What is ‘Recession Pop?’ Viral Trend Takes Off

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Marni Rose McFall is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on internet trends, U.S. politics and popular culture. She has covered fashion, culture, art and music extensively. Marni joined Newsweek in 2024 from Frasers Group and had previously written for Cosmopolitan, Schon, The Fall and Voir Fashion. She is a graduate of The University of Edinburgh. You can get in touch with Marni by emailing m.******@******ek.com.

Marni Rose McFall

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Whether it’s lipstick sales or buy-now-pay-later initiatives on food, speculation about potential recession indicators is at a high. And now, another has entered the mix: recession pop.

Hinging on upbeat, nostalgic pop music that was popular during the global financial crash in the mid- to late-00s, the viral trend shows that from the purse to the playlist, concerns about a potential recession are everywhere. But what exactly is recession pop? This is what you need to know.

Music The Context

Shortly after President Donald Trump‘s announcement of widespread tariffs, the chances of a recession in the U.S. jumped from 40 to 60 percent, according to major Wall Street bank JPMorgan.

Concerns about a potential recession have also been heightened by an unpredictable stock market, declining consumer confidence and persistent inflationary pressures.

The term refers to commercial pop music hits that dominated the charts during the global financial crisis from late 2007 to 2009. Examples include upbeat dance and club music tracks like Ke$ha’s “TikTok” and Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance,” and American dream anthems like Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’s “Empire State of Mind” and Katy Perry’s “California Girls.”

In a video about the trend, made in January 2024, pop culture journalist Eilish Gilligan discussed the long history of recession pop, and said, “When things get tough, pop music gets brighter, lighter, more optimistic and dancier.”

Music Why Is Recession Pop Making a Comeback?

Recession pop trend is making a comeback on social media as a response to economic concerns.

Many of the social media users posting about recession pop, are millennials, many of whom are sharing their concerns online. One TikTok, liked over 200,000 times, has a text overlay that reads, “Millennials hearing they about to live through their 4th ‘once in a lifetime’ recession.”

Not only will the term recession pop yield multiple playlists on Spotify, but said playlists have garnered tens of thousands of saves. One comes with the description “2007-2010 pop music that made you forget about the economy.”

As for what’s on the playlist this time around? While it’s not just a nostalgia notion—artists like Charli XCX, Chapel Roan and Sabrina Carpenter have been hailed for ushering in a new era of high energy pop—Ke$ha and Lady Gaga’s latest singles are largely soundtracking the trend.

The fact that both artists are associated with the 2007-2009 ‘era’ of recession pop is contributing to their prevalence this time around.

In one TikTok post from the account breeze, which has received over 94,000 likes, the text reads: “The economy is collapsing… therefore as it is written, Ke$ha returns as the queen of recession pop.”

Another social media user wrote, “We have new Lady Gaga. This Kesha banger. An [DJ] Avicii tribute at Ultra [festival]… Recession Pop is in full swing.”

The trend was even acknowledged by the pop star, Ed Sheeran. Responding to a comment on TikTok which said that he is “kinda cool now,” Sheeran replied that this is a “recession indicator.”

Music What People Are Saying

One social media user wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Recession pop resurgence in full swing.”

Another social media user posted on TikTok: “I know Ke$ha putting out a banger about living in a trailer park and drinking by a bonfire is a sign of a recession, but the song is great so I kinda don’t care.”

One social media user wrote on TikTok: “The economy is down, but the vibes are up.”

Another social media user wrote: “I’m convinced Goldman Sachs heard this song and that’s why they raised the probability of a recession from 20 percent to 35 percent.”

Music What’s Next

Whether the recession pop trend will continue to be popular on social media remains to be seen.

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