The Pop Corporation

We’ve waved goodbye to 2023. It was weird. Now we’ve got 2024, which is shaping up to be just as weird and war torn. What does that all mean for pop culture and music?

We’re hopeful. See, if anything, we’re all getting acclimatised to just how bleak everything is. That’s not to say there won’t be anger, sorrow and all that – but you get the impression that something is on the turn. While times may still be austere, it feels like we’re wandering into an age of devouring things, rather than denying. There’s a sense from younger people that they’re bored of denying themselves things. If 2023 saw a lot of music’s naval gazing turn into explosions of rage, and a whiff of decadence by remembering that dancing en masse to doof doof drum machines can be a political act as well as a freeing feeling to shrug off the relentlessness of life, we could be seeing some exciting and joyful music.

Last year, there was a lot of introspective singer songwriter music that dealt with feelings and helplessness, and that’s been the case for a while now. While there’ll always be a place for singing about your feeeeeelings maaaaaan, 2023 started to usher in the emo revival, where at least your feelings came with a stagedive and a dead leg from the circle pit.

Hip hop’s fallow year will surely turn around in 2024, but it’ll be interesting to see what shape it takes. It does feel that the consumerism of popular rappers of yore is still going to feel out of step with the needs of the listener, which means any nihilism and successes is going to have to take the line of Party & Bullshit rap, which is always welcome. It doesn’t feel like anyone needs to know how much money someone’s spent on their wrist – but they can look fly by implying ‘fuck it, everything sucks, let’s get wasted and try and have a good time’.

There’ll absolutely be room for some living on the front line hip hop, with drill-ish paranoia and lo-fi mixtape action from the southern US states. It’s not to say that the likes of Future won’t have hits, or Drake won’t bother the higher reaches of some chart – but in terms of the zeitgeist, we think the more established acts are going to be chased down by some younger voices and beat makers. Lose the xannies, for a start. The fug needs to end.

For the incredibly wealthy superstars, they’ll no doubt be tempted to tell everyone who lonely it gets at the top, but in these weird times, will the average listener be boo hooing at them, like those overly sincere videos we got during lockdown, where a Hollywood actor squeezed a tear out in their hundred acre houses, telling us they were struggling too?

Once again, we’ve seen disco co-opted by upwardly mobile yuppies like it always is, which has seen a bursting in house and techno. Underground raves in 2023 were cool and booming, and we imagine that’s going to bleed overground this year. If Beyonce can release a house LP to great success, then there’s clearly an appetite for it with the listeners. If people are more inclined to devour than deny, then screw this, get the bags in because we’re never going to be secure in our jobs or buy a home for ourselves – may as well stay out ’til 6am with a load of happy, non-judgemental people, right?

The rumblings of a drum ‘n’ bass comeback have been nagging away for a while now, and again, the jump up and down breaks have been getting louder with hip kids with something to say. We can be paranoid and irritated by the world, and it’s always good to have music that reflects that, while being a massive laugh at the same time.

For guitar music, we’re a little less certain. We’re hoping it remembers how good choruses are and a bit more of a maximal attitude after all that austere post punk stuff in long coats. The Brighton punk scene had a bit more sass than the gloomy Fall-devotees, so we hope that it goes down that route, alongside some bubblegum indie and power pop.

Metal will absolutely have a moment in the sun in 2024, as the kids who rediscovered the joys of loud guitars will want something harder and dafter.

For all this maximal stuff, there’ll still be time for some homely good times. Country music’s resurgence won’t go away, but you expect that there’ll be some kind of pairing back, with stadium country being replaced by something a little more rootsy. Maybe more psychedelic, even. Kacey Musgraves – we’re looking at you and your next move, as well as the mighty Chris Stapleton, and whoever else is new and brilliant that we haven’t heard about yet.

You just feel that, like the first flush of disco enabled people to feel like royalty for one night, like house music reimagined what community could feel like in the bleak ’80s, 2024 is potentially a pivotal pop culture year, where young listeners and scene shakers are going to grab music by the collar and take matters into their own hands.

Spotify isn’t paying anyone a great deal, major labels are out of touch, too many venues are closing down and pints are expensive. It may seem bleak and hopeless, but music makers and listeners are resilient, and always have been. From the ashes of what we are currently looking at globally, politicians once again revealing themselves to be a load of shite, right now, we could well be about to witness something that sticks a massive divider between Old Heads and Pop Progressives.

Social media will become more confusing and may even be finally coming to a natural end as younger people don’t feel the need to replace Twitter and Instagram devolves into more incomprehensible memery. Expect more paper flyers and posters stuck to lampposts telling you where it’s at. Self made CDs on shitty old laptops and cassettes at shows. It’s going to get real ziney.

Get ready. Small gigs, illegal parties and weird music is coming. Get your body ready, but you’ll vanish without a trace if you’re not.