hyperpop

English

Etymology

hyper- +‎ pop

Noun

hyperpop (uncountable)

1. A microgenre of music that exaggerates common traits from pop music, originated in the 2010s.

   Synonym: digicore

   • 2016 January 1, Paul Lester, “Shake it up: the future female pop stars of 2016”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Liz is the missing link between 90s R&B-tinged teen pop of the Britney/Xtina variety, and the hyperpop of the PC Music stable.

   • 2018 May 4, Sam Taylor, “Intro to: Hyperpop”, in WPTS Radio‎^[2]:

     SOPHIE, a hyperpop genre pioneer, is known for their signature use of an Elektron Monomachine, which they compared to bubbles popping and metal clanging during their 2014 interview with Billboard.

   • 2020 October 27, Eli Enis, “This is Hyperpop: A Genre Tag for Genre-less Music”, in Vice‎^[3], archived from the original on 2020-11-01:

     Back in July, Charli XCX tweeted the question: “what is hyperpop?” […] A few minutes after her glib inquiry about the burgeoning pop descriptor, she rejected the label entirely, tweeting: “I do not identify with music genres.” That brief exchange is as good a definition as any for the sound and ethos of hyperpop: a genre tag for distinctly genre-less music.

   • 2021 February 7, Jocelyn Brossia, “Remembering SOPHIE: The Transformational Pioneer of Hyperpop”, in The University of California, San Diego Guardian‎^[4]:

     SOPHIE’s ascension beyond genre was incredibly impactful on hyperpop, and the musician’s impact on the expansion of music collectively is perpetuated through collaborations with a wide variety of modern musicians.

   • 2021 June 10, Shaad D’Souza, “Behind the rise of hyperpop”, in The Guardian‎^[5]:

     Freelance music writer Shaad D’Souza speaks to Laura Murphy-Oates about the rise of hyperpop and what it tells us about the influence of big corporations such as Spotify.

   • 2021 December 3, Spencer Kornhaber, “The Rare Experimental Musician to Embrace the Spotlight”, in The Atlantic‎^[6]:

     Glitches—sounds that intentionally evoke malfunctioning machines—are everywhere these days: in the chaotic loops of TikTok, in the choppy samples of Hot 100 rap, in the aggressive bustle of hyperpop.

Adjective

hyperpop (not generally comparable, comparative more hyperpop, superlative most hyperpop)

1. (uncommon) In an extreme or exaggerated pop-music style.
   • 1989 June 18, David Silverman, “Prince bats a thousand on soundtrack”, in Chicago Tribune, page 5:

     Interspliced dialogue excerpts are added to the hyperpop anthem—Batman, Vicki Vale and the Joker all join Prince on what is sure to be a No. 1 hit.

   • 2001 February 22, Naomi Tajitsu, “Up-and-coming duo loves all things psychedelic”, in Daily Yomiuri:

     Their sound is hard to miss: wedged between the most recent hyperpop offerings from Morning Musume Inc. and its subsidiaries and the prepubescent Arashi, it's not hard to pluck out Love Psychedelico's fuzzy guitar riffs and curdling organ passages out of the para-para fare that clogs the charts.

   • 2005 October 25, Ben Ratliff, “A Brazilian Bid to Bring Street Music Inside”, in New York Times, page E 4:

     That particular sequence was all right as spectacle, but not much as percussion music and seemed symbolic of the concert as a whole: for some reason – maybe the hyperpop, hyperrushed demands of the show? – her eight-piece band, with three percussionists and a trap-set drummer, never really made the potentially powerful music soar.