The year 2024 began with so many references straight from 2014, it was as if it had been beamed into the present. Pop culture in particular was shaped by female voices like no other year before. Artists like Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX and especially Taylor Swift dominated the scene.
In the March appeared “Cowboy Carter”the new album by Beyonce. It was a musically – let’s be honest – rather mediocre work, but it was nevertheless very successful in its mission to reconcile “black” and “white” pop traditions, country and hip-hop.
In the May brought Billie Eilish their third album “Hit Me Hard And Soft” out of here. She surprised us with a musical twist. Away from the usual Generation Z gloom towards up-tempo filter house bangers and even 80s pig-infonic rock tracks. The piece “The Greatest” is one of the highlights of the year.
Balance between mainstream and avant-garde
Probably the biggest surprise of the year came about Charli XCX with her album “Brat”. Her career has so far been an interesting but only moderately successful balance between mainstream and avant-garde. With “Brat” However, she made her breakthrough – at a time when Taylor Swift had already become the undisputed super-superstar of the western and global world. Swift’s tour took her around the world, politicians basked in her glory, and the cities where she performed were even named after her. When she decided to support Kamala Harris in the US presidential election in late summer, the race seemed decided to many.
But Donald Trump surprisingly won on November 6th. Not only did he win triumphantly, but he also won with the Popular Vote – even among women and ethnic minority voters, where many had previously given greater chances to progressive pop voices like Taylor Swift.
Pop: a relic from the past
At the same time, it could be observed that the male-dominated pop culture of Martial arts heroes like Dana White and podcaster Joe Rogan gained influence. This hypermasculine culture was so powerful that it dominated the very social space that Elon Musk redefined in a planetary perspective.
The emancipated ones worked against these figures Pop heroines of the year suddenly powerless and pale. And so one of the lessons of 2024 is that progressive, oft-celebrated pop – considered forward-looking by many pop critics – is actually a relic of the past.