It’s 2009. I’ve turned up to school at 11am, my freshly minted learner licence burning a damn hole in my pocket. I’ve got an All Berry Bang Boost Juice in one hand, and my iPod in the other. My peers have moved on to iPhones, but like a Marrickville barista with more red flags than shifts this week, I prefer the retro sound quality of vinyl the iPod Classic.
Soundtracking my return from the RTA is a veritable collection of bangers: “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” into “Bad Romance” into “Disturbia”. Pop nirvana has been achieved, and the girls/gays/theys are reaping the benefits.
The following 15 years saw hip hop dominate the charts, and the pure confection of 2009 take a backseat to pop music heavily inspired by trap, EDM and R’n’B. Sure, Adele was Adele-ing, Taylor Swift was dominating, and RihRih, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga kept us fed, but no year felt as singularly owned by the pop girlies as 2009.
By 2015, only one song in the top 10 of the end-of-year Billboard Charts featured a woman (“Blank Space” by Taylor Swift, thank u for ur service). And in 2017, the highest charting track featuring a female vocalist was “Stay” by Zedd featuring Alessia Cara. The highest charting track by a woman was Cardi B with “Bodak Yellow” at number 24.
Much ink has been spilled on 2024 being a return to form for the girlies of pop, but I’m gay so I, too, will spill. The similarities between 2024 and 2009 run deeper than simply being just a strong year for women in pop. So, grab a drink — or a ciggie, for the brats — and join me as I draw parallels between my two favourite years of music.
A new queen of the queers rises
Lady Gaga had a belter 2009. Her debut album, The Fame, came out the year before, and “Poker Face” became the best-selling single of 2009 globally. Beyond her musical mastery, the Gaga aesthetic had made her a worldwide conversation point, and music videos for “Paparazzi” and “Bad Romance” entered the canon of all-time greats.
And for anyone late to the party, her performance at the MTV VMAs that year cemented her place in Queer History. It’s hard to accurately explain her impact on queer audiences, but let me try. In 2009, my now-boyfriend made a Twitter account just to follow her. He hadn’t told anyone he was gay, but decided to let Gaga know via her DMs. No response as of yet, but still, big deal.
If you haven’t figured out who the Gaga of 2024 is, what the fuck? Last year, Chappell Roan dropped The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess, but it took until 2024 for the world to fully embrace the new supreme. Her Governors Ball performance, dressed as the Statue of Liberty, was as impactful as any other live performance we’ve seen so far this year. And after another stellar performance at the VMAs, consider me seated for good.
Gaga, when anointed as “Queen of Pop” by Rolling Stone, was acknowledged as being heavily inspired by the icons that came before her, namely Madonna. Chappell’s getting that too, as well as Bjork, Kate Bush, and Mother Monster herself. Her vocal prowess and commitment to aesthetics is perhaps no better demonstrated than in her Tiny Desk Concert, where, laden with a massive wig strewn with cigarette butts and butterflies, Chappell set herself apart from the pack with an intimate, powerful set.
Politicians courting pop stars
Starting strong, January 2009 saw the inauguration of Barack Obama, and the world tuned in as Beyoncé welcomed the first Black President of the United States with her rendition of “At Last”.
The preceding election was frightening for both sides of the political aisle. Aaron Dessner, of The National, lent his track to Obama’s campaign in an effort to secure the battleground state of Ohio. Will.I.Am released a promotional single titled “Yes We Can”, sharing the name with Obama’s rallying call.
Obama’s coolness was intrinsic to his campaign, and star power was lent to beef out those creds. Earlier this year, after coining the vibe for the summer, Charli xcx added major bonafides to new Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, with three simple words: “Kamala is brat.”
What followed was a neon-green repackaging of Harris’ socials, as her team lent into the shout-out.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Donald Trump has recently made headlines by sharing an AI-generated image of Taylor Swift endorsing his campaign.
Not only did this seriously piss of the Swifties, but encouraged Taylor to publicly throw her support behind Harris in a post on Instagram.
And, yeah, every election year is full of celebrity endorsements. But can anyone name who performed at Trump’s inauguration? Or Joe Biden’s? Beyoncé performing “At Last” is stamped on the cultural zeitgeist, and time will tell if Kamala’s Brat era also contains that special sauce.
Return of the dorks
“Wink wink nudge nudge” is back. As of writing this, Sabrina Carpenter’s 6th album Short n’ Sweet has been out for a little over a month, and it’s laden with innuendo. My personal favourite lyrics being, “Come right on me, I mean camaraderie”.
It’s goofy, horny, and throws back to a (now maligned) popstar who, in 2009, saw two tracks chart in the Billboard end-of-year list. Katy Perry’s “Hot n Cold” and “Waking Up In Vegas” were sassy, triumphant entries into the pop milieu that shucked the mid-noughties trend of disaffected perfection in favour of some barn-burning messiness.
The Tay-Bey parallel
Tay & Bey, now veteran superstars, are linked by more than just chart success and boatloads of Grammys. The end of 2008 saw them both drop albums (Fearless & I Am… Sasha Fierce), and for the following year, they were mainstays on the airwaves.
The 2009 VMAs played host to the infamous “Imma let you finish…”, and the following year saw them go head-to-head for Album of the Year at the Grammys. Taylor came out on top, and 2025 looks set to be a rematch. Taylor’s record-breaking The Tortured Poets Department could face off against Beyoncé’s genre-bending turn, Cowboy Carter.
And as much of Cowboy Carter was created in response to the country music industry shutting Bey out of the genre, I’m glued to my seat to see who trumps who in the battle of the Nashville native & the newly coined Cowboy.
Justice for JADE
With all that said, we’ve still got plenty of time left in the year for the next great pop release. Punters might be looking to see what Gaga’s got planned for the next few months, following an announcement that the first single from her upcoming album LG7 will be dropping in October. And the noughties tragics amongst us are still bopping to Paris Hilton‘s second album, Infinite Icon.
But for honeys with taste, it’s clear the song of the year has already been released. So, to sign off, let me leave you with one suggestion: stream “Angel Of My Dreams” by JADE.
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