When producer, songwriter, singer, and DJ SOPHIES’ death rocked the world at the end of January, the community of pop and electronic music lovers like myself lost an experimental and revolutionary great. SOPHIE created a name for herself by layering, pitching, and texturing her beats to make a bubbly synth sound that was usually matched with the plastic-like figures shown in much of her single cover art.
Among these first few SOPHIE singles, hits such as “BIPP” emerged. These singles aided in pioneering the avant-garde pop sound that we closely associate with PC Music, A.G. Cook’s record label. This sound eventually developed into what we know now as “hyperpop”.
This was just the start of her career as she went on to also work with many artists such as Madonna, Charli XCX, and Vince Staples establishing her as a household name in music production. Despite the praise she gets for being this innovative artist, even earning a Grammy nomination for her 2018 release Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides, she remained mainly unheard-of by the majority of the fpublic.
A question that arises when we lose influential stars like this is “who’s next?” Who are the people that are going to follow in these footsteps, pushing this boundary of electronic and pop music like SOPHIE?
Of the many artists, there have been three popular artists that are keeping her legacy alive while changing the idea of how we perceive music.
100 gecs
St. Louis, Missouri duo 100 gecs have been gaining a following since their debut album 1000 gecs in 2019. Some of their songs from this album, such as “money machine” and “stupid horse,” gained a mass following on Tiktok for their use of irreverent lyrics such as their opening line in “money machine:” “Hey lil piss baby/ You think you’re so fucking cool, huh?/ You think you’re so fucking tough/ You talk a lotta big game for someone with such a small truck.” People describe the pitching of their music as “itching the right part of my brain” while others say it sounds like pots and pans banging together.
No matter what you think about their sound, in addition to the duos following, they also have had the opportunity to work with a variety of artists such as Rico Nasty, Fall Out Boy, and A.G. Cook. They also use these connections to help produce other artists’ music as well. One of their recent works in production was on Rico Nasty’s debut album Nightmare Vacation where their style shines in the hits like “iPhone” and “OHFR?.”
Charli XCX
Charli XCX is a name that many are familiar with. Back in the early to mid-2010s, she was on the path to becoming a mainstream pop artist being featured on Icona Pop’s hit song “I Love It” as well as Iggy Azaleas’ “Fancy.” She also had the hit “Boom Clap” featured on The Fault in Our Stars soundtrack.
On this rise in pop stardom, she took a different route with her music career when she released her 2016 EP Vroom Vroom, which was produced by SOPHIE and Jodie Harsh. The EP was not well-received due to its anti-radio sound using the deconstructed and abrasive beats that SOPHIE had become known for. These bad reviews did not stop Charli though as she would continue to put out albums and mixtapes exploring this world of experimental pop.
Her next works, Number 1 Angel and Pop 2 were received with much more praise eventually cumulating to the release of her self-titled album Charli in 2019 which showcased her version of the hyperpop sound she’s been trying to mold. It was soon followed by her critically acclaimed quarantine album How I’m Feeling Now in 2020. This most recent work was quintessential hyperpop reflecting that of her Vroom Vroom EP, the big difference being the culture around hyperpop and a clearer vision.
While Vroom Vroom came out at a time where hyperpop was beginning to find its footing, How I’m Feeling Now came at a time when it was established propelling her to a new type of stardom: hyperpop stardom.
That Kid
Another artist that has been on the rise is That Kid, an artist that blends the queer experience with Y2K pop/R&B beats to form his bubble-gum pop sound. He came to the scene in 2018 when he released “Dial Tone” which features an infamous Y2K ex-producer Ayesha Erotica in addition to one of his close friends Slayyyter.
Famous for their hypersexual aesthetics, That Kid alludes more to the hypersexual, queer experience that many in the community have experienced in their life. He explores this more in his 2020 mixtape release Crush with hits like “Taco Bell” and a remake of Soulja Boys “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” amassing him an even grander following. Even though his work might not meet the quantity of the others, he consistently produces tooth-rotting hits that are setting him up for a bright future.
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