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Recession Pop: When the Economy Drops, Does the Beat Go Up?
Exploring how economic disasters result in producing pop bangers
Pop music is by definition a reflection of its time. Naturally, when times are hard, one would expect pop music to mirror this hardness and become sad, gloomy, and melancholic. Surprisingly, the exact opposite seems to be happening: hard times, result in energetic pop music, namely, recession pop.
The term “recession pop” refers to the following assumption: In periods of economic recession, dancey, high-energy, pop music is becoming more popular. Think for instance the , and all the pop anthems released by Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, and Katy Perry around this period. The rationale of the recession pop argument is that during such challenging times, people turn to music that is carefree and uplifting to get away from their problems. Some examples of such recession pop lyrics released during the 2008 financial crisis include:
- I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night — I Gotta Feeling, The Black Eyed Peas (2009)
- Just dance, gonna be okay / Da-da-doo-doo-mmm / Just dance, spin that record babe. — Just Dance, Lady Gaga (2008)
- Don’t stop, make it pop / DJ, blow my speakers up / Tonight, I’mma fight / ’Til we…
