Is The Pop Star Resurgence an Ode to Our Younger Selves?

2024 has been a true year of pop. The list goes on: Sabrina Carpenter, Tate McRae, Charli XCX, Tove Lo, Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, and Taylor Swift. Choosing a pop album of the year will be impossible, honestly. But it makes me wonder if this era is attributed to our younger selves channeling our inner Hannah Montana and Destiny’s Child. We grew up listening to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and "What a Girl Wants," and now that we’re in our twenties, two of the most popular songs are "GIRLS"— by Charli XCX and The Dare. What a coincidence. That makes it quite easy for the DJ world to spin back to the 2000s, too, but that’s a conversation for another time. Not to mention, Christina Aguilera collaborated with Sabrina Carpenter in recreating the iconic "What a Girl Wants." Two pop stars of the decades coming together with a household song can’t help but tell us that we’ve rediscovered 2000s pop. Also, "Can’t Get You Out of My Head"’s Kylie Minogue is making a comeback in the music world with a new album and tour, "Tension II." Having been ridiculed by my elementary school teacher for following MTV, I, for one, fully embrace the resurgence of pop culture.