Typically, when most people think about music, their mind goes straight to the well-known genres. However, over the years, many sub-genres have been on the rise, becoming more and more popular. But, which should be on your radar?
We’ve recently written an article about the most and least popular music genres in 2023. Before that, we gave you to 2022 version. But, this time, we want to break down sub-genres. Which are on the rise? Have you heard of them all? Some of them are far more niche than others. Do any of you create music within these genres?
In no particular order…
Wave/Hardwave
Wave came about in mid-2010. It started as a style of Electronic music which had the influence of Hip-hop through its production style. It’s described as dark and icy and has rhythms that combine Trap, Dubstep, Grime and other music genres. This is a perfect example of a sub-genre because it has so many elements from other areas.
Hardwave is an adaptation of Wave, so, it’s even more niche. It’s said to offer more of a festival style to the original sub-genre. Within it, there’s a lot of build up and drops. Normally, Hardwave will involve remixes and offshoots of well known EDM tracks. It’s best played loud and to larger crowds. Hence, festivals being perfect.
Breakcore
Breakcore has been around since the 1990s. It is described as experimental electronic music that consists of many genres. Combining the likes of jungle, drum and bass and techno. It could be considered as quite intense music due to the sounds and styles used. The tempo can be harsh, and although it can include classical elements, they’re often distorted to be noisy.
Amapiano
Amapiano means the pianos in Zulu. It’s an adaptation of House music which has worked its way over to Western markets and has become popular due to the fun sounds, and elements within the music. It combines House, with Jazz and Lounge music, adding various basslines and piano melodies. Hence the name Amapiano.
Future garage
Honestly, it is exactly what it sounds like, the future of Garage. The idea of it was to bring a future to the Garage UK genre that was once extremely popular. As other genres began taking elements and mixing them around, Garage almost lost what it originally was and was morphed into something else. It’s dark, with focus on the vocal rather than drops and build-ups.
Jersey club
Jerseuy club has become popular thanks to TikTok. It’s a platform with enough freedom to allow artists to play around with sounds to create something within this sub-genre. It’s high-energy and fast-paced. Pulling in Hip-hop and House music, featuring kick patterns and stand out beats, played with a heavy bassline.
Neurohop
Compared with other sub-genres, Neurohop is quite new. The words only started generating in 2012, from artist Kursa adding a mix to SoundCloud titled ‘Lets call it Neurohop” Tempos can range from 80 to 120 BPM. It takes influence from Hip-hop, Glitch hop and Neurofunk Drum & base. It’s best known within the EDM world.
Bubblegum pop
Known as bubblegum purely because it has a nostalgic element to the sub-genre. Think back to being a teenager, carefree, summer love, dancing the nights away and chewing bubblegum. That’s the idea. The songs are computerised and catchy. They’re easy to sing along to and are always sang by artists in the mainstream media.
Are any of these sub-genres your favourite? Have you heard of them all? The thing with sub-genres is, there’s always further genres coming from them. Music artists will take elements from various genres and manipulate them to get their own sound. Meaning, one person’s adaptation of a genre could be completely different to another’s.
