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City Pop is the hot new sound filling the digital airwaves. Riding off the wave alongside the likes of Lo-fi music on hundreds of playlists on repeat on platforms like YouTube and Spotify. Today we look into the aesthetics and visual style of the resurgent Japanese Pop sensation. From it’s heyday in the past to now.
What is City Pop?
City Pop was a subgenre of Japanese pop music that grew into prominence in the 1980’s and quickly faded afterwards in the 1990’s. A loosely defined genre of Japanese pop that can incorporate elements of soft rock, funk, disco, R&B, and jazz. Pop songs with a bittersweet and nostalgic tone. Featuring artists like Tatsuro Yamashita, Anri, Miki Matsubara, Mariya Takeuchi, and Junko Ohashi. It has lain dormant for years only to come back into popularity thanks to social media and sites like YouTube featuring classic artists. Mariya Takeuchi’s Plastic Love found new life on YouTube while Miki Matsubara’s Stay with Me became viral on TikTok. Today City Pop playlists are a favorite among the radio listeners alongside Lo-fi hip-hop and easy listening Jazz. Finding a new audience years later and this time on a global scale. City Pop has revived into a new wider world.
