By On March 21, it was announced that record-breaking K-Pop group NewJeans, would be going on an indefinite hiatus following legal issues with Korean music company ADOR.
Currently renamed “NJZ” due to said legal issues, the group is no longer able to perform until a negotiation can be reached in regard to their valid exclusive contract.
Considering the fact that NJZ has won major awards inside and outside of the U.S., placed on the Billboard Hot 100 and broke the Guinness World Record for fastest K-Pop act to reach 1 billion streams, this puts a halt on one of the most influential musical acts to come out of K-Pop this decade.
Categories such as “Global K-Pop Act”, “Global Artist” and “Best Global Music Performance,” which were introduced in the late 200os at the Billboard Music Awards and the Grammys, have even become parts of the main televised show in the 2020s.
Disbandment, lawsuits, solo projects, military service and injuries have put the genre’s biggest names on the hang back of the music industry.
Similarly, South African pop star Tyla had to cancel her entire 2024 tour due to a back injury. She was not able to ride out the success of her hit “Water” and subsequent debut album despite taking home a Grammy for Best African Music Performance and solidifying her status as a performer.
This has made room in the pop world for artists like Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Tate McRae to rise, producing electro-dance pop that is reminiscent of the recession pop era of the late 2000s.
This shift of international pop artists topping charts in the U.S. and abroad to now being replaced by dance and house-inspired Western acts, is telling of the climate of where pop culture is headed overall.
Recession pop could be a sign of a collective regression of our interests in the pop music space.
