TL;DR
- Distorted guitars are a main element on charts again.
- Punk vibes are back, which makes sense with everything we’ve been going through, angst needs to get out somehow.
- Since 2012 punk and hip hop have been having a relationship that consolidated this year with many artists like MGK, jxdn, Yungblud and many others thanks to plenty of collaborations with pop-punk icon Travis Barker.
- The trend will continue to get stronger with more collabs and artists experimenting with these sounds.
Since the second half of 2021, we’ve been hearing distorted guitars (remember them?) showing up on playlists and viral songs once again.
I’m not going to lie to you, this makes me so happy. But I may be biased. Did you know I used to be in a punk band? That’s a story for another day, but I’m still excited about this upcoming trend.
What's going on
2021 was the perfect year for punk to resurface, since there seems to be a general (and justified) angst floating in the air, a craving of normalcy, and constant adapting. Doomerism ( the notion that we’re all doomed and everything sucks ) is prevalent and it sets the perfect stage for punk to thrive. And after all, every trend is cyclical, coming back around every 20 years or so, so we were heading in that direction. The revival has been a long time coming with songs from Fall Out Boy, Paramore and My Chemical Romance never really leaving the charts.
Punk’s influence on other genres, and hip hop in particular, has always been there like some sort of dancing back and forth. Back in 2010’s, Fall Out Boy took a lot of cues from hip-hop, collaborating with artists like Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean, Lil Wayne, and Jay-Z across their career. Pete Wentz’s Decaydance label signed rap-rock band Gym Class Heroes, whose frontman, Travie McCoy, reached pop-level fame with his 2010 single “Billionaire” featuring Bruno Mars. Around the same time, Hayley Williams guested on rapper B.O.B.’s hit “Airplanes” and its sequel, which also featured Eminem.
The blurring of these two genres culminated in the appeareance of emo rap, which set the stage for today’s pop-punk moment. Artists like the late Juice WRLD, Lil Peep, and XXXTentacion shot up in popularity by drawing from and even sampling pop-punk songs.
Viral hits
Another key element in the revival of punk is TikTok. Many songs from the 2000’s and 2010’s have gone viral in the app, and it has also pushed the careers of young talents like jxdn (Jaden Hossler) who was already a TikTok influencer before releasing his own music. He’s also had help from Travis Barker, who has signed jxdn to his label DTA records. Barker produced fellow TikTok star-turned-musician Nessa Barrett’s early Avril-Lavigne-style “la di die,” which also features jxdn. Many of these songs feature heavy guitar loops and guitar riffs.
Travis BarCore
Travis Barker is a big influence in pushing punk back in our ears, having collaborated with so many artists in the past year that they have been grouped into a new genre - still unsure if it’s a joke or not - called Travis Bar-core. Not just the drummer for Blink-182, Barker has a long history of bridging the gap between rap and pop punk, forming rap-rock hybrid band The Transplants with Rancid’s Tim Armstrong and working with everyone from Lil Wayne and Pharrell Williams to Snoop Dogg and Kid Cudi, However always bringing his own pop punk vibe and guitars into the mix.
Some of the most influential names in modern hip hop like Lil Uzi Vert and Lil Peep cite punk bands as their greatest inspirations and it shows. Not only in the music style and punk guitar loops they use, but also with lyrics and attitude, it is clear that the new generation wants songs they can relate to. Feelings of alienation and frustration are everywhere, and as always music serves both as an expression and an escape. This is where alternative hip hop and punk come into play and merge electric guitar samples with deep 808's
Lil B preaching words of wisdom to those that are “Based;” A$AP Rocky’s motto being to “Always strive and prosper;” Kendrick Lamar’s quest for self-enlightenment; and Danny Brown’s asymmetrical hair and missing tooth serving as symbols for individuality and being who you are. Like their punk counterparts, these artists use their talents and beliefs to simultaneously influence others, and create their own success, by their own means.
Punk Guitar Samples are taking over
Jxdn expressed what’s going on in a beautifully simple way: “The fact that we’re up there running this s–t, feeling like we’re on top of the pop scene, is the coolest thing in the world,” Hossler says. “I’d say that’s the most punk you could get — f–king up somebody else’s scene. And that’s what we like to do.”I think that in the years to come this trend will only continue to get stronger, and with Lil Uzi Vert and Pharrel to appear on Blink 182’s upcoming album, I can confidently say that the marriage between hip hop and pop punk is thriving.
That’s why we’ve been working on somehting so you can experiment with these sounds. The Small Things Sample Pack is perfect if you want to incorporate some punk vibes in your beats with distorted and electric guitar loops, and don’t get left out of the wedding.
If you're still unsure, you can download the free version! Give this free pop punk guitar loops sample pack a chance.