The Evolution of Popular Music: A Look at the Past and Present
Looking into understanding and the origins and evolution of music genres.

Music today is quite different from the days of our parents, and even more different when we bring in our grandparents. Whether it's the lyrics, the technological advancement, or just the tone, things have changed over the years. I can only imagine the scenes if a great composer like Bach ever listens to a song by Eminem.

As genres like Afropop and Kpop gain global recognition, I can't help but marvel at how far we've come. In this article, I go down memory lane.

Early Music Genres

The early 1900s were by no means the beginning of music but marked the start of what musical academics call the 20th and 21st-century era of music. It all started in 1900 with the arrival of blues music. It originated from African American spirituals but only gained popularity twelve years later when W. C. Handy released Memphis Blues.

By 1920, jazz, country, and folk music had risen in popularity. Jazz came from the African American communities in New Orleans, country music from the working-class Southerners, and folk music gained most of its popularity during the Great Depression.

The 1940s right down to the 1960s came with a new set of genres. Rhythm and blues (RnB), bluegrass, soul, rock, and disco all became prominent during this period. Rap and hip-hop arrived in the 1970s before more recent genres like pop came onto the scene.

As I move through this evolution of genres, there's one thing I find curious. Each genre was born out of an earlier genre through experimentation and creativity. Seeing the artists of today explore different sounds, I guess not much has changed after all…

Is there still such a thing as genres?

Well, of course, there's still such a thing as genres! That said, the lines are getting blurry with all the experimentation going on. Ed Sheeran tried his hand at rap in his Collaboration No. 6 album, Drake has added singing to his incredible list of talents, and artists from all over the world have gotten into the Afropop hype train.

Now more than ever, artists don't feel bound by any genre divisions. Instead, they're exploring and bringing out their versatility to make beautiful music. Some people, like Alan Walker, are focused on using technology to make futuristic sounds while others, like Silk Sonic, take us back in time with their throwback 70s-style music with a modern touch. The only rule is there are no rules.

From folk to funk, the diversity of music genres have evolved to create new sounds and styles.

Top Five Genres of Today

I know I said the lines are blurry, but there are still lines. Music has evolved and has grown to be more global while at the same time celebrating our differences. Genres like Kpop and Afropop have recently blown up massively, but what are the current top five genres in the world today? This is what I think…

RnB/Hip-hop

First of all, it's unfair to put these two genres together. RnB and hip-hop is unarguably the biggest music genre of our time. In fact, you could split them and they'd still give the other genres a run for their money. In 2020, RnB and hip-hop amassed an entire third of music streaming. With massive artists like Eminem, Beyonce, Khalid, Kendrick Lamar, and many others running the show, you can understand why I have no choice but to place RnB and hip-hop at the very top of the pile.

Pop

Michael Jackson was the first king of pop, and the genre has never been the same. The king of pop, as he was called, is perhaps the single most famous music artist, and a trail of stars has followed the path he blazed for pop music. Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, and Taylor Swift are just some of the names dominating the genre now.

Combined, these huge artists have amassed incredible numbers, with billions of streams between them. I already talked about how genres are born from earlier genres, and pop is a wonderful example of the emergence of Afropop and Kpop.

Afropop

Nowhere near as consistently globally dominant as RnB and hip-hop, Afropop is one of the biggest genres in the last couple of years. African music is finally getting worldwide acceptance, and Nigerian stars are at the center of it all. Burna Boy, Davido, and Wizkid are leading the relentless Afropop charge with a host of talented artists following behind.

Burna Boy, for example, recently received his third Grammy nomination in a row and will be hoping to build on his success from last year. Davido headlined the closing ceremony of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Wizkid got in on the action too with a record-breaking year for him, especially from his single with Tems called Essence.

Afropop is new to the big stage, but what a ride it's having. History is beginning to repeat itself with more and more artists deciding to experiment with their music. I'm holding my breath to see what's to come.

Kpop

The changes and creation of new music genres have seemed to slow down over the years. Where has the creativity gone?

BTS holds the current world record with 180 weeks on top of the Billboard Social charts. One hundred and eighty! That's about three years combined. The rise of K-pop in the modern music world, much like Afropop, is a recent but exciting one. BTS, Black Pink, and EXO are some of the biggest artists in the genre, and what an impact it's been from them! Social media and the internet have made the world so global that the biggest fans of a South Korean boy band are young American girls thousands of miles away.

Electronic Dance Music

This one is for DJs, producers, and other futuristic music lovers. Electronic dance music, as the name implies, is based mostly on technology. It started as just dance music with little to no lyrics involved, but there's a recent trend where the producers feature artists on a production of theirs to make a song. Alan Walker, Labyrinth, and Kygo are quite fond of it. Hardly anything pushes music more like playing it at a party, and that's exactly what EDM is made for.

Final Thoughts

Music has come a long way. From the very beginning of time right down to today, music has consistently changed and evolved. As the world becomes more and more global, I anticipate a further blurring of the lines between genres. Old genres will give way to new ones, and a new generation of artists will take over. It's all quite exciting to imagine, and I'm here for it!