Hyperpop and the State of the Internet
In the age of high speed content consumption, fueled by short-form content and immediate gratification, a new genre occurred in the late 2010s – hyperpop. As the name suggests, the genre embodies everything within the pop music world but, both ironically and not, is exaggerated to the most saturated-in-sound and effect form. This includes and is not limited to highly auto-tuned vocals, genre blending of metal and EDM, and ear shattering 808 bass samples. At first, the meta was only populated with a few artists with bubblegum pop tracks to an incredibly diverse and unique internet phenomenon.
Spearheaded by the label and artist collective PC Music, Charli XCX, underscores, 100 Gecs, and Glaive, hyperpop was able to offer democratized, fresh, and diverse space for the independent creatives within the comfort of the own homes. During COVID-19 pandemic, the new music scene allowed for a freedom in the music world with a low bar for entry – anybody with a phone, a beat, and creative effort could create the new “song of the summer”. It also provided enough vagueness to fit in to anyone who desired to be a part of the community. However, as many in the community noticed, by the end of 2022, the genre started to noticeably fade. Why?
“It’s branching off into all different things, but that was inevitable because hyperpop was built on such a wide variety of influences…[artist] will continue to evolve and make new music beyond hyperpop.” - underscores via The Face
Big acts signed to record labels
The novelty of the genre disappeared
Artists’ desires to express themselves differently
Therefore, the aforementioned acts started to slowly steer away from the genre as the hype train seems to be very near horizon line. This led many to believe that the genre was, at best, a gimmick or, at worse, already dead. The distorted twitches, glitches, weird samples, and high-pitched vocals started to become stale.
One of them, however, was able to create their own lane by producing a work that is highly reminiscent of their past but simultaneously dives deeper into the niche of his genre. Hypochondriac by Brakence matters in the hyperpop world because it still provides the excitement and the feelings of the passing genre without escaping by it being defined and influenced by a larger and a more popular genre. As his first album under Columbia Records, the album keeps the heartbeat of the hyperpop as Brakence reflects on becoming a cultural figure, meditating on the definition of creativity in the modern age, and creating a piece of work that serves as a solid sonic improvement in his signature sound and influences.
Midwestern Anti-Popstar: punk2
Raised in Columbus, Ohio with an alternative schooling program that provided him with jazz and classical music background and understanding of music. While Brakence has been independently releasing music since 2017, his sophomore project punk2 catapulted him into notoriety and acclaim by drawing very personal sonic influences into the genre, mainly:
Midwestern Emo
Dubstep
Hip-Hop/Drill
These genres serve both as auditory and thematic influences on the project. Meditations on the loneliness and psychedelic substance use in the digital age on the tracks like rosier/punk2, toxic behaviors of the male figures on fuckboy and fwb, and dealing with being lost in life and dealing with chronic mental and physical pain on dropout. The project serves as a coming-of-age piece in
“I felt like I couldn't really operate as a regular human being for awhile [during quarantine] because I had so much of this chronic pain.” - Brakence via NPR
Hyperpop presented Brakence with an opportunity to put blend genres and unleash the frustrations of his life by utilizing each genre in a flow-like state, without being preoccupied with structure, fitting in, and appealing to a certain audience. His maximalist approach to production “demonstrates his prowess for adventurous sound design” to paint the picture of being a late-teenager in an age of fast pace content, FOMO culture, and “chronically online” personalities that were intensified during the pandemic.
Burnout and Intentional Choices: hypochondriac
After several months after his album punk2 gain recognition and he signed to a, the artist behind the record seemingly disappeared from every online space. Brakence has an interesting relationship with the social media, where he was able to get recognition by posting very little and not sharing any details about his personal life and his personality outside of music. Many of his fans never heard him speak, not that there are any way to find a recording of his speaking voice.
“Pretty soon after [punk2] came out, I was like, ok, I'm on to the next one. Then I tried doing it and was like, I don't know where I'm going with this, got really burnt out, and then tried again and got really burnt out ... it was a lot of that. I would keep little bits from [the areas] of time where I was really trying.” - Brakence via NPR
Eventually, from the middle of 2022, Brakence started the roll out campaign for his latest album hypochondriac with a parade of singles which would come to define the entire record, the state of hyperpop, and his personal artistic trajectory.
2. Caffeine
This track is probably one of the most polarizing work by the artist so far. The combinations of production techniques, instruments, tempo changes, and choppy vocal production oversaturates the listener in every musical way imaginable. The initial audience reception put it somewhere being sonic genius of the modern pop music and completely unlistenable and overwhelming hot garbage.
I believe this song to be an authentic representation of what Brakence perceived Hyperpop genre to be – an act of utter absurdity and fun which takes itself very seriously while appearing unserious at all. By using every production trick in the book, Brakence displays his artistic skill almost as a muscle flexing competition to the other producers by “outproducing” them and still staying coherent and in-the-box of the genre.
Narratively, the song’s lyrics contract his previous work by assuming an “extremely hype [and] almost manic” persona who puts himself on the pedestal of the outmost artist achievement…but in an ironic and self-depricating way. Although distasteful on first glance, Brakence evolves his songwriting purely from the first-person experience to creating an alter-ego and a character of himself that lives and breathes the hype and acclaim does to a person if they lose the grip on the reality and fully submerge themselves in the online spaces.
How this shit ain't obvious to you? I'm not even twenty-one
My music be the snobbiest, somehow I'm still gon' get it done
And I ain't do this for the audience, hold me down, I already won
I know I'm dope as fuck, I guess I'm glowin' up
Caffeine - Brakence
03. Venus Fly Trap
As a complete antithesis to the previous track, Brakence showcases his abilities in creating a carefully crafted pop song that bridges the cherrypicked elements of hyperpop within the framework for the radio-friendly pop song. The incorporation of live drum samples, non-distorted guitar sample, and clear song-along chorus highlight that the artist gained and intentionality within his songwriting and acquired the skills to produce a cohesive mainstream track. In the middle of the song, Brakence introduces a sole piano instrumental to drive the point further to showcasing the rawness of artist evolution.
Appropriately, the artist choses the topic of power dynamic within a relationships as it is one of the most common narrative for a radio-friendly track. The tracks echos of the topics of song like fuckboy from his previous work but, now, with the genuine emotional rawness and familiar lyrical framing of referring to a nameless subject of adoration and conflict.
The end of the song, however, perfectly incapsulates the position in which Brakence found himself after the release of punk2. The mellow and soulful instrumental is an a battle with distorted percussion samples for the attention of the listener. The overall sound paints the picture of the artist being stuck and pulled apart by the different influences and artistic path that one can take, asking the question:
To niche down or go towards mainstream?
I take it better when she don't even ask me
Three chords and she all over me nasty
She got me smothered, caught me bugging her last week
Leave a scar on my soul
'Cause it's smarter to fold
Venus Fly Trap - Brakence
06. 5g
While extending a similar idea to the ending of the previously discussed track, 5g’s primary focus is Brakence’s personal refection of the decline of mental health in the current generation that grew up alongside the newfound internet culture, the need for validation from strangers online, and fluctuating sense worth from a depressive to a manic episode. Moreover, he explores how the internet algorithms and the current states of regulation within the social media space can dilute the truth and reshape an individuality of a person.
In reference to the new generation of faster mobile networks, the artist highlights that as the internet has sped up so did the engagement with the popular culture and the creation of communities – one of which was Hyperpop. The online community that once has been a very new, exciting, and progressive space for people to find comfort in become a commodity and a product. The genre is now things of the past before we could truly process and enjoy the space that it created as the people become bored with the genre like a rag doll in search for the new quick and cheap thills. Conversely, Braknce shows the flipside of the online community by describing of how suffocating being fully commenting to online space means for the post-pandemic times: “I've been wearin' a demon, I've barely been eatin', I'm scrollin' all nigh- (aah!)”
In the age of an endless scroll, there is never a time to process what is happening while the technology that we rely for connection with other humans has been poisoned with the dopamine trap and engagement baits, manipulation emotions and attention from outside interaction.
(Eyes on phone) bring me in overtime, and it's nothing but net
(Eyes on phone) yeah, face on an open mind, I can't budge at the feet
(Eyes on phone) they're farmin' our retention for a buck, like, "Are you people?"
They're using us like a resource
That's when I start to think, "We're fucked, there ain't no recourse"
I'll profit on keystrokes, playin' into it, fillin' my plate
Unstoppable heat source, burnin' off any minute, I take it
5g - Brakence
The Future of Hyperpop and Brakence
While being one of the mostly prolific albums that encapsulates the themes that stemmed from the hyperpop discourse, the circumstances under which that community existed, and colorful palette of sounds and same, it looks like the end of the road for Brakence with hyperpop. Despite being one of the core figures of the niche, the artist seems to be moving away from being associated with the genre and preferring to find the sense of vagueness outside of hyperpop.
When people ask me what kind of music I make, I just say pop. I understand why a lot of people don't like being called hyperpop, but personally, I don't really have a problem with it. But that's just me, you know, 'cause I can see how other people would be like, people decided to put this label on me and I don't really want to have a label kind of thing. - Brakence via NPR
In all honesty, the future of hyperpop is very uncertain since the decline in recent popularity. The appeal of intense and bright sound has escaped from the mainstream as many of the artist are choosing to stick to a more focused artist path and vision. Despite of that, Brakence is able to perfectly showcase being in the particular crossroads, refusing to partake in the false dichotomy and, simply, preferring to be in the league of his own while acknowledging the roots of his notoriety and acclaim.