Hyperpop – Adam Coil

I think that Hyperpop — or glitchcore, as some people call it — gets a bad rap. It is a genre in its infant stage, and it is clear that as time progresses it will continue to grow and adapt. The seeds of Hyperpop date back some time to pioneers in various genres such as rap, indie and EDM as people started to explore exactly how new technology could integrate futuristic, electronic sounds into music and make it work. 

When talking about modern Hyperpop, two specific trendsetters come to mind: Charli XCX and 100 gecs. Propelled by internet memes, 100 gecs crashed into the mainstream in the summer of 2019, defining the genre almost entirely by themselves and paving the way for the generation of SoundCloud artists that followed. 

Hyperpop abuses autotune to the point that the artist’s real voice is unrecognizable and then layers it over abrasive, dynamic instrumentals that are electronically synthesized. It’s definitely a hit-or-miss genre, but it’s one that I gravitate to at times when I need some energizing tunes. 

To me, Hyperpop is something you can’t enjoy if you take it too seriously — just embrace the wackiness and laugh along as it pumps you up. I recommend “Astrid” by glaive, “2008” by ericdoa and “hand crushed by a mallet” by 100 gecs. 

Hyperpop is not concerned with being elegant or poetic, but it is nonetheless interesting because of how much ground it has covered and the territory it promises to explore.