I am one of those people who really loved pop music in the 80s and 90s. The problem is that once the next decade rolled around, it started to bore me so much. There were a few Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera hits I liked, but nothing I heard was so good that I felt like I wanted to hear it numerous times. As a matter of fact, in 2005 I started listening to more rap music and left the pop for someone else.
Every once in a while you will hear a good song in the pop genre, but not so many that I felt compelled to go out and buy an entire album. This went on for years until I started playing SongPop several years back. Apparently, I had been missing out on so much during my pop music hiatus. There were even some songs that I heard that rivaled some of my favorites from when I was growing up.
One of the first ones that caught my attention was Bruno Mars. Never mind the fact that it seems like he has some long lost Michale Jackson obsession; the guy can sing. I remember listening to the song “Treasure” and thinking it was one of the best things I had heard in years. Some of his other songs are great as well. I definitely keep him at the top of my rotation list.
Another singer I like is Pitbull. I know that some people would not classify him as pop, but there are many songs I have heard that certainly fit this classification. The fact that he manages to have so many other artists on his albums makes it all a huge barrel of fun. I swear there is no other artist like him.
In the past few months, I fell in love with the song “New Rules” by Dua Lipa and “No Tears Left To Cry” by Ariana Grande. I never thought I would say that young pop singers would officially be back on my radar. Now I am sitting around waiting to see what the next best thing is.
I suppose that all genres experience some kind of lull, but the rut I was in when I abandoned pop was epic to me. Luckily, things are getting better and people are out there making great hits that people will adore and listen to for years to come.