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"If
rock music can be seen as a form worthy of aesthetic appreciation,
despite (or because of?) its industrial origins and commercial character,
the visual culture that surrounds the music and its live performance must
be seen as contributing to that aesthetic experience, not merely as a
systematic misrepresentation of the music whose sole purpose is the
cynical promotion of an attractive illusion." pg. 77

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Athletes in Ancient Greece were welcomed home as heroes, had songs and poems written in their honor, and received free food and gifts from those seeking celebrity endorsement. Ancient Rome similarly lauded actors and notorious gladiators, and Julius Caesar appeared on a coin in his own lifetime (a departure from the usual depiction of battles and divine lineage).

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Primary Songwriters

-Camila Cabello (24.4 m) [Latin Pop] (Reality TV)

-Alessia Cara (2.3 m)* [Indie Pop] (Youtube)

-Shawn Mendes (36 m) [Pop Rock] (Vine)

-Taylor Swift (111 m)* [Country Pop] (Instagram)

-Khalid (4.2 m)* [R&B] (Soundcloud)

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Naming the musical era.

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Why didn't Barack Obama take us into space? Judging by the sounds from his time in office, we all really wanted to go. The biggest songs of his Presidency were about ships and skies, and the builds and the drops of those songs made radio sound like one big takeoff. Rihanna's "Diamonds" probably marked the high point. "Palms rise to the universe, as we moonshine and molly / Feel the warmth, we'll never die / We're like diamonds in the sky"-it's almost a galactic national anthem, a love song about how we're all stars, and will be forever. On Katy Perry's " Firework," from 2011, every day was the Fourth of July, and we were all meant to go up, up, up. Perry's " E.T.," from that same year, needs no explanation, except for how Kanye West ended up appearing on it. The pop sound of the Obama years was undoubtedly optimistic and excessive. It doesn't take much deep listening to hear how people in the country felt, but it's jarring to hear how unnatural some of the hubris sounds now. By 2012, at the close of Obama's first term, "Tonight, we are young / so let's set the world on fire," the refrain from "We Are Young," by the band fun., made perfect sense as a rallying cry for a generation newly employed or newly entrepreneurial, moving out of dorms for the last time. But it's that second image, of a world ablaze, that is unsettling with just an inch of hindsight. Ironically, it was the very stability and cool of the ground beneath us, under Obama, that prompted our interest in the skies, whether it was through the windows of Nicki Minaj's starships or locked out of Heaven with Bruno Mars. If there was any single mission that Obama pop shared, it was a search for a limit, a fascination with what was above and ahead of us, and getting to fly like a G6. I even remember wanting shirts with astronauts, stars, and spaceships on them around the time that Obama was elected.

These days, it's hard to tell whether the last decade's pop will amount to anything more than an extremely hyper Spotify playlist. Today's charts reflect tastes culled from the constant churn of the Internet. The hit singles "Bad and Boujee," "Black Beatles," and " Rockstar" don't exactly aim to be above their audiences but, rather, dig their feet into the problematic, tense floor, and stare them down at eye level. It's difficult to imagine Kendrick Lamar's "Humble" connecting with the YOLO-stoked audience of the previous Presidency. The growth of Latin trap, K-pop, and dancehall could be considered a forfeit of musical dialogue, a way for English-speaking audiences to have lyrics and feeling without the burden of hearing them. And Cardi B 's "Bodak Yellow"-sinuous, vicious, and No. 1 for a month-has dragged the memory of lighthearted romps such as Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" down to hell and back.

As we head into a new year, big pop feels heavier, with little time for optimism-these are songs about stomping through the night, not exactly conjuring tomorrow. Because of this contrast, Obama pop is left as a well of escapism, a public record of joy that didn't bother with gravity. "Happy," by Pharrell Williams, became one of the most popular singles ever recorded, in 2014. Have you heard "Bring Dem Things"? in 2017, we welcomed Pharrell to Earth.

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Why didn't Barack Obama take us into space? Judging by the sounds from his time in office, we all really wanted to go. The biggest songs of his Presidency were about ships and skies, and the builds and the drops of those songs made radio sound like one big takeoff.

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Alessia Cara, the voice of the offbeat, cool kids.

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Alessia Cara - Wild Things (Official Video)