in the glory of a pop song!
