Main Pop Girl

Like almost every aspect of popular culture, pop music is a subject ruled by dichotomies. There's a reason why Lady Gaga, the major proponent of sexual freedom, radicalist fashion and politically forward-thinking views, rose to fame in the same year as Taylor Swift, the chaste virgin queen who practiced all American values and permed hair. In recent years, this dichotomy found itself oppositioning the high-tempo, high-octane dance-pop of American artists like Gaga, Rihanna and Katy Perry with the slow crooning of English soul stars like Adele, Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran. But now, a middle ground between fast and slow and originator and colony has been reached with the rise of the mid-tempo jam and the birth of slow-pop. Harking back to the sound of choice in the 90s, slow-pop fuses the R&B slow jams of old with the electro synths of today to create a sound that fits neatly in between the euphoric dance tracks intended for the clubs and the lyrical, vocal-based musings of the balladeers which are perfectly crafted for rainy days in bed. Often drawing inspiration from genres such as R&B, trap and hip-hop, the genre is nevertheless intrinsically linked to synth-pop and the catchy, repetitive lyrics and beats it provides. In recent months, smaller acts like Kiiara, Terror Jr. and Phoebe Ryan have all shot to fame through their manipulation of the slow-pop genre. Kiiara has had her first top forty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with her sparsely produced trap-pop debut single 'Gold', in what's almost an unprecedented move for a new artist nowadays; Terror Jr. have reached an audience of over ten million with a high profile placement in a Kylie Jenner Cosmetics commercial; and Phoebe Ryan has received millions of fans thanks to an endorsement from the snake herself, Swift. But the slow pop revolution hasn't settled with staying underground. Last year saw the release of Selena Gomez's 'Good For You', one of the year's biggest hits; and after it hit #5 on the US charts, the track was able to usher in a new wave of sexy slow jams in it's wake. Britney Spears' 'Make Me...' follows in the same formula, with an emphasis on sensual vocals, a slow build and a male counterparts rap over any magic tricks in the production. Even Rihanna's 'Work' finds the singer trading in the high-energy pulsating rhythm of a track like 'We Found Love' for a more simple beat and some repetitive lyrics, propelled forward by the addition of Drake; and the third single from her new project, 'Needed Me', is classic slow-pop, thanks in large part to DJ Mustard's understated dubstep and trap inspired beat. It's a stark difference between the chart listings we saw last year, in which tracks like Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' 'Uptown Funk', Justin Bieber's 'Sorry' and Major Lazer's 'Lean On' reigned supreme. But if there's one thing we know about pop music, it's that every new trend is just another on a huge wheel - and that nothing will stop the wheel from turning or the cycle from beginning anew. Slow-pop may be the genre of the minute for now, but artists will have to continue to adapt to whatever the next thing may be if they want to stay current.

You may not have heard Dua Lipa's name, but you almost definitely know her songs. With a deep, husky tone that sounds like a less pained Amy Winehouse or a grown up Gabriella Cilmi, Lipa's voice seems custom-made for radio, which explains why her songs have been blowing up all over the airwaves for the past year. And with each single launching her further and further into pop super-stardom, we think it's probably a good idea for everyone to listen back to all her previous single releases and get used to the voice that will likely be in our heads for years to come. Lipa's debut single was the stomping electro-ballad 'New Love', a foray into dark-pop that would define the sound of all her future releases. Produced by Emile Haynie (best known for his fusion of R&B, blue eyed soul and pop on Lana Del Rey's Born To Die album), the track created buzz online but failed to make any impact on the charts. It wasn't until the follow-up single, 'Be the One', that a major label push allowed Lipa to chart internationally, hitting #1 in Belgium, Poland and Slovakia and charting highly throughout Europe, New Zealand and Australia. Using her debut single's formula of spare synth instrumentation, repetitive chorus, and pounding bass, Lipa slurs her way through the song like a drunk Adele, hitting the higher notes with an emotional strain that's perfect to scream at the clubs. 'Last Dance', the next track to be given single treatment, ups the tempo even more with a dance-floor ready beat and a distorted vocal in the post chorus worthy of Major Lazer themselves. But surprisingly, the track emulated 'New Love' in it's failure to chart. Perhaps it was just making way for 'Hotter Than Hell', which will by all accounts be Lipa's breakthrough. "He calls me the devil/I make him wanna sin," she murmurs seductively over a pulsating bassline before leaping into her most radio friendly chorus yet. With it's lighter production and a video that seems to be completely formed from a selection of Tumblr gif sets, it's no surprise that the single has charted at #15 in the UK, making it her first entry on the chart. She may not have too many songs yet, but for a girl of only 20 years old Lipa has already made a huge impact with her somewhat limited output. All four songs are set to be released on Lipa's much-anticipated and often pushed back self-titled debut album due out in February of next year; while the English born, Albanian heritage star will spend the remainder of this year touring throughout England and Europe. And while it's yet to be seen if she has enough strong material to support an entire album's worth of bops, the consistency and steadiness in her releases seems to indicate that she's found her own style, even without a full length project to back it up. What do you think of Lipa? Does she have what it takes to be the next big thing in pop or is she just more of the same? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!