Cringe pop
Cringe pop is a genre of pop music written to be deliberately (and unintentionally) cringeworthy.
| Cringe pop | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Pop |
| Cultural origins | Early 2010s, United States |
| Regional scenes | |
| Cyberculture | |
| Other topics | |
| Outsider music | |
History
Rebecca Black's song "Friday" is usually credited as giving birth to the genre.[1] The song, which was released in 2011, has over 149.6 million views and 3.8 million dislikes on YouTube as of January 2021.[2]
Black was soon followed by Taher Shah, a Pakistani musician and businessman. His music video "Angel" went viral.[3] His first music video, "Eye to Eye", was released in 2013, and "Angel" was released in 2016.[4]
Cringe pop has spread due to the advancement of technology, essentially allowing anyone with a laptop to be able to produce a song and a music video.[5]
Examples
Jacintha Morris, an Indian civil servant, released "Is Suzainn the Sinner" in 2016, which was labelled a cringe pop song.[6] Morris herself denied that the song was intended to be cringe pop.[7]
Other examples include "PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen)" by Japanese comedian Pikotaro, and the "Pokémon Go Song" by Czech child singer Misha/Mishovy Silenosti, both released in 2016.[8]
Reception
Such songs are described as being "so bad that you can not stop watching them".[3]
References
- "Cringe Pop: The Genre That Has Taken The Internet By Storm". Cosmopolitan.
- "Rebecca Black - Friday" – via YouTube.
- Nath, Parshathy J. "Cringe benefits". The Hindu. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- Nauman, Qasim. "See the 'Cringe-Pop' Music Video from Pakistan Taking the Internet by Storm". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- "Taher Shah & the Rise of Cringe-Pop". Arré. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- "'Cringe pop' creator defies her critics". BBC News. 18 June 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- "It was my dream project: Jacintha Morris". Deccan Chronicle. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- "Pen Pineapple Apple Pen: This cringe pop wonder from Japan has taken internet by storm - Firstpost". Firstpost. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.