House music first emerged as a genre in Chicago during the 1980s. The genre’s name comes from the idea that DJs could mix their own tracks with the equipment they could own and keep in their house, as opposed to needing professional studio time. Many people today would consider house music to be typical dance or nightclub music, keeping a continuous, fast rhythm.
House music gained popularity quickly after its invention and has been a recurring genre in modern music, consistently breaking through the Top 40. Although it has always had followers, house music is more popular now than it has ever been, and some of the most popular albums of the summer have proved this fact to be true.
The main indicator of the popularity of house music this year is multiple extremely popular artists having the inclination to make albums focusing mainly on the components of dance and house music. We saw this in June with the release of Drake’s seventh studio album Honestly, Nevermind. Many people were shocked at the direction he chose to take for this album considering he has never strayed too far from hip-hop and R&B songs. In a Rolling Stone article, Jeff Ihaza reminds us that Drake has the power to “reconfigure taste” and to single-handedly bring house music back into the mainstream.
Another popular and established artist leaning into the genre of house music is Beyonce with the release of her ninth studio album Renaissance at the end of July. Again, it was an album that was very unexpected and ended up being very successful. Beyonce leans heavily into the use of house music and creates an album that you can’t help but dance to.
The revival of house music has not been completely random. Jessica McKenney from Complex comments on this phenomenon and relates it back to the pandemic, suggesting that people now more than ever have a need for upbeat and fast-tempo dance music. A more concrete example of this effect is the revival of nightlife and the underground music scene in large cities that began as restrictions started to be lifted again.
Another factor could be the growth of social media platforms such as Tik Tok, where users are able to share clips of music that have the potential to go viral and there is no requirement for the clip to follow a specific genre or to already be popular. I think a lot of people, including myself, are using music as a form of escapism right now. With house music, you don’t really have to stop and consider any deeper message, you can just feel the rhythm and dance it out.
I know that I will be looking back at summer 2022 as a season full of house music, and I’m sure many others will be doing the same.
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