FEATURE:
Bang Goes Pop
PHOTO CREDIT: Andras Stefuca/Pexels
Is a New Wave of Nostalgia Homogenising the Modern Mainstream Sounds?
_________
I think that Pop music…
PHOTO CREDIT: stockking via Freepik
is as essential now as it has always been. It is definitely busier than ever. So many new artists trying to compete in a very packed market. Platforms like TikTok allow artists this opportunity to get their music heard. Radio play can be very difficult. Nobody is guaranteed that sort of exposure. I do wonder whether a desired sound and style of Pop on Instagram means that a lot of upcoming artists are making things sound homogenised. That same sort of sound that appears to resonate with a younger demographic. Repetition and easier choruses more effective and easier to remember than a more complex structure?! Even so, there are innovative and original artists that are adding something fresh to the Pop scene – music that has longevity and stays in the head. Right now, there is a case of AI being a big threat. If Pop music is less broad and evolving as other genres, does it mean that AI can too easily replicate other artists – thus, how essential are many modern artists?! That seems quite bleak, though there is a case to argue that a modern wave of nostalgia and a somewhat 2D view and demand for a particularly easily accessible and samey Pop sound is creating this quagmire. What might divide people is the fact that a lot of modern Pop is using samples. Many songs and artists from the ‘90s are making their way into modern Pop. That is understandable in terms of the decade. Many of the artists coming through now were growing up in the 1990s or that is the first decade where they have music memories. According to the BBC, one in four Pop songs at the moment contain a sample of some sort:
“Heard this one before? If you're a music fan it's a question you might have been asking yourself recently.
More and more artists seem to be using samples - snippets of older tracks - to create new ones.
From Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice's Barbie World to Issey Cross' Bittersweet Goodbye, our summer playlists have been full of throwbacks.
And analysis shared with BBC Newsbeat shows that about one in four current UK Top 40 hits uses samples.
Press replay
Data from the Official Charts Company and website whosampled.com suggests as many as one in four tracks in the chart make use of retro tracks.
This week's number two, Doja Cat's Paint The Town Red, samples Walk on By, first released by Dionne Warwick in 1964.
Bou's Closer takes us back to the 90s, recycling dance anthem Children by Robert Miles.
And Charlie XCX wants to remind us of Toni Basil's 1981 hit Hey Mickey with Speed Drive, which also samples Robyn's Cobrastyle.
But one of summer's biggest songs based around a sample is Issey Cross's Bittersweet Goodbye, which entered the charts last week at number 31.
The dance track uses the hook from 1997 hit Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve, a track which, ironically, sampled Rolling Stones hit The Last Time.
Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj dominated the charts with their track Barbie World, which sampled Aqua
You might assume that the sampling phenomenon is a result of our current fascination with the 90s and noughties.
Whether it's down to nostalgia or social media exposing a new generation to the era, it's inspiring trends in film, TV and fashion.
And it would be easy to assume the rise in musical throwbacks is simply down to young people rediscovering older music online.
While that's definitely played a part, US journalist Jayson Greene tells BBC Newsbeat the truth "is more interesting than that".
Jayson, who works for respected music website Pitchfork, looked into the issue of "making old hits new again".
Blame your lizard brain
His investigation started with music publishing companies - a fairly new business that really took off during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the US, two firms have snapped up the rights to dozens of tracks by legendary artists such as Bob Marley, Prince, James Brown, and Whitney Houston.
Jayson spoke to their bosses and found that the companies will look for opportunities to promote the material in the hope it gets used.
If it does, they get paid, and the songs that sell are the ones that people already know.
"The most universally recognisable properties are the ones that are being recycled," says Jayson.
Hearing familiar songs "hits like a node in your lizard brain that recognises something you already love", he says.
"And so that song seems more interesting to you than maybe something you've never heard before."
That's good for business, but potentially less beneficial for creativity, says Jayson.
"Because everybody knows them already... nobody has to do any work breaking in a new entity, a new voice," he says”.
This repurposing of older songs and fusion of the new and old is not something new. Some might argue that Pop has run out of ideas and mobility. Is it harder now to be truly original in a genre where pretty much everything has been done?! I don’t think that Pop has lost its way. It is sunnier and more optimistic than it has been in many years. In terms of the artists coming through, there is a greater range of options. Less homogenised when it comes to race and age even. I am hearing a diversity that has not always been present in this gene. Also, whereas Pop used to be largely autobiographical, there is also a bit more range here. I have included a video from Dylan above, as she is someone doing something interesting with Pop. Many artists taking it away from the personal and towards something more fantastical or invented. Maybe modern Pop is not as explosive as it could be. That goes with other genre. Hip-Hop always used to be the genre where sampling was used to incredible effect. That doesn’t seem to be true now. A distinct lack of punch and inventiveness is missing here. I have no issue with Pop songs sampling other songs. It can introduce listeners to the original source. Does it means that we focus too much on the original track or the ‘new’ one being created? Think about Rita Ora’s Praising You. Based around Fatboy Slim’s Praise You – from his 1998 classic, You've Come a Long Way, Baby -, is it artists getting easy recognition because they are using an established and popular tracks? Is it easier getting traction and popularity if you are piggy-backing a bit on another song?
Some might say nostalgia is rose-tinted. Do we tend to misremember the past and idealise it? I think the music of the ‘90s wasn’t perfect, yet it was terrific and had that eclectic nature. Maybe more so than we have now. Through sampling songs of the past, we are actually ensuring that a lot of modern Pop songs are not static, samey and seemingly of the same wavelength. Like Hip-Hop did with its samples, listeners will be compelled to seek out those songs that are sampled. I will ask whether this new rise in Pop songs using samples is something to worry about. Let us not forget: if a quarter of Pop songs in the charts/mainstream are sampling other songs, that means that the vast majority are not. Why is sampling and this nostalgia rush so prevalent at this moment? Is it a post-pandemic need to embrace a safer, less stressful – yet perhaps more naïve and less responsible – past?! Also, at a time when climate crisis, politics and everything swirling round is creating this miasma, is there some form of escapism here?! It is definitely heartwarming and comforting hearing a classic from the past – even if you were not old enough to remember it first time around. The BBC asked (in a feature from July) why the music of the 1990s and 2000s is having such a comeback:
“But what's the fascination with those decades?
For friends Emily and Yasi it's a love of everything, from fashion to design and music. They're both 20 and grew up with 90s music around the house.
"I'd say it was the best era of music," says Emily.
It's not just original hits that Emily loves, but recent collaborations between artists like JoJo and Mahalia and Aitch and Ashanti.
"I really like that some celebrities feature older songs and bring them to a new generation. I think that's really cool," she says.
Emily and Yasi are dressed for the occasion when they speak to BBC Newsbeat at Manchester's 90s Baby Festival.
PHOTO CREDIT: rawpixel.com via Freepik
Yasi says it's not uncommon for her to spend hours looking at pictures of 90s and noughties celebrities to get fashion inspiration.
"It was iconic, the outfits never go out of date," she says.
"No matter where celebrities went, their outfits were always eye-catching so it's something we can all embrace."
Ellie is obsessed with 90s and 00s TV shows including Friends and Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Ellie Addis agrees. She's a fashion blogger from Kent, who's made a career out of styling clothes from the era.
She's talking to us over Zoom from her bedroom, which is fittingly plastered in 90s pop culture posters.
The 22-year-old jokes: "It's my childhood dream fulfilled as an adult."
For her, the 90s symbolise happier times and childhood, even though she was born in 2000, or Y2K, as it was known back then.
"I love that era of fashion because it's like reminiscing on being a kid again when things were simpler."
Ellie's TikToks get thousands of likes and she's built up a following of over 500,000 followers who love her TV-inspired content.
"I base a lot of looks on programmes. I love 90s shows and with so many streaming services bringing shows and films back they're allowing younger audiences to discover them for the first time."
Her main muse? That's easy.
PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Every single episode I watch and think 'I would wear that outfit' and those episodes aired 25-odd years ago."
The Sugababes have been selling out shows since the original line-up got back together
Nostalgia is something DJ and presenter Nat O'Leary has noticed when it comes to our love of the era.
She hosts the Radio 1 00s show, a programme that - as the name suggests - is dedicated to noughties music.
Each week the reaction from listeners is huge.
"When a song plays, especially from the 90s and noughties, it takes you back to a moment where we didn't have social media," she says.
"We'll play All Saints and somebody will message in and say, 'I remember having my first kiss to this', or another song will remind them of their first rave."
She agrees with Emily's love of modern remixes and collabs, and says it's no surprise current artists are going back to that time.
"It was the best era of music, there was so much range and expression," she says.
"Everybody tried and did different things and nobody followed a form of fashion.
"I think that influence is partly down to freedom of judgement from social media."
Clay Routledge is a psychologist specialising in nostalgia. He thinks our love of the era is about our changing relationship with technology.
"The 90s were the last period where the internet was more of a fun toy that we used to find music and videos," he says.
"Now, we're always online and we're also on the cusp of a potential revolution in artificial intelligence and there's a lot of anxiety about how it's going to affect our lives.
"Reminiscing about the 90s and 00s is comforting because it gives us connection to times in our lives where we felt more free, adventurous and connected to other people”.
I don’t feel we need to be too concerned! Pop music is going through a bit of a moment where repetition is creeping it. Many artists tailoring their sound to an algorithm rather than striking out and doing something new. The scene is crammed. It is very hard to distinguish yourself. I don’t think artists are being cynical or lazy when they sample other songs. Part of it does have something to do with nostalgia. It is also a case of making listeners and younger fans aware of the music they grew up listening to. Some do fear that AI can easily replace a lot of modern Pop if there is something formulaic and derivative dominating. Listen to the wider landscape of Pop and you can hear so much to recommend. Incredible artists pushing boundaries and striking for longevity. Maybe overused samples and an easy source of accessibility does need to be addressed and challenged. Pop artists leaning less on the past. There is still plenty of promise and strength in modern Pop. It is a time when nostalgia is clouding the scene and making it sound more recycled and lazy – which is not the case. Whilst this genre is essential and will evolve and change again soon, right now, we are hearing a…
POP rather than a bang.