Disco Revival Pop
tagStarted 2013Peak 2019-2021Last big hit still active
An overt, full-throated return to classic disco within mainstream pop: live strings, real funk guitar, walking octave bass, four-on-the-floor kicks, and shimmering Studio 54 sheen wedded to modern vocal production and pop choruses. Less sample-based than nu-disco, it stages disco as a deliberate, celebratory aesthetic for a new chart era.
History
Kicked off by Daft Punk's 2013 disco statement, the revival fully crested around 2020 when Dua Lipa's 'Future Nostalgia' and its singles topped charts worldwide. Doja Cat, The Weeknd, Kylie Minogue's 'Disco,' and Beyoncé's 2022 'Renaissance' rode the wave, returning glittering, string-laden disco to the center of global pop.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Nostalgia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_(Beyonc%C3%A9_album)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nu-disco