In economic terms, a recession is defined as a period of time in which a nation’s gross domestic product is negative for two consecutive quarters (or six months). Although, in technical terms, we have yet to reach this period of economic downturn, there have been widespread predictions regarding an upcoming period of economic turmoil.
While hopeful economists predicted a “soft landing” after the market shock of the Russia-Ukraine War, many have noted the increasing likelihood of a national or global recession. Trump’s robust tariff policies are likely to cause widespread inflation, raising prices while lowering consumer spending. Others look at signals of unemployment, yield curves, and the cost of borrowing as potential recession warnings. But perhaps, with the uncertainty of how best to predict a recession, no sign has been as clear as the resurgence of the late 2000s pop music, colloquially referred to as “recession pop.”
Music and popular culture have always functioned as a reflection of cultural, political, and economic trends; art becomes its remedy, and emerging genres become a product of these trends. During the Great Depression, blues and swings gained widespread popularity as house, techno, and disco emerged through the stagflation of the early ’80s. In these ways, musical styles are popularized because of the desire for a cathartic distraction, and out of the desire to distinguish these musical forms, we denote general descriptions and sub-genres of style. In some cases, these forms become so deeply entrenched in the cultural and social milieu that these genres are created in relation to the real-world context.
The term “recession pop” has been used to describe a period of a high-tempo, hyper-oriented, often repetitive style of dance pop, which was popular loosely from 2007–2014. Songs by artists such as Katy Perry, Kesha, Flo Rida, and the Black Eyed Peas all epitomize this musical style with a standard music form (verse–pre-chorus–chorus–bridge) and simple lyrical repetition. Perhaps no song better describes this period of high dance pop than Lady Gaga’s early discography.
“Just dance/ Gonna be okay, da-da-doo-doot-n/ Just dance/ Spin that record, babe, da-da-doo-doot-n,” Gaga exclaims at the chorus of “Just Dance.”
Gaga’s repetitive impulses are also buried throughout “Poker Face.”
“Can’t read my, can’t read my/ No, he can’t read my poker face,” Gaga continuously sings.
With this repetitive technique, the lyrics form an almost percussive tempo that fits the instrumental pockets of the song’s maximalist constructions. The lead melodies, as well, are uncomplicated, often repeating the same handful of notes that are rarely outside of the key’s octave. Gaga astutely noted, in an interview with the Irish Independent, the popularity of her signature sound.
“I think, in a lot of ways, my arrival on the scene is good timing,” Gaga explained. “With the recession in Ireland as well as the US, which is almost in a full depression now, we could all use some time to smile.”
Other songs, such as the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” and Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” formed the backbone of this music style with an energetic, irresistible sonic structure. Yet, with the rise of new forms of pop music, the genre was quickly overshadowed by the mid-2010s in a “post-recession pop world” that became expansive and creative with fusions of musical style. And yet, throughout the past 12 months, a resurgence of recession pop has slowly but effectively been effected.
Recent albums such as Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet both infuse a nostalgic playfulness that marks this resurgence. For Roan, the energetic, maximalist production, often with explosive choruses or repetitive lyrics, pervades her work.
“H-O-T-T-O-G-O/ Snap and clap and touch your toes/ Raise your hands, now body roll/ Dance it out, you’re hot to go,” Roan sings twice throughout the chorus, which she performs on the stage with a cheerleader-esque dance routine.
For Carpenter, her sixth studio album is filled with personality-driven lyrics, often humorously playing on words or noting her intense self-awareness, that are sung over an early 2000s signature of synth-heavy production with relaxed, acoustic elements.
Recently, Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM is a direct call back to her early musical career, with songs like “Abracadabra” and “Garden of Eden” that employ her signature gibberish repetition. The popularity of this album—which will most likely be her most successful since 2010’s Born This Way—has been equally bewildering and thrilling and yet, reminiscent of this new, nostalgic era of music.
It is not a coincidence, of course, that Charli xcx’s 2024 smash hit brat was a reflection of the musical genres in which she emerged in the early 2010s, but its explosive popularity is proof of this reemergence.
“When I go to the club, I wanna hear those club classics/ Club classics, club, club classics,” Charli xcx sings in “Club classics.”
A similar music and lyrical style can be found in “365.”
“When I’m in the club, yeah, I’m (bumpin’ that)/ 365, party girl (I’m bumpin’ that)” Charli xcx celebrates.
Not only do these repetitive lyrics reference the party-rat musical aesthetics of the early 2010s, but Charli xcx follows in the lyrical canon of recession pop masters, refusing to ignore darker, intense emotions and instead using them as solace and motivation for the song’s cathartic choruses.
While the economic forecast predicts that we are not currently in a recession, perhaps the earliest sign of impending doom is the resurgence of this nostalgic genre. Or maybe it doesn’t mean anything at all.
Carter Appleyard can be reached at cappleyard@wesleyan.edu.