Meme Pop
tagStarted 2016Peak 2018-2023Last big hit still active
Located in 3 routes
Pop engineered as joke and earworm at once: absurd lyrics, blown-out processing and novelty hooks built to detonate as memes. Maximal hyperpop texture meets comedy-character delivery, ironic yet disarmingly catchy, the song existing as much to be quoted, clipped and reposted as simply heard.
History
Crystallized in the late 2010s as hyperpop's irony fused with the meme economy, internet-native acts writing tracks for shareability. 100 gecs' deadpan absurdism, Dorian Electra's satirical character-pop and viral curios like Full Tac and Lil Mariko's "Where's My Juul??" proved pop could be ear-candy and self-aware comedy at once, thriving on TikTok, YouTube and SoundCloud.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lil_Mariko
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Longyu_Gao
- https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/dorian-electra/career-boy/
- https://100gecs.bandcamp.com/album/1000-gecs