From the grunge rock of the 1990s to the trap instrumentals on many hip-hop songs of the 2010s, the music never quite stays the same. As 2023 finally rolls around, it seemingly becomes harder to answer one question: What is the sound of the 2020s?
By: Javier Hills
Defining all the music in one year can be a very tricky thing. Before anything, it’s important to know the history of how music popularity by decade works. Genres usually don’t arrive fully formed at the beginning of the decade. Oftentimes, genres tend to bubble up and eventually fully form around the second or third year of the decade.
For example, let’s use the main genre that took the 90s by a stranglehold, grunge. Many agree that the genre first truly exploded onto the main music stage with Nirvana’s 1991 album Nevermind.
Although it was released in September 1991, it hit Billboard’s top 200 album charts in January 1992. After that, the genre exploded, with record labels singing grunge and alternative rock acts left and right to get the next big thing.
Similarly to the 1990s, trap music didn’t experience a major explosion as soon as 2011 came around. Instead, it had been bubbling up in underground hip-hop spaces for nearly a decade, especially in southern spaces. However, the year 2012 saw it come into the mainstream, with songs like I Don’t Like by Chief Keef, Where Ya At by Future, and Drake’s never-ending stream of number-one hits.
Although those are a few decades that featured a dominant genre that could help lead the way in identifying the identity of the 2020s, there are some decades that can throw a wrench in that. Specifically, the 1970’s and 2000’s.
Throughout the 1970s, genres such as pop, soul, funk, folk, and multiple sub-genres of rock took hold. For example in the year 1973 alone, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, the Wings, Diana Ross, and Cher all had number-one hit songs in the United States.
Similarly, the 2000s had a melting pop of genres as number one. In the year 2005, artists like 50 Cent, Mariah Carey, Gwen Stefani, and Chris Brown all shared the number one songs list.
With every decade in mind, the main question at the beginning of the article becomes much hazier, with no clear sound in mind. If we look at the number one hits for the beginning weeks of 2023 we see Miley Cyrus, SZA, and Taylor Swift.
However, there has been a rising trend recently, and that is retro-inspired pop. In the year 2022 alone, we got 80s pop-inspired albums from artists like The Weekend, Charli XCX, and Ava Max. Although not 80s-inspired pop we also got house-inspired albums from Drake and Beyonce, two of the most prominent artists of all time.
So, to answer the question of what will be the defining sound of the 2020s will be, I say it’s the past. Whether it’s taking inspiration from the ’90s, 80s, or even back to the 1960s the past is the direction for music to take and will take. As for now, only time will tell the true sound of the decade.