When the realities of life get hard, does music get … happy? “Recession pop” is currently trending as people reach for the music of the mid-2000s for a mood boost.
Anecdotally, these songs maybe do have healing powers. The other day, after receiving disappointing news, I put in my headphones and went for a walk. Instead of blasting my usual playlist of Taylor Swift and Renée Rapp, I reached for a 2010s playlist, hoping some carefree hits would cheer me up.
And you know what? It worked. While “recession pop” may be the nickname for music released during a recent economic downturn, there is no mood deficit involved here.
What is ‘recession pop’?
Recession pop refers to the slew of hits that dominated the charts during the global financial crisis, which was from late 2007 to 2009.
As the stock market plummeted, pop artists released cheery songs with positive and upbeat lyrics, focused on living in the moment and partying. The melodies were catchy, punctuated by inspiring choruses.
“Throughout the history of popular music, folks have always looked to music for escapism at tough times and for release during stressful moments,” Bill Werde, director of Bandier Music Business Program at Syracuse University, tells TODAY.com.
“It’s just usually happy, escapist, catchy tunes that people find easy to sing along to, easy to dance to, easy to party to — all in the service of helping them escape their troubles,” he adds.
Some prime examples of recession pop are “Tik ToK” by Kesha (2010) , “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” by Usher (2010), “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus (2009), “Club Can’t Handle Me” by Flo Rida (2010), “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas (2009) and “Don’t Stop the Music” by Rihanna (2007).
Werde, who served as Billboard’s editorial director during the peak of “recession pop,” says Billboard didn’t call it “recession pop” then, but from the charts, he was able to “recognize that in a moment where a lot of people were struggling, people really just needed some release.”
Why is ‘recession pop’ making a comeback?
The comeback is twofold. Millennials who grew up with this music appear to be reaching for the music during another time of economic instability and recession fears.
As one TikToker said, “If we can’t afford eggs we might as well do it while dancing.”
“Stock markets crashing but at least we got this banger,” another said in a video set to Lady Gaga’s new “Abracadabra.”
Werde believes that the return of these dance pop anthems comes down to the political climate of the country.
“We are in one of the most polarized moments in American history,” he says. “And while some people might think that that would show up as political music, angry music, that’s just not what we’ve seen. Looking at the history of the charts, in fact, the darker and tougher things get, generally, the dancier, the more escapist our pop music becomes.”
He notes past examples to prove his point, like the songs that topped the charts during the Vietnam War. Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” (which Werde calls “the all time greatest politically conscious songs ever released”) peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s charts in 1971.
“If you look at what’s at No. 1, it’s a Temptations song, ‘Just My Imagination.’ If you look at what’s at No. 3, it’s Three Dog Night’s ‘Joy to the World.’ And then if you look at what’s rounding out the Top 10, it’s Tom Jones, the Partridge Family, and Paul McCartney. It’s kind of always been like this. I think sometimes we rewrite history in our minds, but the truth is, it is very common that the darkest, most divisive times in history, our pop charts often seem the lightest,” he says.
Recession pop is also having a moment because, coincidentally, artists who were big during the Great Recession are returning with new music, like Kesha, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry.
As one X user summarized, “The economy is collapsing. Therefore as it is written, Kesha returns as the queen of recession pop.”
Werde says Lady Gaga in particularly has been “really genius in understanding the pulse of culture,” adding that “it’s notable that she has chosen this moment to return to form largely of the Gaga of that period.”
Some social media users are noting the March release of “Sunrise on the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins as another uncanny parallel between now and the Great Recession since Collins released the original “Hunger Games” trilogy from 2008 to 2010.
“We’re heading towards a recession, Kesha just dropped an absolute banger, I’m obsessed with a Ryan Murphy show featuring a broadway diva and there’s a new Hunger Games book….2010’s here we come!” one X user tweeted.
Moving forward into 2025 and beyond, Werde thinks what’s old will continue to be new again.
“People are looking a little bit more for either known artists that they can trust, maybe that bring back memories to a happier time, or they’re looking for songs that have those anthem-like choruses that really speak to us. Things that help us look away (and) turn off the doom scrolling,” he says.
