The December chart reflected all the current trends of the year

Pop music doesn’t die, but it has to adapt

The final chart of 2023 ends a musical year in which drama, comedy and absurdity were as one as music, lyrics and arrangement. Despite everything, pop music does not die, although it is forced to adapt to not the most friendly conditions. And this process seems to be gaining its completely non-creative force.

The triumph of the two-year-old hit of the previously little-known Tatar electronic hip-hop duo “Aigel” looks more funny than ridiculous. There is a situation in which multimedia and technology do not want to submit to the administrative-command system, and as a result, an undesirable group in the current music reality breaks the bank without giving a single concert in Russia. Of course, nothing like this would have happened without the hysteria on the series “The Boy’s Word,” where “Pyala” became the main musical theme. It can be said that the combination of cinema, music and fresh methods of collecting statistics is becoming a new driving force that is difficult to resist.

Among the new products on the December chart, a set of popular preferences is indicative. Here you can find polished neo-pop in the version of Klava Koki and Feduk and the hits “Let’s Run Away”, assembled as if on the knee by “5am”. Ingenuous boyish rap in the version of Alexey Dalmatov and Valiko Aleksanyan (Guf and AVG) sounds quite naive against the backdrop of fashion from OG Buda or Toxi$, but sincerely, which the public still appreciates.

If all copyrights are registered in favor of the Alliance group, then their program hit “At Dawn” has every chance of becoming gold in the literal sense of the word. The spontaneous and pre-pandemic excitement around this song not only returned Alliance to active touring and recording life, but continues to keep both series producers and a variety of musicians in a daze. The fact that “At Dawn” was now sung by the folk rapper Basta once again confirms the nationality of the hit from the eighties.

Everyone concerned was worried about Yuri Shevchuk’s health last year (the musician suffered a heart attack in September), but fortunately the rock legend’s authorial tone was not a cause for concern. The solo album and New Year’s single “News” under the DDT brand became a light in the fog for those who are unable to get to the group’s concerts in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The song “News” is about news that everyone has known for a long time. “…Victory marches of surrendered rockers, and most importantly – cats, cats, cats…” Shevchuk managed to combine frisky guitar rock and some kind of seventies bard hopelessness in one song, expressing the New Year’s mood of so many.

At the other musical pole, it was no laughing matter either, although Philip Kirkorov diligently kept his pop-royal face. It’s hard to remember when New Year’s shows received such advertising support. Sometimes it seemed as if everyone would watch TV solely to make sure whether Kirkorov was cut out or left. They cut it out from almost everywhere, which, however, did not prevent Philip from maintaining, at least with the cameras on, confidence and even some optimism. “We move on with our lives,” the king of pop told the journalists, slamming, according to tradition, an aphoristic phrase from his ex, when he sat down in a Mercedes corresponding to the star’s dimensions after a conversation with the most venerable lawyers. During his private New Year’s party in a mansion near Moscow, Philip (judging by the posted video) made a generally optimistic toast in the spirit of “you know, everything will still be.”

But even the ability to have a philosophical attitude towards the dark periods in life and some sense of humor (Lolita noticed that she finally had the opportunity to wash the floors of the house) are unlikely to help hide from the understanding that times are rapidly coming when the image, repertoire and other artistic activities cease to exist. remain a private matter for pop stars. Apparently, it will be necessary to filter not only the market, which has been happening for a long time, but also everything else.

Judging by recent events, you need to dress up with the understanding that it’s not just fashion experts who care about it. In this regard, for Philip, Lolita and everyone else, who are accustomed to being bright, a little ridiculous, but the way they themselves wanted, it probably makes sense to change the sources of fashion inspiration. Kirkorov, apparently, will find it useful to study the concert costumes of Muslim Magomayev, unless, of course, the shirts with frill collars, which the people’s favorite and pop dandy sometimes sported, are also not considered anti-fastening. And if they admit it, then there are archival footage of the speech of Eduard Khil and Yuri Bogatikov. Their suits certainly won’t be tampered with. Ladies are recommended to cosplay as Edita Piekha or Valentina Tolkunova. In general, going into Soviet chic is like going into a whirlpool. The fairy-tale fantasies of the old blockbuster “Back to the Future” suddenly take on a frighteningly prophetic content.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29191 dated January 10, 2024

Newspaper headline:
The music is louder, the words are quieter