What is Recession Pop? Why fans think the music subgenre is making a comeback

Music think "recession pop" is making a comeback. | Getty Images

Full of high energy production and frenetic beats, pop music in the late noughties was relentlessly upbeat and concerned only with living in the present.

Pitbull, Ne-Yo and Afrojack were reminding us that “for all we know we might not get tomorrow”, while the Black Eyed Peas were promising that “tonight’s gonna be a good night” and Lady Gaga was losing her keys and phone but unconcerned about it because everything would be okay if you “just dance”.

This was the era of “recession pop”.

What is recession pop?

Used to describe the era of feel good music which emerged from the 2008 financial crisis and into the early 2010s, recession pop is all about partying in spite of your problems, dancing the night away, and not worrying about the future.

As the world’s economy spiralled, pop music thrived. Almost every song was filled with a relentless sense of optimism and lyrics which reminded people to embrace fun where they could during a time of upheaval.

Ne-Yo and Pitbull performing together in 2011. | Getty Images

This phenomenon isn’t unheard of. During previous episodes of economic trouble such as the Great Depression in the 1930s – which saw blues and swing music become popular – and the rise of disco during the Winter of Discontent in the UK during the seventies and eighties, feel-good music offers listeners either distraction or catharsis during uncertain times.

Katy Perry, Kesha and Lady Gaga helped define the era of recession pop

There is a lot of music which can be pointed to as examples of recession pop, but notable examples come from artists such as Katy Perry, Pitbull, Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas.

In 2008, Katy Perry released her album One of the Boys which included I Kissed a Girl, Hot n Cold and Waking Up in Vegas. Two years later, she released her third album which was packed with even more hits from Teenage Dream and Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) to Firework and California Gurls featuring Snoop Dogg.

Lady Gaga released her internationally successful debut album The Fame in 2008, which featured tracks from Just Dance and Poker Face to Paparazzi and Love Game.

Lady Gaga performing onstage during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. | Getty Images

Then there’s Kesha who made her international debut on Flo Rida’s Right Round in 2009, and then released a steady stream of hits including Tik Tok, Your Love is My Drug and more on her 2010 debut album Animal.

Now, obviously, these artists aren’t the only ones responsible for releasing recession pop hits. There are hundreds of songs which could be considered.

There are plenty of other anthems which helped define the era from Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO (2011) to Dynamite by Taio Cruz (2010) and Time of Our Lives by Pitbull and Ne-Yo (2014) which is perhaps the perfect recession pop banger.

Is recession pop making a comeback?

With the current state of the economy, the cost of living crisis impacting UK residents and recession fears looming following US President Donald Trump introducing tariffs of 10% on almost all imports, it isn’t surprising that people are declaring that recession pop is officially making a comeback.

And now with her latest single featuring T-Pain, Kesha has almost single-handedly signalled the return of the subgenre. Released on March 27, Yippee-Ki-Yay is a country-esque, high-energy pop banger which ticks every quintessential recession pop box.

Kesha performs on stage. | Getty Images for Welcome America

Regardless of the song starting with Kesha buying a brand new car, the single from her upcoming album Period sees T-Pain and the American singer-songwriter dressing up, spilling whisky, dancing around a trailer park and badly singing karaoke.

Referencing the American bargain store, the pair sing:

And unlike Katy Perry’s 2024 album 143, which was mostly negatively reviewed for its outdated production, instead fans on social media have embraced Kesha’s upbeat pop track. Paired with Lady Gaga’s latest album Mayhem and its dark pop hits Disease and the early-Gaga feeling Abracadabra, pop fans are saying that recession pop is returning.

While there is more to the situation than just upbeat pop bangers, theorists have been pointing to recent trends in the music industry as a whole. Over the last year or so, the landscape of pop music has shifted.

Charli XCX commanded attention with the release of her Brat, Sabrina Carpenter energised fans with Short and Sweet and Chappell Roan burst into the mainstream when her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess exploded in popularity.

With the exception of Charli XCX, these artists were too young to be making music in the late noughties and early 2010s and references to clubbing (again, excluding Charli XCX) are largely missing from the latest batch of pop hits.

Charli XCX is one of the big names set to perform at Heaton Park at this year's Parklife festival. | Getty Images

That being said, this new era of pop includes plenty of feel good songs with catchy hooks and light lyrics which are served with a heavy dose of nostalgia.

You just need to look at tracks like Doechii’s Anxiety, which samples Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye and Kimbra, as well as David Guetta and OneRepublic’s I Don't Wanna Wait which is based on Eurodance classic Dragostea Din Tei by O-Zone to understand that nostalgia sells (when done correctly).

It can be argued that recession pop is already back, with examples such as those in mind. Regardless of the fact that we aren’t (technically) in a recession, recession pop is more closely related to how people respond to periods of upheaval and uncertainty – something which can be witnessed from recent trends towards high-energy music and beats per minute.