SOPHIE. Dorian Electra. Shygirl. These are some of the new voices of hyper pop, a genre hinted at throughout pop music since the 2010s. PC Music, the label of London-based DJ A. G. Cook, recently introduced hyper pop into the mainstream with critically divisive singles. While the majority of hyper pop musicians don’t belong to the label, the label has influenced other musicians to take on some of PC music’s sonic and thematic elements. But hyper pop is more than an exciting new musical genre —it’s a movement about what pop music should be, both stylistically and culturally.
The riffs are fast and the voices are auto-tuned to high-pitched whines, often counteracted by a pulsing bass turned lower and louder than that of typical EDM dance tracks. A single song could include genre elements as diverse as R&B, indie-pop, hip-hop, rap, bubblegum pop and EDM. The majority of these musicians are members or vocal allies of the LGBTQ+ community and purvey sexually explicit lyrics. As bisexual hyper pop star Slayyyter told Paper Magazine, “There’s nothing wrong with being sexual and having desire.” This is the foundation of hyper pop, a genre that promotes sexual freedom and queerness.
Hyper pop also mocks the shallowness of pop culture through the contrast between experimental sonic cadences and bubblegum pop choruses. Some hyper pop artists like Hannah Diamond and Slayyyter go even further by creating hyper-feminine personas, or emphasized girlish presences that praise stereotypical gendered iconography, like candy and the color pink. The impossibility of their perfect femininity, long, silky hair and photoshopped bodies is highlighted by the surreal social media appearance of these artists.
Their cover art images are flawless and their voices are auto-tuned to eliminate any vocal modulation. Hyper pop highlights the emptiness of pop culture in the digital age. The musicians’ own ironic encapsulation of the gender norms that restrict them highlights the ludicracy of individuality in the pop music machine. No song or musician is perfect—so why not experiment?
Hyper pop group GFOTY’s 2018 album cover epitomizes this dichotomy, with a picture of the lead singer photoshopped onto an oversized Starbucks cup. The contrast between the basic acronym (GFOTY = “girlfriend of the year”) with the screeching symphony of electronic and autotune that the group is known for, encapsulates the depth within the futuristic facade of hyper pop. Hyper pop is an excercise in performativity—a way for queer musicians to mock societal norms by exploiting their ludicracy.
Many hyper pop artists, including Brooke Candy, Kim Petras and Slayyyter, have lamented difficulties with record labels due to the hyper-sexual and queer content of their music. Originally signed to Sony, Brooke Candy went independent after creative conflicts. Kim Petras experienced transphobia when she searched for a record label and is also independent. The success of these artists without the help of record labels highlights the power of LGBTQ+ fan-bases in transforming the music industry.
The definition of queerness is “a person whose sexual orientation or gender identity falls outside the heterosexual mainstream or the gender binary.” The same could be said for hyper pop, which purposely diverges from the stereotypical pop genre. Hyper pop artists are extremely diverse in their content, with Spotify’s hyper pop playlist including genre staples such as Hannah Diamond and 100 gecs, in addition to more traditionally pop and hip-hop acts, such as Princess Nokia and Caroline Polachek.
Hyper pop has even begun to percolate in R&B, with KILO KISH and Frank Ocean dabbling in hyper pop elements through the inclusion of meticulously produced electronic melodies and autotune in songs like “BITE ME” and “DHL,” respectively. The growing genre of feminist and queer rappers has also intersected with hyper pop, with rappers such as Cupcakke and Rico Nasty featured on hyper pop tracks. The way that these rappers are changing the hip-hop landscape is similar to how hyper pop transforms pop and electronic music. In a genre that has a troubled history with sexism, musicians Princess Nokia and Junglepussy defend feminism, queerness and intersectionality with their lyricism.
Popular indie artists—a prominent example being Clairo on the hyper pop hit “RACECAR” — are starting to use hyper pop elements as a sounding board. Hyper pop started as a movement for queer inclusivity in the music industry—will growing critical acclaim homogenize the sound and rid it of creativity?
