Hyperpop has taken the world by storm, pushing its maximalist pop production and digital extremes to new heights every day.
Since the early 2010s, the foundations of the electronic, experimental synth genre were laid by SOPHIE, a British music producer and DJ known for pioneering what we know today as hyperpop. Her hyperpop style was first established with other artists like Charli XCX, A.G. Cook and Arca, who were close friends and frequent collaborators of the late artist.
Intertwined with the LGBTQ+ community, hyperpop provides a space where nothing is completely fixed. Founded by queer and transgender pioneers in music, artists have the freedom to explore new sounds that still remain a rarity in popular music.
Released on Sept. 25, the success of Tinashe’s eighth studio album, Popstar, is a testament to the genre’s increasing popularity as hyperpop continues to break mainstream boundaries while preserving the themes of online subcultures surrounding gender fluidity, norm opposition, and digital escape.
Even lyrically, hyperpop utilizes online language and references that relate to a generation raised on the internet. Common themes include identity in the digital space, online overstimulation, nostalgia, and the channelling of inner feelings.
Chart-topping songs with hyperpop influences had their first major moment with Charli XCX’s record-breaking album brat in 2024, full of digital manipulation and synth textures consistent with the genre.
The brat album bridged the gap between niche internet music communities and mainstream music when it caused a cultural shift because hyperpop is more than just sounds — it’s rooted in online pop culture and social media, incorporating internet-native ideas, sounds, and language.
The genre itself is built on experimentation, and it makes sense for Tinashe, an artist who rejects rigid genre labels, to feature the distinctive sound of hyperpop in Popstar. Through collaborations with notable hyperpop artists like Arca, Tinashe brings hyperpop directly to her already extensive discography.
The primarily R&B and pop artist brings in hyperpop elements to create a genre-fluid sound, bringing in textures from R&B, pop, dance, and hyperpop.
The album is her most experimental yet. It features vocal chops, glitchy and harmonic sounds, in combination with R&B harmonies and trap beats. Each song is genre-transcending, yet works to create a comprehensive story of vulnerability and the hidden intricacies of stardom, packaged in the language of a generation raised on the internet.
The most popular track on the album is the one that borrows most from hyperpop. With over 1.4 million streams, “Melatonin” is a dance track that manipulates the tense rising and falling of bass, drums, and vocals, wrapping everything up in upbeat energy and heavy synth. Further, it features hyperpop’s characteristic internet culture references by sampling a TikTok audio.
As society shifts to a digital world, hyperpop music is the artists’ response. This genre has made its way from obscure corners of the internet on SoundCloud straight to the top of the charts.
The loud, full, and expansive space that hyperpop fills audibly pays homage to the sensory overload of the digital world. One that is a virtual soundscape and a place of safety and community.
The experimental nature of hyperpop naturally pushes it away from manufactured radio conventions, taking the most artificial parts of pop and making them bigger, louder, brighter, and more fun. Artists like Tinashe are demonstrating that hyperpop sounds have a place in mainstream music, and albums like Popstar reflect its growing influence and presence in the pop culture sphere.
Tags
Charli XCX, hyperpop, Pop Culture
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