Recession pop is making a comeback. The trend, which has recently gained traction online, has been mostly spearheaded by millennials and elder Gen Zers. If you’ve been curious as to what recession pop actually is, you’ve come to the right place.
The term has been widely used in recent months on social media platforms like TikTok and X, formerly Twitter. It refers to a type of pop music popular in the late 2000s. Think Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance,” Ke$ha’s “TikTok” or Katy Perry’s “California Girls.” Other popular titles also included Usher’s “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love,” Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling” and Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music.”
What exactly does ‘recession pop’ mean?
The common theme to these singles of the time is a dancey type of pop music. Lyrics often invited listeners to go out to dance at a club, enjoy the present moment and be happy.
Pop music of the time also coincided with the 2008 economic recession. It provided listeners with the possibility to escape via music and dance.
“Throughout the history of popular music, folks have always looked to music for escapism at tough times and for release during stressful moments,” Bill Werde, the director of Bandier Music Business Program at Syracuse University, said in an interview with Today.com. “It’s just usually happy, escapist, catchy tunes that people find easy to sing along to, easy to dance to, easy to party to — all in the service of helping them escape their troubles.”
@amandapleeze We knew it was coming. State of the world is getting so much worse but the music is about to be better than ever #fyp #foryou #amandapleeze ♬ original sound – Kesha
Many people see the comeback of pop music as a natural response to political and economic turmoil
Although the term “recession pop” wasn’t used in the late 2000s, many are making the parallel between music of the time and the current new wave of pop artists. Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Tyla and Tate Mcrae are newer artists who have been gaining popularity on social media for their dancey pop anthems.
Some artists such as Lady Gaga and Ke$ha have recently released new singles, which some of their listeners see as a direct parallel to their popularity in the late 2000s.
“The economy is collapsing… therefore as it is written, Ke$ha returns as the queen of recession pop,” someone wrote on TikTok.
For millennials, who were one of the main consumers of “recession pop,” this marks a return to a sense of familiarity to escapist pop music. For younger Gen Zers, new and returning artists offer a new way to tune out current political and economic uncertainty.
@spencert353 Take me back to the music of 2008
♬ Dynamite – Taio Cruz
“We are in one of the most polarized moments in American history,” Werde said, per TODAY. “And while some people might think that that would show up as political music, angry music, that’s just not what we’ve seen. Looking at the history of the charts, in fact, the darker and tougher things get, generally, the dancier, the more escapist our pop music becomes.”
“People are looking a little bit more for either known artists that they can trust, maybe that bring back memories to a happier time, or they’re looking for songs that have those anthem-like choruses that really speak to us. Things that help us look away (and) turn off the doom scrolling,” he added.
