Abstract

Hyperpop, a microgenre of pop music named and made famous by a Spotify-generated playlist, is a hyper-referential form. Sonically, it borrows elements from a wide variety of musical styles, while lyrically and aesthetically it calls upon various internet cultures and their attendant forms of content. Memes, internet slang, and samples of nineties hits can all exist in one Hyperpop song. As such, the genre is simultaneously capable of being lauded by the music press as the countercultural sound of the decade and praised by Fox News anchors as some of the best new music of the moment. All the while, the musical style is embedded in and shaped by the conditions of the music industry’s ubiquitous platforming. Instead of attempting to litigate which of these sources gets the genre right or trying to uncover some true essence of the musical style, this thesis develops concepts in relation to specific production practices within Hyperpop. Drawing on a methodology of "philosophy through music" put forth by Robin James, this thesis interprets Hyperpop as a speculative form of popular music that both reflects and critiques the conditions from which it emerges (21). It investigates production aesthetics within specific Hyperpop songs, and their attendant media ecologies, such as practices of covering, remixing, sampling, and reference. In relation to these practices, it puts forth the concepts of musical memeing and speculative nostalgia.