Pop music is back. It’s back and it’s fun, cheeky, hot, sparkly, unapologetic—all thanks to the dazzling female stars giving the genre new life. You could say it’s a Femininominon.
Okay, pop has always been around. But it saw a period of stagnation, only now regaining a sense of energy it hasn’t seen since, perhaps, the early 2010s—a time soundtracked by the likes of Ke$ha, Rihanna, and Katy Perry.
Pop powerhouses of the era, like Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande, persisted. They have regularly released new music and sold out world tours. That music (by these two artists, at least) have continued to hit high standards and excite ever-growing fan bases. But a lot of pop had fallen into an almost cookie-cutter routine. The boom of TikTok didn’t help: with its unrelenting grip on music charts, it churned out a lot of pop music deliberately crafted with virality in mind. A lot of this ‘lifeless pop’ might be good on the surface, but it all sounds similar. Maybe it’s catchy, but it’s safe. Maybe those lyrics hit you hard, but they are basically the same ones in countless others. Pop music had fallen into a rut.
Fast-forward to now. If you tuned in to this year’s 67th Grammy Awards, you saw a curly-haired redhead in a bedazzled bodysuit and cowboy boots and drag-inspired makeup sing and dance her heart out atop a large pink pony.
Maybe you noticed something else about the Grammys, especially last year. It was a sweep by female artists. In 2024, women won big for the most notable awards: Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist. Same with categories of Pop Solo Performance, Pop Duo/Group Performance, Pop Vocal Album. In fact, the first three categories mentioned were exclusively female, with the exception of a single man present in all three (Jon Batiste, a force in jazz and blues.)
The 2025 Grammys was slightly more of a female-male artist mix, but still saw major gains for women (notably, Doechii’s Best Rap Album win, marking only the third for women in that category) and the past year has been incredibly rich in new big-name music from mostly women. In 2024, we got new work from Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, and Taylor Swift, all of which were nominated for Album of the Year, along with Chappell’s “Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” from September of 2023. Last year also saw new albums from Gracie Abrams and Ariana Grande, and singles from Tate McRae, not to mention Olivia Rodrigo and Reneé Rapp are continuing their ride of success.
The work from every single one of these artists has been a smash hit. But it isn’t just about their individual success. These women—especially Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Tate McRae—are together making pop fun and interesting.
The pop lull we experienced until now was emphasized by the Covid era, largely characterized by quiet days spent in our homes and on virtual meetings and classes. Many of us took that time to withdraw, look inward, and let the news be the only drama in our lives. It makes sense that the music we favored during and coming out of the pandemic was more stripped-back, or more of the familiar.
Now we want the drama, the vibrance, the risk. And we sure are getting it, through these highly talented artists bringing something new to the table or channeling what we already love but have missed over the last decade.
Charli XCX was very present in the early 2010s; I grew up with her on the radio. She continued to put out music but grew bigger than ever with last summer’s “brat”—an album that blew up into a cultural phenomenon and even influenced Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign marketing. The neon green, synth, club beats of it all are electrifying and anti-minimalist. It’s a vibe that doesn’t seem to have been in the mainstream for ages.
Sabrina Carpenter is an exceptional storyteller. She can do heart wrenching lyrics, but she’s also funny. Her summer release, “Short n’ Sweet,” is sprinkled with cheeky innuendos and sexual puns (the “Busy Woman” line, “my openings are super tight,” refers to more than just her packed Google Calendar.) Sabrina’s lyrical range includes emotional, clever, and fun, and she has the vocal chops to deliver. Her tour is a full-fledged production packed with glitz and glam, a handful of outfit changes, and interactive elements. And Carpenter’s increasingly iconic image as an artist is further solidified by her signature hair and makeup.
Critics may give Tate McRae a hard time for doing a lot of lip syncing during her concerts, but McRae is a triple threat—she sings, writes her own lyrics, and places heavy emphasis on her performer side, primarily dancing. A more physically involved performance sometimes means sacrificing raw vocals for dynamic lighting, fiery dancing, and hypnotizing hairography. Her vocal style and stage presence have earned the up-and-comer frequent comparisons to veteran Britney Spears. McRae is her own person, but the comparisons do speak to McRae’s embodiment of that hot, scandalous 2000’s pop energy.
Evidently, a common theme breathing new life into the pop scene today is a sense of showmanship and strong visuals. When an artist crafts a distinct image, tone, and even color palette associated with their presence and work, it resonates more; it’s more engaging and memorable. They make us want to pay attention—not just to one song, but an act—a spectacle, even—their larger discography, and perhaps a greater cultural effect.
It’s great music on its own. But more than that, it’s exciting, and we feel something. Isn’t that what we want from pop?
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