Hip-hop has revolutionized many things, which includes pop music as well. From the early 90s, when hip exploded, rappers such as P.Diddy, the Notorious BIG, and Tupac sampled many pop songs. Pop artists returned the favor by featuring them in their songs or singing over rap beats.
Most people would expect pop music to be influenced by Michael Jackson, the Beatles, or even Madonna. By simply listening to any pop song, you’ll notice that chord patterns, tonal shifts, delivery borrows from hip-hop music. And these are not just songs where a pop artist has featured a rapper, but 90 percent of the songs. Listen to Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, or just any other pop artist. They sound almost like rappers. While rappers such as Drake fuse pop music in their delivery.
Here’s how hip-hop has influenced pop music:
1. The lyrical content has become more hardcore
One of their noticeable shifts in pop culture is pop artists’ tendency to use hardcore profanity, which was once known to be used only by rappers. Today most lyrics are peppered with f-words, b-words, and any other vulgarity you can think of. Even love songs no longer sound good without throwing a swear word here and there. Any Baby Boomer who grew up listening to the Beatles will cringe when such a pop song plays. But this is what every young person listens to.
2. The delivery has become faster and in your face
Listening to artists such as Miley Cyrus and Rihanna’s delivery, you tell that as artists, they were immensely influenced by hip-hop as well. Their delivery is faster and in your face. Their performance is also more electrified than pop artists who came after them. They revolve, tweak, and express themselves more freely with their bodies.
3. Some pop artists use hip beats
Another interesting factor to note is how versatile pop artists have become. They can sing over almost any beat. Give them a reggae beat. They will slay it. They sample jazz songs and make them sound better and sing over rap beats.
4. Some pop artist can rap as well
Today it’s not uncommon to hear a pop artist rapping on a song. In the middle of a song, they stop singing and start rapping, and boy, do they sound good!
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