21st Century Recession Pop: A Study of the Price of Eggs and Pop Girlies

The price of eggs, the increased cost of living, plummeting stock markets…and a Lady Gaga album. What do these all have in common? Signs of a recession, of course! Before this statement awakens a whole host of economists to chime in, let me explain. 

Formally defined by Mercer University as a “decrease in economic activity for two or more quarters,” recessions present themselves as falling stocks, increased unemployment, and decreased consumer spending. While money doesn’t equate to happiness, there is a level of emotional discomfort brought on by recessions. Lack of financial security, job security and the stress around the cost of living in a recession cause turmoil for many. The US has had thirty-four recessions in its history, each with varying degrees of duration. However, all of these recessions have one commonality - the use of music as a cultural force in the time of recession. In the past, news trends and fashion choices defined recessions, but the increase in dance pop around 21st century recessions led to the coining of the term, ‘recession pop.’ 

2008 brought the downfall of many financial institutions like Freddie Mac and Sallie Mae, to name a few. The housing market crashed and much of America was struggling to make ends meet. In the midst of this, Lady Gaga dropped her debut album, The Fame. With classics like “Poker Face” and “Just Dance,” Gaga’s album brought hyper synths and dance beats to Little Monsters around the world. In an interview in 2009 Gaga was asked why she would drop a dance-pop album in the midst of a recession, Gaga told the Irish Independent, “with the recession in Ireland as well as the US, which is almost in a full depression now, we could all use some time to smile.” And it sure brought smiles. Its ability to bring upbeat energy into cars, homes and parties was a respite to the hard financial times.

 Gaga was not alone in putting out dance music in the midst of recession. Kesha’s party hit, “TiK ToK,” was released in August 2009, and its message of being carefree and young, despite the passage of time, was a reflection of music’s attempt to bring joy in this time. At its core, these pop songs were meant to bring a lightness to a situation of crisis - no one summed it up better than Gaga with the line, “just dance, gonna be okay.” Kesha’s “TiK ToK” speaks to the financial hardship many were having. Rather than dwelling on hardship, the song was a reminder that there could still be youth, joy and recklessness to the tune of, ”ain’t got a care in the world but got plenty of beer / ain’t got no money in my pocket but, I’m already here.” Regardless of whether the song mentioned money or not, artists were putting out pop anthems like these to lift the spirits of those going through the recession.

While the Irish Independent article referred to the songs as “recession pop,” the term was not popularized until 10 years later. There were murmurs of a return of recession pop in 2024 amidst Brat summer and Addison Rae’s “Diet Pepsi,” but the term blew up in early 2025 with the return of both Gaga and Kesha. 

Hot on the heels of a tumultuous election and a high cost of living, Gaga dropped Mayhem. In the time between The Fame and Mayhem, Gaga made a country album, a jazz album and a pop album. Few albums had lived up to The Fame, which is why when Mayhem dropped, many drew parallels to cultural events concurrent to both album releases. Twitter users quickly began to claim that recession pop was back, due to the deep synths and carefree nature of Mayhem’s lyrics. Similarly to 2008, Gaga was not the only artist making songs with these sonic and lyrical themes. 

Albums like Sabrina Carpenter’s Short’n’Sweet and songs like Tate McRae’s “Sports Car” evoke similar themes. As pop girls rose in 2024 and 2025, the US economy fell. The heavy  consumption of this type of music pointed to a shift in the public’s desire to turn to carefree pop as escapism, just as they had done in 2008. Recessions are objectively hard for a country. They bring emotional, and financial hardship to many. However, it also brings us a choice: to either cower in the comfort of our own homes, guarding and hoarding resources to ourselves, or to band together in community to uplift and support each other through the hard times. Recession pop’s popularity in both 2008 and 2025 shows that more often than not, in these hard times we desire the ability to come together in community. We desire art and music that gives us hope. We desire the freedom and joy that comes with dance in moments of insecurity. Gaga, Kesha, Sabrina and Tate give us anthems to sing, dance and be hopeful together. So while recessions are never welcomed, they do bring art that is powerful. 

Maybe the cost of eggs are up in 2025, but so is the number of danceable songs. And like recession pop songs preach, it’s better to see this hopeful optimism in these dark times. And for that, I thank Gaga. 

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