MAY 1, 2025 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | By Margaret Freeman and Olivia Link (A&E Editor and Staff Writer)
The term “recession pop” may be familiar to older music critics who lived through the Great Recession of 2008. While the phrase is not common parlance anymore, the genre’s defining characteristics are probably recognizable to our current moment – high BPMs, catchy choruses and lyrics centered on partying like there is no tomorrow.
This escapist, feel-good electronic pop always seems to experience a resurgence during times of economic hardship. Artists can distract the public from the difficult economic realities of late-stage American capitalism by producing music that offers release. Recession pop encourages people to abandon their worries and party while they still can. This existentialism is summed up by one TikToker’s assertion that, “if we can’t afford eggs, we might as well do it while dancing.”
In 2008, the music industry experienced a 10.5% increase in unit sales and a 27% increase in digital track sales. In the first half of 2024, the industry’s revenues grew by 4% from the previous years. Even in times when people’s disposable income decreases, the amount of music they consume and the amount of money spent on said music increases.
With new releases from classic ‘recession artists’ such as Ke$ha and Katy Perry, as well as the newly prominent artists like Charli XCX, we decided to take a deep dive into new recession pop music as the threat of a recession looms nearer under the current Trump administration.
While we are at the forefront of the second wave of recession pop, it hasn’t proven to be as good as the pop from 2008. There is a fair dose of nostalgia that we (and other early-to-mid-Gen-Z people) have with the O.G. recession pop. None of us danced to the recently released “Yippee-Ki-Yay” by Ke$ha at prom, but when “T.G.I.F.” by Perry comes on? You know the dance floor will be wild.
One noticeable difference between the recession pop of 2008 and recent releases is the role technology and autotune play. Lady Gaga never misses but her newest album is unmistakably more electronic than many of her songs from the early aughts. While not technically classified as techno music, “Abracadabra” has many aspects of the genre such as synth and a prominent bassline. The techno aspects are especially prominent in comparison to her music from the Great Recession like “Just Dance,” which is much more acoustic in comparison.
This trend does not end with Gaga. Charli XCX’s recent album “brat” is much more electronic and is not shy about its use of autotune and distortion. The cover of “brat” is genius in its nostalgia for the low-res technology of the early-aughts – the slightly blurred text, the aggressive neon green – but with a new, electro-pop feel. This pattern could be linked to an increased desire to disassociate from reality, something encouraged by all songs under the recession pop umbrella. As the economy crashes and the cost of living continues to rise, the average American music consumer has a greater desire to leave the grounded and nostalgic feel that genres like folk, rock and country have. Futuristic instrumentals and vocals provide this escape.
There is also a greater emphasis on creating a positive outlook and glossing over the negative parts of life, often with lyrics about copious amounts of alcohol and partying. Pitbull’s hit collaboration with Ne-Yo, “Time of Our Lives” brags that, “I knew my rent was gon’ be late about a week ago/ I worked my ass off, but I still can’t pay it though/ But I got just enough to get off in this club/ Have me a good time, before my time is up.” This acknowledgement of financial suffering is brushed off rather glibly, as Pitbull decides to spend his last few dollars drinking and partying. It exemplifies a desire for the younger generations to spend the money they do have on forgetting their economic situation and focusing on enjoying the present. The focus is on “now,” rather than on the increasingly uncertain “then.”
While one might assume that rising costs of living and political polarization would breed more revolutionary or activist music, this simply does not reflect American reality; what does it say about us that in times of hardship, we turn to music that encourages us to drink and numb our emotions? How little faith does the average American have in their ability to impact political change that we feel avoidance is the best tactic? What are the implications of major political figures like Kamala Harris embracing the brat aesthetic?
Beyond that, how useful is the framework of recession pop in analyzing today’s music? The existential chaos of albums like “brat” speaks to more than just the economic disaster our generation is inheriting – there is something about our current moment that feels uniquely hopeless and overwhelming.
Maybe we are no longer partying to forget the impossibility of achieving financial stability, but also to avoid thinking about democratic backsliding and the climate crisis that is rapidly devouring large parts of our planet.
So before you start crying over your $8 carton of eggs, turn off the Phoebe Bridgers and start b-b-bumpin’ that.