Hyperpop

Hyperpop embodies an exaggerated, eclectic, and self-referential approach to pop music and typically employs elements such as brash synth melodies, Auto-Tuned "earworm" vocals, and excessive compression and distortion, as well as surrealist or nostalgic references to 2000s Internet culture and the Web 2.0 era.{{cite web |last1=Pritchard |first1=Will |title=Hyperpop or overhyped? The rise of 2020's most maximal sound |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/hyperpop-genre-2020-charli-xcx-rina-sawayama-b1775025.html |website=The Independent |access-date=13 February 2021 |url-access=limited |date=17 December 2020 |archive-date=30 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230210105/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/hyperpop-genre-2020-charli-xcx-rina-sawayama-b1775025.html |url-status=live }} Common features include vocals that are heavily processed; metallic, melodic percussion sounds; pitch-shifted synths; catchy choruses; short song lengths; and "shiny, cutesy aesthetics" juxtaposed with angst-ridden lyrics.

The Wall Street Journal{{'}}s Mark Richardson described hyperpop as turning the "artificial" parts of pop music up to an extreme level, creating a "cartoonish wall of noise" that is full of catchy tunes and memorable hooks. The music moves between beautiful and ugly, with shimmery melodies crashing into mangled instrumentals.{{cite news |last1=Richardson |first1=Mark |title=Hyperpop's Joyful Too-Muchness |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/hyperpops-joyful-too-muchness-11609278593 |website=The Wall Street Journal |date=29 December 2020 |access-date=22 February 2021 |archive-date=21 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210221220458/https://www.wsj.com/articles/hyperpops-joyful-too-muchness-11609278593 |url-status=live }} Joe Vitagliano, writing for American Songwriter, said hyperpop is an "exciting, bombastic, and iconoclastic genre — if it can even be called a 'genre'" and has "saw synths, auto-tuned vocals, glitch-inspired percussion and a distinctive late-capitalism-dystopia vibe." Artists in this style mix the avant-garde and pop music, often balancing between being addictively fun and a bit too much, according to Pitchfork's Kieran Press-Reynolds. He added that in 2024, hyperpop had become a "Frankensteinian macro-genre."{{Cite web |last=Press-Reynolds |first=Kieran |date=2024-10-03 |title=The Lost Promises of Hyperpoptimism |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/the-lost-promises-of-hyperpoptimism/ |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}} Irony and humor are also important in this type of music.{{Cite magazine |last=George |first=Cassidy |date=2023-02-22 |title=The Future of Club Life is a Hyperpop Rave Called Subculture |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/subculture-hyperpop-rave-club-party-1234683416/ |access-date=2024-10-30 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}

According to Vice journalist Eli Enis, hyperpop is not so much about following music rules, but "a shared ethos of transcending genre altogether, while still operating within the context of pop." Artists in this style like to bring back semi-obscure music genres, and they enjoy messing with what is "cool" or "artistic." Hyperpop can mix many different kinds of music, like bubblegum pop, trance, Eurohouse, emo rap, nu metal, cloud rap, J-pop, and K-pop. Hyperpop also mix sounds from emo, lo-fi trap, dubstep, and chiptune. The style has strange and surprising parts taken from hip hop since the mid-2010s. The Atlantic said the genre "swirls together and speeds up Top 40 tricks of present and past: a Janet Jackson drum slam here, a Depeche Mode synth squeal there, the overblown pep of novelty jingles throughout," but also said "the genre's zest for punk's brattiness, hip-hop's boastfulness, and metal's noise."

Hyperpop is often linked to the LGBTQ community and aesthetics. Several of its key practitioners are gay, non-binary, or transgender.{{cite web |last1=Kornhaber |first1=Spencer |title=What is Hyperpop? |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/hyperpop/617795/ |website=The Atlantic |date=14 February 2021 |access-date=22 February 2021 |archive-date=3 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303110311/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/hyperpop/617795/ |url-status=live }} The microgenre's emphasis on vocal modulation has allowed artists to experiment with the gender presentation of their voices, as well as to deal with gender dysphoria, and hyperpop artists such as Sophie and 8485 have explored gender fluidity and selfhood in their lyrical content.

Digicore and glitchcore are contemporaneous movements that are sometimes conflated with hyperpop due to its overlapping artists.{{cite web |last1=Walker |first1=Sophie |title=((404 Error, Genre Not Found: The Life Cycle of Internet Scenes)) |url=https://www.complex.com/pigeons-and-planes/life-cycle-of-internet-genres-scenes-hyperpop-digicore-cloud-rap |website=Complex Networks |date=4 November 2021 |access-date=7 November 2021 |archive-date=14 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514185413/https://www.complex.com/pigeons-and-planes/life-cycle-of-internet-genres-scenes-hyperpop-digicore-cloud-rap |url-status=live }}

The first instance of the term "hyperpop" was seemingly coined in October 1988 by writer Don Shewey in an article about the Scottish dream pop band Cocteau Twins,{{Cite magazine |last=Madden |first=Emma |date=2021-07-01 |title=How Hyperpop Became a Force Capable of Reaching and Rearranging the Mainstream |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/hyperpop-history-mainstream-crossover-9595799/ |access-date=2023-10-09 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US |archive-date=21 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521170244/https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/hyperpop-history-mainstream-crossover-9595799/ |url-status=live }} stating that England in the 1980s had "nurtured the simultaneous phenomena of hyperpop and antipop".{{Cite web |last=Starkey |first=Arun |date=2023-05-20 |title=Did Spotify invent hyperpop? |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/did-spotify-invent-hyperpop/ |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=Far Out Magazine |language=en-US |archive-date=11 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011015952/https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/did-spotify-invent-hyperpop/ |url-status=live }}File:Sophie and A. G. Cook 5.jpg (left) and A. G. Cook (right) are considered progenitors of hyperpop]]The origins of hyperpop are a bit unclear, like many things created on the internet. Sophie Walker from Complex said that it's hard to know exactly where it came from. The term "hyperpop" was sometimes used as a genre descriptor in the nightcore scene on SoundCloud. Spotify analyst Glenn McDonald said he first saw the term in 2014, referring to the UK label PC Music, but he did not think it was a microgenre until 2018.{{cite news |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/this-is-hyperpop-a-genre-tag-for-genre-less-music/ |title=This is Hyperpop: A Genre Tag for Genre-less Music |last=Enis |first=Eli |date=27 October 2020 |publisher=Vice |access-date=17 November 2020 |archive-date=1 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101092401/https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvx85v/this-is-hyperpop-a-genre-tag-for-genre-less-music |url-status=live }} Even though other artists like Meishi Smile and Maltine Records helped shape the style, many people say hyperpop started with the music from PC Music in the mid-2010s.{{Cite web|url=https://www.otaquest.com/their-dreamland-an-introduction-to-the-emerging-sound-of-japanese-hyperpop/|title=Their Dreamland: An Introduction to the Emerging Sound of Japanese HyperPop|last=St. Michel|first=Patrick|date=27 July 2021|work=OTAQUEST|access-date=|issn=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205080932/https://www.otaquest.com/their-dreamland-an-introduction-to-the-emerging-sound-of-japanese-hyperpop/|archive-date=5 December 2023|url-status=}}{{cite web |last1=Ravens |first1=Chai |title=7G |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/a-g-cook-7g/ |website=Pitchfork |date=13 August 2020 |access-date=16 September 2020 |archive-date=3 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003164303/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/a-g-cook-7g/ |url-status=live }} Many hyperpop artists are connected to or inspired by this label. Will Pritchard from The Independent said, "it's possible to see [hyperpop] as an expression not just of the genres it borrows from, but of the scene that evolved around A. G. Cook's PC Music label (an early home to Sophie and Charli XCX, among others) in the UK in the early 2010s."

There were many artists before hyperpop that helped shape the genre, as Pritchard explains, "to some, the ground covered by hyperpop won't seem all that new." He mentioned "outliers" from the 2000s nu rave, like Test Icicles, and PC Music contemporaries Rustie and Hudson Mohawke, who did similar things. About these two artists, he said their "fluoro, trance-edged smooshes of dance and hip-hop are reminiscent of a lot of hyperpop today." Another artist who helped influence hyperpop is Yasutaka Nakata. Heather Phares from All Music said that Sleigh Bells' music "foreshadowed hyperpop" and other artists who "brazenly ignored genre boundaries and united the extremes of sweet and heavy."{{cite web |last1=Phares |first1=Heather |title=Sleigh Bells – Biography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sleigh-bells-mn0002048033/biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=23 September 2021 |archive-date=23 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923183539/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sleigh-bells-mn0002048033/biography |url-status=live }} Ian Cohen from Pitchfork also said that the term "hyperpop" described Sleigh Bells before it became a popular genre.{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Ian |title=Texis – Album Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sleigh-bells-texis/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=23 September 2021 |archive-date=20 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920114839/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sleigh-bells-texis/ |url-status=live }} Eilish Gilligan from Junkee credited Kesha for impacting hyperpop, pointing out that her "grating, half-spoken vocal featured in Blow and all of her early work, in fact, feel reminiscent of a lot of the intense vocals in hyperpop today." She also mentioned Britney Spears, saying that her "2011 dancefloor fillers 'Till The World Ends', 'Hold It Against Me' and 'I Wanna Go' all share the same pounding beats that populate modern hyperpop."{{Cite web|last=Gilligan|first=Eilish|date=18 October 2021|title=How The Music From 2011 Is Still Defining Pop Today|url=https://junkee.com/2011-2021-music-adele-nicki-minaj/311658|access-date=19 October 2021|website=Junkee|language=en-US|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020133102/https://junkee.com/2011-2021-music-adele-nicki-minaj/311658|url-status=live}}

Spotify editor Lizzy Szabo referred to A. G. Cook as the "godfather" of hyperpop. According to Enis, PC Music "laid the groundwork for [the microgenre's] melodic exuberance and cartoonish production", with some of hyperpop's surrealist qualities also derived from 2010s hip hop. She states that hyperpop built on the influence of PC Music, but also incorporated the sounds of emo rap, cloud rap, trap, trance, dubstep and chiptune. Among Cook's frequent collaborators, Variety and The New York Times described the work of Sophie as pioneering the style,{{cite web |last1=Amorosi |first1=A.D. |title=Sophie, Grammy-Nominated Avant-Pop Musician, Dies at 34 |url=https://variety.com/2021/music/news/sophie-grammy-nominated-avant-pop-producer-musician-dies-at-34-1234896422/ |website=Variety |date=30 January 2021 |access-date=31 January 2021 |archive-date=31 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131010532/https://variety.com/2021/music/news/sophie-grammy-nominated-avant-pop-producer-musician-dies-at-34-1234896422/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Pareles |first1=Jon |title=Sophie, Who Pushed the Boundaries of Pop Music, Dies at 34 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/30/arts/music/sophie-dead.html |website=The New York Times |date=30 January 2021 |access-date=31 January 2021 |archive-date=30 January 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210130201901/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/30/arts/music/sophie-dead.html |url-status=live }} while Charli XCX was described as "queen" of the style by Vice, and her 2017 mixtape Pop 2 set a template for its sound, featuring "outré" production by AG Cook, Sophie, Umru, and Easyfun as well as "a titular mission to give pop – sonically, spiritually, aesthetically – a facelift for the modern age."

Aliya Chaudhury from Kerrang! explained that crunkcore, metalcore, and nu metal were key to creating hyperpop.{{cite news |last=Chaudhury |first=Aliya |date=14 April 2021 |title=Why hyperpop owes its existence to heavy metal |url=https://www.kerrang.com/features/why-hyperpop-owes-its-existence-to-heavy-metal/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211014123624/https://www.kerrang.com/features/why-hyperpop-owes-its-existence-to-heavy-metal/ |archive-date=14 October 2021 |access-date=15 April 2021 |work=Kerrang!}} She said nu metal's "hybrid of hip-hop, metal, funk, industrial and beyond lends itself perfectly to the hyperpop ideology," with Rico Nasty drawing from it and 100 gecs remixing Linkin Park's "One Step Closer." Chaudhury also pointed out that Rina Sawayama's debut Sawayama "draws from Limp Bizkit and Evanescence," helping bring back nu metal. For crunkcore, she noted Metro Station and Cobra Starship "created exaggerated pop songs that mixed in rock, hip-hop and dance influences," while Breathe Carolina "used heavy electronics to create catchy pop tunes." Chaudhury believes 3OH!3 "created the main blueprint for hyperpop" with their "ability to parody pop and take it to bewildering extremes," using "blown-out synths, and modulated vocals." Lastly, she mentioned metalcore's "most electronic-leaning artists" influencing hyperpop, highlighting Dorian Electra's album My Agenda, which includes the song "Monk Mode" with black metal band Gaylord.

Image:100 gecs.jpg and their debut album saw Spotify formally launch a dedicated permanent hyperpop playlist.]]

In May 2019, hyperpop duo 100 gecs released their debut album 1000 gecs, which amassed millions of listens on streaming services and helped to consolidate the style. In Pritchard's description, 100 gecs took hyperpop "to its most extreme, and extremely catchy, conclusions: stadium-sized trap beats processed and distorted to near-destruction, overwrought emo vocals and cascades of ravey arpeggios." According to Vice and The Face, a second wave of the genre emerged in 2019 following the release of 1000 gecs.{{Cite web |last=Fenwick |first=Julie |date=6 April 2022 |title='It's Happening, Slowly but Surely': Who Killed Hyperpop? |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/its-happening-slowly-but-surely-who-killed-hyperpop/ |access-date=22 May 2022 |website=Vice |language=en |archive-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526043822/https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5q9jm/its-happening-slowly-but-surely-who-killed-hyperpop |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Shutler |first=Ali |date=2023-08-22 |title=What hyperpop did next |work=The Face |url=https://theface.com/music/hyperpop-pc-music-sophie-discord-that-kid-underscores-charli-xcx |access-date=9 October 2023 |archive-date=11 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011015952/https://theface.com/music/hyperpop-pc-music-sophie-discord-that-kid-underscores-charli-xcx |url-status=live }}

In August 2019, Spotify launched the "Hyperpop" playlist which further cemented the microgenre, and featured guest curation from 100 Gecs and others. Other artists featured on the playlist included AG Cook, Popstar Patch, Slayyyter, Gupi, Caroline Polachek, Hannah Diamond, and Kim Petras.{{cite magazine |last1=D'Souza |first1=Shaad |title=Charli XCX's 'Futurist' Pop Is Just Our Present Dystopia |url=https://www.papermag.com/charli-xcx-how-im-feeling-now-future-pop-2646006658.html?rebelltitem=20#rebelltitem20 |magazine=Paper |access-date=14 February 2021 |archive-date=27 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427115536/https://www.papermag.com/charli-xcx-how-im-feeling-now-future-pop-2646006658.html?rebelltitem=20#rebelltitem20 |url-status=live }} Spotify editor Lizzy Szabo and her colleagues landed on the name for their August 2019 playlist after McDonald noted the term in the website's metadata and classified it as a microgenre. In November, Cook added artists including J Dilla, Nicki Minaj, Iggy Azalea, Lil Uzi Vert and Kate Bush to the playlist, which caused controversy due to these additions pushing out smaller hyperpop artists who relied upon the playlist for their earnings.{{Cite web |last=Dazed |date=2021-03-17 |title=Hyperpop is the new sound for a post-pandemic world |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/52088/1/hyperpop-new-sound-for-a-post-pandemic-world-spotify-soundcloud-glaive |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=Dazed |language=en |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415014759/https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/52088/1/hyperpop-new-sound-for-a-post-pandemic-world-spotify-soundcloud-glaive |url-status=live }} In addition, David Turner, a former strategy manager at SoundCloud, noted a "spike in March and April 2020 from new creators," on the platform, many of which were making hyperpop-adjacent music.{{Cite magazine |last=Barshad |first=Amos |title=Please Stop the Hyperpop—Musicians Are Resisting the Internet Micro-Genre |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/hyperpop-end-internet-genres/ |access-date=2023-10-10 |issn=1059-1028 |archive-date=11 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011015952/https://www.wired.com/story/hyperpop-end-internet-genres/ |url-status=live }}

The microgenre began to see rise in popularity in 2020, with the prominence of the Spotify playlist and its spread within younger audiences on social media, such as on TikTok,{{Cite web|last=Kornhaber|first=Spencer|date=14 February 2021|title=Noisy, Ugly, and Addictive|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/hyperpop/617795/|access-date=19 May 2021|website=The Atlantic|language=en|archive-date=3 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303110311/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/hyperpop/617795/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Salzman|first=Eva|title=Will hyperpop die like disco?|url=https://theithacan.org/columns/will-hyperpop-die-like-disco/|access-date=12 March 2021|newspaper=The Ithacan|language=en|archive-date=29 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429230737/https://theithacan.org/columns/will-hyperpop-die-like-disco/|url-status=live}} particularly "alt TikTok", one of the main countercultures on the app.{{Cite magazine|last1=Leight|first1=Elias|date=6 August 2020|title=Alt TikTok Is Music's Latest Scene, and Straight TikTok Has Noticed|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/alt-tiktok-music-xix-cmten-1038719/|access-date=24 January 2022|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US|archive-date=24 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124141923/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/alt-tiktok-music-xix-cmten-1038719/|url-status=live}} Hyperpop artist ElyOtto's song "SugarCrash!" became one of the most popular songs in the app's history, and was used in over 5 million videos on the platform by July 2021. In 2022, Ringtone Mag suggested that part of the reason the microgenre rose in popularity across the platform was due to its nature of favouring heavy beats to which creators could dance and make transitions.{{cite web |last1=Abdel-Gawad |first1=Minna |title=Alt Kids and Algorithms: How Hyperpop Has Ascended on TikTok |url=https://www.ringtonemag.com/articles/alt-kids-algorithms-how-hyperpop-has-ascended-on-tiktok |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124150351/https://www.ringtonemag.com/2020/10/alt-kids-and-algorithms-how-hyperpop.html |archive-date=24 January 2022 |access-date=25 October 2024 |website=Ringtone Mag}} Pitchfork has credited the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic for its rise. Hyperpop albums like Charli XCX's how i'm feeling now (2020) and A. G. Cook's Apple (2020) appeared on critics' 2020 end-of-year lists.

Subculture, a "hyperpop rave", gained prominence alongside the rise of the microgenre and continued during the pandemic through six-hour long "Zoom parties", welcoming over 1,000 guests at its peak and hosting raves in cities across the United States after the pandemic. In 2023, the rave gained attention from Rolling Stone for its mix of PC Music artists and others under the hyperpop umbrella, including rap-influenced artists from SoundCloud, as well as its significant LGBTQ inclusion. The raves operate as a useful networking event for artists that attend.

Internationally, hyperpop gained notoriety in Hispanic countries, such as Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Spain, particularly with Spanish-speaking artists and producers. Nylon{{'}}s Ben Jolley cited Putochinomaricón as one of the "biggest names in the scene."{{cite news|url=https://www.nylon.com/entertainment/spanish-hyperpop-rakky-ripper-autotune-angel-putochinomaricon-eruosanto-andraia|title=MEET THE SPANISH HYPERPOP ARTISTS BRINGING THE '00S BACK|last=Jolley|first=Ben|date=8 April 2021|work=NYLON|access-date=15 April 2021|archive-date=17 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117224046/https://www.nylon.com/entertainment/spanish-hyperpop-rakky-ripper-autotune-angel-putochinomaricon-eruosanto-andraia|url-status=live}}

Questions concerning the potential decline of the microgenre, the corporate influences upon it, and the meaning of the 'hyperpop' name, began to be raised in 2021. Charli XCX, in August 2021, posted a tweet asking "rip hyperpop? discuss".{{Cite web |last=Pachnanda |first=Aiyush |date=2022-06-16 |title=We Asked PC Music Fans: Is Hyperpop Dead? |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/is-hyperpop-dead-pc-music-fans/ |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=Vice |language=en |archive-date=17 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617020349/https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy7zpw/is-hyperpop-dead-pc-music-fans |url-status=live }} In 2022, Dazed noted that since 2019, the word 'hyperpop' "has since become a catch-all phrase for any and all forms of extreme pop music," and that "sonically, you'd be hard pressed to find any internet-born music made in the last decade that hasn't been retroactively brandished as hyperpop", also stating that "almost all of those given the label have grown disillusioned with the term, or grown irritated by its constraints."{{Cite web |last=Yalcinkaya |first=Günseli |date=28 January 2022 |title=Goodbye hyperpop: the rise and fall of the internet's most hated 'genre' |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/55293/1/the-rise-and-fall-of-hyperpop-the-internets-most-confusing-music-genre |access-date=22 May 2022 |website=Dazed |language=en |archive-date=21 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521170244/https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/55293/1/the-rise-and-fall-of-hyperpop-the-internets-most-confusing-music-genre |url-status=live }} The same year, prominent hyperpop musician Glaive stated that he and Ericdoa were "working on killing" the movement, though three months later stated that it "will never die."{{Cite web |last=Jolley |first=Ben |date=2022-07-18 |title=Glaive: hyperpop king on why the genre "will never die" and touring with The Kid LAROI |url=https://www.nme.com/features/music-interviews/glaive-interview-2022-the-kid-laroi-machine-gun-kelly-radar-3269502 |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=NME |language=en-GB |archive-date=25 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725032703/https://www.nme.com/features/music-interviews/glaive-interview-2022-the-kid-laroi-machine-gun-kelly-radar-3269502 |url-status=live }} The packaging of the community within the name 'hyperpop' for profit led to its music becoming "algorithmic" over time. Subculture organisers Gannon Baxter and Tyler Shepherd expressed mixed feelings about their use of the term "hyperpop", but Shepherd stated that their use of the term was "just a tool to quickly convey what realm of music we’re talking about". In June 2023, PC Music announced that after that year, the label would not be releasing new music, instead turning to archival projects and special reissues.{{Cite web |last=Jolley |first=Ben |date=2023-06-29 |title=PC Music: the story of the boundary-pushing label in 10 essential tracks |url=https://www.nme.com/features/music-features/pc-music-best-songs-3462589 |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=NME |language=en-GB |archive-date=11 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011015952/https://www.nme.com/features/music-features/pc-music-best-songs-3462589 |url-status=live }} In September 2023, Underscores, another significant contributor to the microgenre, stated that it was "officially dead".{{Cite web |last=Shutler |first=Ali |date=2023-09-06 |title=Underscores: "I think hyper-pop is officially dead" |url=https://www.nme.com/features/music-interviews/underscores-wallsocket-artist-interview-radar-3491619 |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=NME |language=en-GB |archive-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002150508/https://www.nme.com/features/music-interviews/underscores-wallsocket-artist-interview-radar-3491619 |url-status=live }}

In October 2024, Kieran Press-Reynolds of Pitchfork commended the past success of the hyperpop scene but remarked that "none of [its] artists [had] soared in an enduring way" and that "the 'pop' in hyperpop proved a total bust". He credited this "dispersal" to several factors, including "conflicting visions of its practitioners, the lifting of COVID-19 lockdowns, and the fact that some of its most promising musicians didn’t want fame and actively recoiled from it." Despite this, Charli XCX's album Brat, which peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200 and saw commercial success in the US, UK, and Australia,{{Cite news |last=Rackham |first=Annabel |date=October 18, 2024 |title=Charli XCX's Brat finally tops chart as James Blunt misses out |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy43xneg5g7o |work=BBC}}{{Cite web |last=Jolly |first=Nathan |date=21 October 2024 |title=ARIA Charts: Brat back on top thanks to bonus tracks |url=https://mumbrella.com.au/aria-charts-brat-back-on-top-thanks-to-bonus-tracks-853012 |access-date=21 October 2024 |website=Mumbrella}}{{Cite web |title=The Return of Electroclash |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/scene-report/the-return-of-electroclash |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=Paste Magazine |language=en-US}} while also earning the highest critical ratings of 2024 on Metacritic,{{Cite web |date=2024-10-02 |title=Best Music and Albums for 2024 - Metacritic |url=https://www.metacritic.com/browse/albums/score/metascore/year/filtered?year_selected=2024&distribution=&sort=desc&view=detailed |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007090626/https://www.metacritic.com/browse/albums/score/metascore/year/filtered?year_selected=2024&distribution=&sort=desc&view=detailed |archive-date=7 October 2024 |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=Metacritic |language=en}}{{cite magazine |last=Caulfield |first=Keith |date=16 June 2024 |title=Taylor Swift Spends Two Months at No. 1 on Billboard 200 With The Tortured Poets Department |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department-eight-weeks-number-one-billboard-200-chart-1235710880/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621005216/https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department-eight-weeks-number-one-billboard-200-chart-1235710880/ |archive-date=21 June 2024 |access-date=23 June 2024 |magazine=Billboard |lang=en-US}} has been described as hyperpop.{{cite magazine |last=Spanos |first=Brittany |date=3 June 2024 |title=Review: With Brat Charli XCX Dances on the Edge |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/charli-xcx-brat-review-1235031414/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604014058/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/charli-xcx-brat-review-1235031414/ |archive-date=4 June 2024 |access-date=5 June 2024 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}{{Cite web |last=Molloy |first=Laura |date=2024-06-10 |title=What Charli XCX's Brat means for pop |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/62824/1/how-to-be-a-brat-life-lessons-from-charli-xcx-new-album |access-date=2024-12-28 |website=Dazed |language=en}} Brat is one of the most commercially successful hyperpop albums of all time, with strong chart performance and inspiring fashion trends like “Brat Summer.”{{Cite web |date=2024-11-01 |title=Collins Dictionary names 'brat' word of the year for 2024 |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/music/what-is-brat-summer-charli-xcx-rcna163061 |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=TODAY.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Walters |first=Meg |date=2024-07-22 |title=What Is Brat Summer? The Charli XCX Trend, Explained |url=https://www.glamour.com/story/what-is-brat-summer-the-charli-xcx-trend-explained |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=Glamour |language=en-US}} The albums visual aesthetic and lyrical content were later reappropriated by Vice President Kamala Harris during her 2024 campaign.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-22 |title=What is Kamala Harris' 'brat' rebrand all about? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqqlgq7k374o |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Foreman |first=Tom |date=2024-10-30 |title=Analysis: How ‘brat summer’ set up Kamala Harris’ remarkable run {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/30/politics/american-battleground-kamala-harris-brat-summer |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=CNN |language=en}}{{Cite news |title=Can Harris’s embrace of the ‘brat’ aesthetic actually move votes? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2024/kamala-harris-brat-summer/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240918220836/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2024/kamala-harris-brat-summer/ |archive-date=2024-09-18 |access-date=2025-05-21 |work=Washington Post |language=en}} The album was followed by a remix album featuring collaborators such as A. G. Cook, Troye Sivan, Addison Rae, and The Dare.{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Felicity |date=2024-07-23 |title=Watch me work it, I’m perfect! The return of electro-house, pop’s trashiest, brattiest sound |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jul/23/watch-me-work-it-im-perfect-the-return-of-electro-house-pops-trashiest-brattiest-sound |access-date=2025-05-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web |last=Méndez |first=Chris Malone |title=Charli XCX Drops ‘Brat’ Remix Album With Ariana Grande, Troye Sivan, And More |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/cmalone/2024/10/11/charli-xcx-drops-brat-remix-album-with-ariana-grande-troye-sivan-and-more/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=Forbes |language=en}}

On June 1st, 2025, in celebration of Pride month, Google’s search page Doodle featured hyperpop; focusing on LGBTQ+ people as the “pioneers” of the genre.{{Cite web |title=Celebrating Hyperpop Doodle - Google Doodles |url=https://doodles.google/doodle/celebrating-hyperpop/ |access-date=2025-06-01 |website=doodles.google |language=en}}

Bubblegum bass, credited as hyperpop's first "era" by Pitchfork, is sometimes used as a term to define the specific sound associated with art collective PC Music. Artists in this wave include Hannah Diamond, GFOTY and A. G. Cook, all contributors to the PC Music label.

{{Distinguish|Digital hardcore}}

Digicore is a microgenre related to hyperpop.{{Cite web |last=Cafolla |first=Anna |date=17 October 2022 |title=What does 'hyperpop' mean in 2022? |url=https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/features/what-does-hyperpop-mean-in-2022-23808/ |access-date=13 July 2023 |website=Rolling Stone UK |language=en-GB |archive-date=13 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713021749/https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/features/what-does-hyperpop-mean-in-2022-23808/ |url-status=live }} The term ("digi" is short for "digital") was adopted in the mid-2010s by an online community of teenage musicians, communicating through Discord, to distinguish themselves from the preexisting hyperpop scene. This microgenre saw a rise during the COVID-19 pandemic. It differs from hyperpop mainly by adding 2020s trap-rap influences but there remains a degree of crossover between the scenes. Digicore artist Billy Bugara wrote that his colleagues "pull from genres as wide-reaching as midwestern emo, trance, and even Chicago drill."{{Cite web|last=Bugara|first=Billy|date=20 April 2021|title=Digicore captures the angst of coming of age during a global pandemic|url=https://i-d.co/article/digicore-music-scene-profile-hyperpop/|access-date=29 March 2022|website=Vice|language=en|archive-date=9 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309001449/https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/n7bw3z/digicore-music-scene-profile-hyperpop|url-status=live}} The beginnings of digicore are rooted in internet culture and many popular producers from the microgenre are between the ages of 15 and 18. In 2018, Dalton (a digicore artist relations figure) started a Minecraft and Discord server called "Loser's Club" that became a haven for several of the most popular artists within the digicore scene such as Quinn, Glaive, Ericdoa and Midwxst. This sense of community and collaboration have become key tenets within the scene, and have contributed to the rise in the popularity of the microgenre as a whole, with a majority of the scene preferring the idea of rising in popularity as a collective rather than as individuals. In 2021, the digicore album Frailty by Jane Remover received praise on mainstream music sites Pitchfork and Paste.{{Cite web |last=Sundaresan |first=Mano |date=23 November 2021 |title=dltzk: Frailty |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/dltzk-frailty/ |access-date=18 December 2022 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US |archive-date=1 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601101508/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/dltzk-frailty/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Sharples |first=Grant |date=8 December 2021 |title=No Album Left Behind: dltzk's Frailty Is an Electrifying Work of Unpredictability |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/dltzk/frailty-album-review/ |access-date=18 December 2022 |website=Paste |language=en |archive-date=18 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218210519/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/dltzk/frailty-album-review/ |url-status=live }}

Glitchcore, a microgenre related to hyperpop and digicore (sometimes characterised as a subgenre of both styles), is often characterised by high-pitched vocals, sharp 808s, and frequent hi-hats. As Kyann-Sian Williams of NME stated, "glitchcore is hyperpop on steroids",{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Kyann-Sian |title=The rise and rise of hyperactive subgenre glitchcore |url=https://www.nme.com/features/glitchcore-hyperpop-charli-xcx-100-gecs-rico-nasty-hip-hop-2841348#:~:text=Now%20hyperpop%20has%20morphed%20into,people%20conflate%20hyperpop%20and%20glitchcore |website=NME |date=18 December 2020 |access-date=30 March 2022 |archive-date=1 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201193855/https://www.nme.com/features/glitchcore-hyperpop-charli-xcx-100-gecs-rico-nasty-hip-hop-2841348#:~:text=Now%20hyperpop%20has%20morphed%20into,people%20conflate%20hyperpop%20and%20glitchcore |url-status=live }} referring to the exaggerated vocals, distortions, glitch noises, and other pop elements present within glitchcore. One of the most defining elements of glitchcore is vocal glitch patterns, created by rapidly repeating a section of a vocal sample. 100 gecs played a significant role in establishing the sound of glitchcore music by blending various genres and pushing the boundaries of sound experimentation.{{Cite web |last=Horowitz |first=Steven J. |date=2021-09-07 |title=This Is Your Brain on 100 gecs |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/cover-story/100-gecs-interview-new-album-10000-gecs/ |access-date=2024-10-14 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}

Stef, a producer of the popular hyperpop and glitchcore collective Helix Tears stated that there certainly is a difference between the two microgenres, saying, "Hyperpop is more melodic and poppy whereas glitchcore is indescribable". Glitchcore is typically made up of artists that share stylistic similarities to 100 gecs, rather than the musicians signed to PC Music.{{cite web |last1=Zhang |first1=Cat |title=Is Glitchcore a TikTok Aesthetic, a New Microgenre, or the Latest Iteration of Glitch Art? |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/is-glitchcore-a-tiktok-aesthetic-a-new-microgenre-or-the-latest-iteration-of-glitch-art/ |website=Pitchfork |date=19 November 2020 |access-date=30 March 2022 |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308235946/https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/is-glitchcore-a-tiktok-aesthetic-a-new-microgenre-or-the-latest-iteration-of-glitch-art/ |url-status=live }}

TikTok played a key role in popularising glitchcore, through video edits to two viral glitchcore songs "NEVER MET!" by CMTEN and Glitch Gum and "Pressure" by David Shawty and Yungster Jack. Glitchcore has also been associated with a specific visual aesthetic where videos are typically accompanied by glitchy, fast-paced, cluttered, colourful edits that are even marked with flash warnings in certain cases. Some popular digicore artists like d0llywood1 even refer to glitchcore as "an aesthetic, like the edits", rather than an actual music genre.{{cite web |last1=Press-Reynolds |first1=Kieran |title=Gorgeous Glitches and Nightcored Melodies: The New Generation of SoundCloud Music is Here |url=https://www.complex.com/pigeons-and-planes/2020/08/glitchcore-surge-rap-soundcloud |website=Complex |access-date=30 March 2022 |archive-date=20 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520161719/https://www.complex.com/pigeons-and-planes/2020/08/glitchcore-surge-rap-soundcloud |url-status=live }}

Krushclub is a subgenre of hyperpop which originated in the early 2020s, mixing Jersey club elements with electronic sound qualities, known for its energetic sound and catchy beats.{{cite web |title=About Krushclub |url=https://www.edmprod.com/krushclub/}} Similar to Glitchcore, various social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube has spread it across the Internet. Notable artists who led to this rise in popularity, including 6arelyhuman, Odetari, and Lumi Athena.

Hyper mandelão,{{Failed verification|date=March 2025}} or hyperfunk,{{cite web | url=https://www.geleiatotal.com.br/2022/03/10/36863/amp/ | title=Crítica ao álbum "HyperFunk" de os Ladrões | date=10 March 2022 | access-date=30 July 2023 | archive-date=3 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403012430/https://www.geleiatotal.com.br/2022/03/10/36863/amp/ | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=https://artemidiastec.wordpress.com/2022/07/13/hyperfunk-transformacoes-e-tendencias-no-funk/ | title=Hyperfunk: Transformações e Tendências No Funk | date=13 July 2022 | access-date=30 July 2023 | archive-date=3 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403012433/https://artemidiastec.wordpress.com/2022/07/13/hyperfunk-transformacoes-e-tendencias-no-funk/ | url-status=live }} is the result of the fusion of mandelão, a subgenre of funk carioca and slap house, with hyperpop and influence of industrial music. The main artists of this style are DJ Mu540, DJ Ramemes{{cite web | url=https://updatecharts.com.br/2023/01/24/exclusiva-dj-ramemes-fala-sobre-experiencia-de-produzir-novo-album-de-pabllo-vittar/ | title=Exclusivo: DJ Ramemes fala sobre experiência de produzir novo álbum de Pabllo Vittar • UpdateCharts | date=24 January 2023 | access-date=30 July 2023 | archive-date=3 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403084039/https://updatecharts.com.br/2023/01/24/exclusiva-dj-ramemes-fala-sobre-experiencia-de-produzir-novo-album-de-pabllo-vittar/ | url-status=live }} and Pabllo Vittar.

{{Redirect|Dariacore|the album that created the genre|Dariacore (album)}}

Dariacore, also known as hyperflip, is a microgenre related to hyperpop. It was coined by Jane Remover following their 2021 album Dariacore and its three sequels, Dariacore 2: Enter Here, Hell to the Left, Dariacore 3... At least I think that's what it's called?, and Grave Robbing. The microgenre gained popularity on SoundCloud in 2021 and 2022. Dariacore is characterised by sped up and pitch-shifted samples from pop music and other popular media, breakbeats, and Jersey club influence.{{cite web |last1=Press-Reynolds |first1=Kieran |title=An 18-year-old invented a new genre of meme-heavy music called 'dariacore' that's like 'pop music on steroids' |url=https://www.insider.com/dltzk-frailty-hyperpop-dariacore-digicore-soundcloud-rap-internet-musician-osquinn-2021-11 |website=Insider |access-date=26 December 2022 |archive-date=21 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230721004233/https://www.insider.com/dltzk-frailty-hyperpop-dariacore-digicore-soundcloud-rap-internet-musician-osquinn-2021-11 |url-status=live }} The genre was described by Raphael Helfand of The Fader as "an entire genre in and of itself, taking hyperpop's silliest tendencies to their logical conclusions".{{Cite web |last=Helfand |first=Raphael |date=2022-05-23 |title=Listen to leroy's final mix |url=https://www.thefader.com/2022/05/23/leroy-dariacore-3 |access-date=2023-06-22 |website=The Fader |language=en |archive-date=29 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229113859/https://www.thefader.com/2022/05/23/leroy-dariacore-3 |url-status=live }}

Although the American dariacore scene has been in relative decline, the Japanese scene is thriving as of 2025. According to Pitchfork's Kieran Press-Reynolds, this movement in Japan has been largely driven by the netlabel Lost Frog. Founder Haruo Ishihara attributes the style’s popularity in Japan partly to the country’s established song remix and OtoMAD meme culture, as well as the frequent sampling of familiar anime and J-pop hits.{{Cite web |last=Press-Reynolds |first=Kieran |date=2025-04-09 |title=Remember Jane Remover's Mashup Genre Dariacore? It's Blowing Up in Japan Now |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/remember-jane-removers-mashup-genre-dariacore-its-blowing-up-in-japan-now/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}

• Avant-pop
• Future bass
• Post-Internet
• Maximalism
• Postmodern music

{{Reflist}}

• [https://tempodeconhecer.blogs.sapo.pt/what-is-hyperpop-and-what-you-need-to-85909 What is hyperpop and what you need to know about this music genre]

{{Electronica}}

{{Pop music}}

{{Experimental music genres}}

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