Predict the musical trends of the 2020s

What do you think the musical trends of the next decade will be? It's hard to say really. For some reason I can see pop-punk making a comeback (it never really died, but I'm talking about more in the mainstream), if just due to 2000s nostalgia. As it pertains to current music though, hard to say, aside from younger artists (ie, under 20) being treated more like serious artists and not just teen idols or novelties.

Edited by J79 on Nov 9th 2020 at 1:44:16 AM

I do feel like, if it hasn't happened already, Billie Eilish is going to set off another wave of moody "alternative" pop similar to what happened after the first Lorde record.

I think a new type or variation of music will be created that will be liked by younger people and scorned by older people.

Mumble rap is going to die within the next few years, and I predict that the void will be filled by more alternative-leaning stuff (so basically a complete takeover by Kendrick and Tyler; honestly, Tyler is going to become one of the music superstars of the 2020s the way that Kanye did in the mid-2000s and Kendrick and Drake did in the early 2010s). Post Malone probably has one more big album left before he starts to fade around 2022 or 2023 because he's a one-trick pony and bland, inoffensive trap-rock ballads are only going to sustain him for so long, and will likely be remembered as another novelty dude who was really big for a while, then fell off when pop audiences moved on. I think the Soundcloud horrorcore sound of Ghostemane, $uicideboy$, and Ho99o9 is also going to get much bigger, and while it probably won't become the dominant sound on its own, it will certainly influence whatever becomes the dominant pop-rap style.

One thing that I hope doesn't happen is a new crop of 2000s throwback hip-hop artists. The ringtone era was legit one of the worst eras of pop music period, let alone hip-hop, and I am going to be extremely disappointed if kids rediscover D4L, the Ying Yang Twins, Baby Bash, and all that other trash that was popular when I was in middle school. I lived through that era once, and I don't want to live through it again. Never again do I want to hear warbly Lil Jon keyboards or some obnoxious T-Pain hook. Matter of fact, how about we not do any throwbacks to the 2000s in pop period. It was easily the worst era for it. Between the ringtone era of hip-hop and related genres, post-grunge, and landfill indie, it was almost all either vapid and bland or trashy and stupid in a way that I thankfully haven't seen since.

Edited by HasturHasturHastur on Dec 28th 2019 at 6:11:39 AM

I dunno, compared to the 2010s, I kinda prefer 2000s R&B. I miss when songs weren't so airy and moody.

Anyway, I think the 2020s are gonna see a lot more lyrical rap, with the likes of JID, Earthgang, and the Griselda camp on the rise. Trap as a production style will likely fade, being replaced with the neoclassic take on old boom bap beats we've been seeing in alt rap. Or we'll see trap drum used for non-trap beats like "The Story of O.J.". We can probably a expect a lot more fast rapping as well, for good or ill.

Edited by PhysicalStamina on Jan 2nd 2020 at 8:34:13 AM

I don't wanna see fast rapping for the sake of being fast return. Rapping fast just to show off your chops (most chopper dudes, honestly) is almost always annoying, and they usually wind up spouting nonsense (e.g. Twista, who introduced the style to the mainstream and still has nothing else to offer decades later) or doing a lot of that really obnoxious forced inflection and contrived "wacky" rapping that Tech N9ne and Strange Music rappers (or rappers influenced by that crowd) love to do. If fast rapping becomes fashionable again, they better know how to do good verses and not rely on it as a party trick.

Edited by HasturHasturHastur on Jan 4th 2020 at 6:05:21 AM

It's good as a tool in a rapper's arsenal to pull out every now and then, but it shouldn't be your whole thing.

Also it's not returning, it's returned. Ever since "Rap God", everybody and their grandmother has a fast rap track out.

I'd also like to think that Kali Uchis is going to become a superstar without losing what makes her special. Isolation really was a breath of fresh air and one of the most fun, creative, and clever neo soul (I guess that's what you'd call it?) releases I've heard in a hot minute, and I hope that she gets a Kendrick/Tyler-esque license to do whatever the hell she wants and experiment some more once she gets to that next level.

Probably 90s and early 2000s revival.

Starting in the 2010s, streaming kind of put an end to the idea of a decade having a definitive sound. Pop, rap, and indie all went through two or three bigger shifts, but by the end of the decade, anything and everything could find an audience. I think this is the only "trend" that'll be magnified in the 2020s.

You think Doja Cat will see more success, becoming a "name" of 2020?

So, can we expect some weird new trend making it big every year or something?

I've been wanting a second wave of Minecraft Parody. What was once a gimmick based on swapping out the lyrics of 2010's pop music to be tangentially about mining/crafting/etc. will likely experience a total upheaval, forming a distinct musical style influenced by Minecraft's themes of condemning freedom and critique of neocolonialist attitudes. The elements of Minecraft Parody will be deconstructed and rearranged, evolving in a manner comparable to Jazz's transition from a cultural afterthought of New Orleans to a total re-examination of music theory itself. Minecore, as I've seen fit to dub it, will set itself free from hacky lyrics and uninspired note-by-note covers to become a love letter to that vast expanse of rolling blocky hills and valleys, to her people that spend hours in pursuit of self-expression, with each note addressed to every visionary who dared to seize that vast expanse and shape it with their bare hands and each word a bittersweet description of what Minecraft is to the novice child on his tablet, what Minecraft is to the professional builder on his high-end PC. Minecore takes the lessons we learned from Minecraft Parody and applies them for a new generation.

Would be really cool if some minor genre really blew up and became the next big thing.

Like Sythwave or Symphonic Metal or Jazzpop.

Just something that really becomes big like K-pop big or Billie Ellish big.

Whatever the fuck 100 gecs, Reptilian Ghetto Boyz and the like are doing will continue to happen to all of us until it doesn't, which I consider a good thing. Similarly, expect Angel Marcloid and the whole Black Dresses nexus to remain influential for some time, particularly in queer music circles but also in the greater alternative/underground music scene and eventually even in some pop. PC Music already have infiltrated the mainstream to some degree with Charli's work; expect that aughtscore revivalism and the whole hyperpop thing to continue expanding and mutating going forward. Eventually, there will be a revival of the post-punk revival as well as the indie boom, so brace yourselves for a sudden influx of zoomers who really do think The Killers were the best thing to happen to our society. Likewise, grunge, post-hardcore, technical deathcore and industrial metal revivalism is already at hand; expect more buzz surrounding Elizabeth Colour Wheel in the former category, as I think they are destined for at least indie stardom, while more and more -core bands begin to look to either Fugazi, The Red Chord or Godflesh as to where to go next once the nü-metal and djent wells run dry.

Edited by JHM on Sep 10th 2020 at 5:47:00 AM

I'll say it if nobody else will: video game soundtracks going mainstream. The big game makers have those amazing sound cards in their machines now, and the game publishers will want to milk that cash cow. Over time, video game music will start to sound more like movie music, and increasingly feature lyrics.

Disco revival.

Maybe not a big or long one, but a revival nonetheless.

That already happened last decade.

WELL ITLL HAPPEN AGAIN THEN GODDAMMIT

I could see the disco revivalist stuff from the previous decade becoming even more heavily engrained into modern pop EDM trends, although I feel like the recuperation of darker, more aggressive styles from the early '00s as a backlash against the hegemony of tropical house tones seems more likely, at least at first. It's the push and pull between dance music as utopian escapism and transgressive catharsis—the pop versus the hardcore, if you will.

I can see video game music becoming mainstream, hell it might already be happening, but I can also see them not exactly going for a "big cimetatic" feel all the time and instead play a little to the medium's legacy (particularly in the indie and below AAA scenes)

I can also see games going the Arknights route and have music made specifically for promotional trailers. That will probably where people like Two Steps from Hell come in at first.

More generally I think the EDM and Hardcore Techno scenes would likely continue(?) to see influence from the overlapping dojin music and rhythm game scenes, on a more international scale. And I also see V-tubers making strides as musicians if only due to the precedent made by both the anime medium and Disney's kidcoms and films having the actors and actresses become multi-purpose talents.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jan 19th 2021 at 12:35:09 PM

Solo-produced Alternative R&B or Persona-type Acid Jazz music is going to be really popular throughout the decade thanks to the worldwide popularity of UK Bass music, K-Pop and artists like Billie Eilish and Joji during the pandemic as well as Spotify discoveries. Also, rock music is going to fully embrace the electronic and 'cinematic trailer' sound, making the genre almost interchangeable with EDM, movie score or pop. This is best exemplified by artists like Zayde Wolf, Battle Tapes and BONES UK, where their brand of rock music leans closer towards dark industrial-ish electronica and bombastic DOOM-inspired blues rock riffs rather than the cheerful garage rock sound that was popular last decade.

I think there's going to be another shift in the hip hop sound, possibly a return to a more boom bap/conscious hip hop sound in response to movements like mumble rap, trap music and Soundcloud rap. Saying this because lot of notable experimental producers like Flying Lotus and Madlib seem to be shifting back to a more grounded sound as well as the whole Black Lives Matter movement going on, which might shift the pendulum from hedonism back to activism.

Since the Y2K aesthetic is also really popular among Zoomers and Millennials (due to the fact that most of us grew up during this period), I think genres such as Crunk, Nu Metal, Jungle, Breakbeat, UK Garage, early 2000s R&B and Adult Contemporary, IDM, Industrial Rock and Drum N' Bass are going to experience revival movements, and possibly break into the mainstream or at least the underground scene.

Edited by YouSitTightBuddy on Jun 24th 2021 at 8:28:31 AM

I agree with you on that last paragraph. We're already seeing that with Pop Punk and artists such as Olivia Rodrigo and Machine Gun Kelly.

On that note, we're also going to see a melodic metalcore revival. Shadows Fall's confirmed reunion show (there will be more, I guarantee it) and God Forbid confirming that one will happen for them when they see a good opportunity is the tip of the iceberg. Same with emo-pop, MCR's reunion and the genre's influence on emo rap are both signs of things to come.

Thanks for the confidence boost, Tokyo Olympic parade of nations