*Why* Billie Eilish could be the future of Pop Music (with actual reasons!)

[Lucas 20,121]

I've seen people stanning her hard since yesterday. I'm interested to listen to her album, could someone recommend me their favorite songs from it ?

[Orangetrees 84]

7 minutes ago, Steve Nasty said:

Meh maybe I'm wrong but I don't see a real musician here. She's bold in her visuals but the music isn't exciting. It's not trendsetting, the minimalism thing she does is already trendy, trap is overdone, sad pop is already dominant. What's special about her? She reminds me of Melanie Martinez  

What would you guys say is her best song and why? Not the video, just the music.

Definetly this album and her EP showcase her talent. She and her brother produced and written this album entirely on their own (all the tracks only list them)

Teens love her, i can say that my sister (who is 17) and her whole group of friends love her.

I accidentally listened to “idontwannabeyouanymore” and became instantly obsessed.

I’m just expressing my opinion but i truly feel that she is really talented and genuine which makes me like her even more aside from the musical style.

[Morphine Prince 95,707]

5 minutes ago, GagaInTheZone said:

I've seen people stanning her hard since yesterday. I'm interested to listen to her album, could someone recommend me their favorite songs from it ?

I'll break it down so you choose what you want to listen to:

The "bops" (meaning strong beats, dance-ish, complex structure): bad guy, you should see me in a crown, all the good girls go to hell, bury a friend, my strange addiction

Slower songs: xanny, wish you were gay, when the party's over, 8, ilomilo

Stripped down ballads: listen before i go, i love you 

You should also check out her EP and other stand alone tracks. All her stuff is on Spotify. 

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, GagaInTheZone said:

I've seen people stanning her hard since yesterday. I'm interested to listen to her album, could someone recommend me their favorite songs from it ?

By popular opinion, I'd say;

- bad guy

- all the good girls go to hell

- wish you were gay

- when the party's over

- xanny

- bury a friend

 

A lot of those are her more upbeat ones though. my personal favourites are xanny, i love you, 8, when the party's over and wish you were gay but I tend to like her more low-key songs more. 

Hope you enjoy!! 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Morphine Prince said:

I'll break it down so you choose what you want to listen to:

The "bops" (meaning strong beats, dance-ish, complex structure): bad guy, you should see me in a crown, all the good girls go to hell, bury a friend, my strange addiction

Slower songs: xanny, wish you were gay, when the party's over, 8, ilomilo

Stripped down ballads: listen before i go, i love you 

You should also check out her EP and other stand alone tracks. All her stuff is on Spotify. 

@GagaInTheZone this was put better than the way I put it. Let us know if you liked them!

[mauvais 0]

She makes me feel soooo old but that's rly what makes me think she's the future of pop music. Teenagers just know. I don't think the new crop of girls have an understanding of the zeitgeist except Billie and Dua. 

[Guest Anisko]

She's interesting ? yes .. She's talented ? yes.. But she's unique and original ?  The answer is NO NO NO 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Anisko said:

She's interesting ? yes .. She's talented ? yes.. But she's unique and original ?  The answer is NO NO NO 

Why do you say that?

[Stephen 29,174]

14 minutes ago, Blue Madonna said:

I can't pick a favourite, but I think 'xanny' is really important and one of her best. The extremely relevant lyrical message about glorifying drug use combined with great vocals and great production makes for a beautiful song.

Songs I also love simply for their beautiful lyrics as well as great production are 'watch' and 'when the party's over'.

I just listened to all 3.  I found "Watch" the most enjoyable simply bc it was the most melodic but even then it doesn't grab me. Nothing about it is interesting   

+ I generally dislike music with that fake indie girl voice but Billie makes it even worse by combining it with a selena gomez-esque whipser   Idk just not for me

[Ziggy 10,247]

41 minutes ago, Blue Madonna said:

Before I state my points, I’d like to get a few important things out of the way.

FIRST: I apologise if all of these threads about Billie being the future of pop music annoy you, however I have been working on this thread for quite a while and I hope that these other threads which simply say ‘bILLIE IS QUEEN HATERS CAN CHOK’ make this thread seem less valid, I have actually put time and thought into this thread unlike a few others I’ve seen.

SECOND: My definition of the future of pop music is how pop music will likely progress in the near future, not necessarily how I want it to be or how I hope it will be. For example, I will go ahead and say that right now Ariana is the biggest name in pop music, even though I personally am not a huge fan of her. 

THIRD: Don’t come here just to trash her. Please read the OP and if you have conflicting opinions that’s totally fine, just don’t mindlessly drag Billie or her fans 

 

Okay, with that out of the way   I’ll go through each aspect of Billie and how that contributes to how I see her as the future of pop music.

 

First aspect of her; her music.

Billie Eilish combines pop with indie pop and hip-hop. Currently, pop music is essentially dominated by hip-hop artists, or at least it was in 2016-2018, I can see that might change this year though. Billie’s music is a bridge between traditional pop/indie pop and hip-hop music. She uses elements of trap music such as low-key instrumentals and often quiet, whisper-y vocals, but she’s putting it in a pop setting. By taking what hip-hop fans like about hip-hop and putting it into pop music, she is making a genre which both hip-hop fans and pop fans can both enjoy, and this is apparent in her fanbase’s other favourite artists, which range from Lana and Lorde to Drake and Migos. This is why I believe she can usher in a new style of pop music with the kind of music that she is making.

Second aspect of her; her personality.

Something which is often make-or-break for an artist with popular music is their personality. Billie is a hilarious, carefree and badass young girl. If you follow her IG, you’ll see what I mean She is an absolute goofball, her stories are so often just her messing around with her friends, and even things like her album intro show this. She is also really sweet and genuine, just watch a few of her interviews and you’ll agree for sure. 

However she does have a sadder side. She has spoken out about her experiences with depression, and this makes its way into her art. Her generation is experiencing peak levels of mental health problems, and when she makes music that addresses these issues, her audience can relate, and feel like they’re not alone. Don’t get me wrong, I love an empowering bop like Born This Way but sometimes it’s also nice to know that you’re not the only sad person out there.

 

Third aspect of her; her aesthetic.

Now this is where a lot of the haters pick on her for. The comments of trying too hard, being too edgy, glorifying depression, trying to be an adult… I can see where you’re coming from but I don’t agree. Take her debut album, its cover and the videos for it. Billie has spoken about how she has her notebook of nightmares, where she writes lyrics and draws drawings that she associates with her songs. What she does, and she has said this herself, is she takes emotions she feels and she takes it to the extreme. Her new album is inspired by themes such as sleep paralysis and nightmares, and she took that concept and bloated it to make it visually amazing.

The video for ‘bury a friend’ shows how she took the idea of a monster under the bed and took it to the EXTREME. It makes for a wonderful, interesting video. It’s the same for ‘when the party’s over’ and ‘you should see me in a crown’. The former’s video was inspired by a drawing a fan drew of her (which I think is SO CUTE ), and she made a visually stunning, terrifying masterpiece. For ‘you should see me in a crown’ she took people’s fear of spiders and made this extreme by putting them in her mouth! 

You could say this is glorifying depression, but it’s not. Bubblegum pop does essentially the same thing, as does heavy metal and many other genres. People like Katy Perry took the ideas of bliss and joy and made it extreme, to create videos like ‘California Girls’. Like, in reality, bliss does not usually mean surrounded by candy and funny characters and dancing, but she took that emotion and made it huge in order to make art. Metal does the same with anger, and emo rock did the same with feeling like a misfit. (#SoAmI) 

Her album cover and her videos aren’t ‘trying too hard’ or ‘attempt to be edgy’ but taking relatable emotions and blowing them up to make it even more interesting. 

 

In conclusion, Billie Eilish is a figure who is young, and feels the struggles of her youth every day. This is what makes her so attractive and popular with young people. Her videos are over-the-top in an exciting way, and she as a person is kind and honest. I believe this makes her the future of pop because musical growth comes from the new generation, and she speaks for this current generation growing up. The same was Panic! At The Disco and Fall Out Boy spoke to the youth of the early 2000s, and the same way 2008ish kids clicked with Gaga and Katy, the same way that mid-late-2010s kids love people like Drake and Post Malone, the kids of today have clicked with Billie Eilish. And this is why I believe her genre and style will begin inspiring new and similar artists, and likely make her style a trend. And that is what the future of pop music means.

Can you explain how her musicality differs from Lorde's? I've not really listened to Billie, but from what you say she sounds like the same as Lorde, musically. That said, I love Lorde so it's no shade, I'm just curious for clarification and thank you for taking the time to write about this.

[Lucas 20,121]

6 minutes ago, Blue Madonna said:

By popular opinion, I'd say;

- bad guy

- all the good girls go to hell

- wish you were gay

- when the party's over

- xanny

- bury a friend

 

A lot of those are her more upbeat ones though. my personal favourites are xanny, i love you, 8, when the party's over and wish you were gay but I tend to like her more low-key songs more. 

Hope you enjoy!! 

 

7 minutes ago, Blue Madonna said:

By popular opinion, I'd say;

- bad guy

- all the good girls go to hell

- wish you were gay

- when the party's over

- xanny

- bury a friend

 

A lot of those are her more upbeat ones though. my personal favourites are xanny, i love you, 8, when the party's over and wish you were gay but I tend to like her more low-key songs more. 

Hope you enjoy!! 

Thank you!! I went to listen to bad guy already, I like it at first listen. I bookmarked this page and will check these songs you recommended tomorrow, it's midnight here  Have a good day

[Deku 1,444]

Nothing really stands out about her to me. She feels and sounds like a reboot of Banks. Glad people are enjoying her music tho.  

[insight 2,425]

*yawn*

[Guest Anisko]

Just now, Blue Madonna said:

Why do you say that?

Don't get me wrong .. I don't mean that as an offense..  I really respect her as an artist and i love many of her songs and she delivered one of greatest visuals but her sound is not unique ... Whispering through an hybrid hiphop instrumentals don't make her the future of pop music..  That can only make her the new Lana del Rey. 

 

[Dancin 1,120]

in my opinion, i dont think she will change the game, i think her styles have already been big for a long time now and soon the popular style will change.  the thing she (and her brother) did was mix all of the trendy styles of the last years and make a perfect blend.

what i DO think is that she will stay popular for a long time, she will not be a one era wonder, she will keep this minimalist pop trend revelant even after its time at #1 runs out. she is here to stay.

imo soon the people will demand a drastic change, and a new wave of stars will arise. but some of the current stars will stay, and one of them is billie.