What Happened to Beat Drops?!?

[@nicolasrield]

I do think that Lorde, and the countless hits from Pure Heroine, contributed to the drastic change in pop music in the latter half of the 2010s. I love Lorde’s subdued and minimalistic approach in contrast to the maximalist Dr. Luke, Black Eyed Peas, Pitbull movement

[@W4TSKY]

I love how Lorde said “I'm kind of over gettin' told to throw my hands up in the air So there” and people really stopped putting that line in their songs for fear of being called lame 😂 Also yeah, without her there’s no Billie, Clairo, Olivia and the bedroom pop scene looks a lot different in general, but you could even go back further and credit Lana a bit for that as well

[@PickleRicksFATASSCOUSIN]

I'm gonna have to be honest, I'd love for more diversity in pop music than just big drops, sticking to one thing would kinda just get boring...

[@elstovon]

The hits are very countable- I heard two songs from it play ever and that’s being generous because I barely heard the second one. But I do agree that she suffocated beat drops because listening to her songs is like blue balls for me… such good builds that never come to fruition

[@Sssighh]

I think the turn from music being a public thing to being a much more private headphone-based activity in the streaming era definitely has something to do with it.

[@Leen.00]

i agree but it's funny cause i listen to the heaviest beats on my headphones lol

[@Onward_and_Rword]

depressing if so

[@dunnowy123]

​@@Onward_and_Rwordyeah. Super depressing if true.

[@cplova333]

TLDR for the video: For every jump in this world, there's a hop, and thus creates the balance that is jopping,

[@thecluckster3908]

Shouldn’t it be TLDW? Also why TLDW a less than 10 minute video 💀

[@RÅNÇIÐ]

No "humping"?

[@heyy13]

This should not have made me laugh as much as it did. Thank you. haha

[@MoltandMigrate]

Dialectics of pop.

[@fisticuffs12]

in the name of morkly, aemen

[@Leen.00]

i personally love a song that packs a punch. i find myself listening to older songs with lots of energy :)

[@kupkakekookie8598]

I loved this video!! The K-pop mention was so needed since there's such an excess of anti-drops in the genre. Overall a very good video!!

[@kristinlerch7739]

I'm a big lover of the whole "chorus with reduced instrumentation after the 3rd verse or final bridge" because of all the build up to something big and then the sudden drop and feel like this trend is is giving me lots of small doses of that throughout the song. Love it

[@mix3k818]

Music in general had gone a lot more low-key and I feel like that can be attributed to the EDM oversaturation of the early 2010s.

[@siaj92]

I miss the high energy so much, you can’t really party to today’s pop music

[@8teenOfficial]

You can actually relate that anti-drop about why modern tech house is the hip genre on EDM nowadays. It's the opposite of the big anthemic drops of the early 2010's (Hardwell, KSHMR, Afrojack), now it is more bare bones with its approach, where you only need groovy bassline and house drums and some big leads here and there sprinkled throughout the song. Some great examples: Beggin - Chris Lake & Aluna Baby again.. - Fred again.., Skrillex & Four Tet On My Mind - Diplo & SIDEPIECE Bel Mercy - Jengi

[@kamilkopacewicz8414]

Yeah, there was a shift to basslines in all those "future houses" (I've lost track of the naming), and weirdly, right now, everyone is all the rage about bringing back goa-like fast beats and sounds that seem to be inspired by cheap eastern european EDM from the 2005. I can't wrap my head around it.

[@Pau-sp9yp]

I believe that even though it tries to go a different way. A drop is a drop, even if it isn't loud, it still is a sudden and important step of the song that has been building up. The main difference is the style of it and how it is presented. I love both types and i hope they coexist at some point.

[@kamilkopacewicz8414]

Agreed, anti-drop is drop

[@TDDPhoto]

Surprised you didn't mention Jack Ü in this video, I would say that Where Are You Now was quite influencial to the anti-drop

[@mrq.1236]

I don’t think where are you now is that anti drop tbh. It’s just not as loud and explosive as a drop could be

[@KeyDash753]

I find it strange that one of the prototypical example in the opening was Martin Garrix's Animals. I always thought that one of the most memorable parts of that song was how antidrop its drop is. The build is huge, typical for EDM of the time then... instead of the explosion of sound and energy, you get something quite like many of the antidrop examples in this video.

[@mrq.1236]

I still remember my first reaction to hearing it on the radio when I was 8 years old. It was such a weird drop that I wasn’t expecting. It is very anti drop but I can also see why it’s included as part of the big firework show drops. It still built that hype

[@kamilkopacewicz8414]

Big room was weird in general. For me, it was the prototype of: the drop wars have reached its peak, there's nothing higher or bigger, it has become absurd. From that point, you can only climb down

[@BigOwl51]

I miss the days where pop music was happy, bright, fun and danceable. It felt like an endless summer vacation. Now It feels like everyone is desperate to sound lowkey, depressed and lonely. Hopefully someday this style of pop music will return to the forefront of culture.

[@K_pax0703]

2017-2018 was the coming back era of emo vibes. there are still good songs with great cheerful sound but not on the radio. trends are changing all the time, i feel like kpop makes music industry interesting and not dull. Edm is still on "samples" trend but not at all. Slap house had already their 5 minutes of overplaying. We like older music from 2010's because of nostalgia and we were young and happy that's why

[@p_ttown1979]

kpop for me has been the remedy to that problem

[@cynzix]

​@@p_ttown1979 Mine was Chromatica

[@giancarlofelicianocastaned9316]

I suggest you get used to it.

[@lIIest]

I admire you ability to talk so much about music for people that don't really like music.

[@cynzix]

The first example that came to mind is Chainsmokers' "Don't Let Me Down"

[@newpancakeman]

In my opinion the master of this “anti drop” seems to be Dua Lipa. It seems like every one of her monster hits has this massive build up to her over a stripped down drop

[@munecoin9986]

Locked out of heaven is an excellent example of an anti drop that came out in 2012. A banger as well

[@elstovon]

Wow! Really awesome video with some serious food for thought. You gave really great examples and I love what you said about music trends balancing each other out I can think of so many examples of that! Your content style is so fun. Also thank you for some amazing random underground recommendations… love Trophy Wife and Raavi

[@unshookclothing]

You’ve been killing it lately thank you Alfo

[@degausserrr]

I think that the post-brostep pop-EDM drops have finally lost some steam and the house/tech-house/techno scene is becoming more popular. When i think of the death of drops I think about DJ Snake, Marshmello, Calvin Harris, etc

[@solomonpnq]

"I WAS RUNNING THROUGH THE SIX WITH MY WOES, AND YOU KNOW HOW THAT SHI GO!"

[@morganparry9286]

Dance yrself clean is the best drop ever

[@ucfdjmoumou]

amazing respectful creative effort as always ❤ I think the drop is something "Young" and dying early aswell.... I miss the old house, electro or pop melodic days without drops

[@abrazjak]

My first thought when I saw the title - Lorde The Louvre

[@leandrrrbrrr]

Finally someone talks about this subject, I’ve been witnessing this change in music

[@BreadSlicer666]

In the club... straight "jopping" it

[@dunnowy123]

Came for an explanation for today's sound. Stayed for the KPop reccos

[@conradmusicofficial586]

oh yes I love Chungha! I never heard anyone talk about her before

[@guyfrompluto-420]

Daft punk’s “Harder better faster stronger” has a very good anti drop

[@agonzalez7095]

this is like the industrial revolution and its consequences but its The xx and Lorde and their consequences

[@bigfatrockstar4991]

I’ll also add that right after This Is What You Came For, Calvin just chose to completely abandon the drop entirely and just focus on the dance beats on Funk Wav Bounces. And yet that album has some of the best songs he’s ever made

[@renatocfrancisco]

"drop it francis, drop that nasty drop"

[@themarky2714]

Jack ü and The Weekend started recording Where Are ü Now and Can't Feel Myself in 2014, and both released their hits in 2015 feels like a case of convergent evolution where they ended up in their interpretation of the then unnamed anti drop.

[@vdal2902]

For some reason I could not for the life of me think of a song with a drop and then out of nowhere Feeling Good by Nina Simone popped in my head but idk if it would even count in this specific discussion lol

[@infsai]

4:35 no, it's not by Rihanna, that vocal is Taylor actually :v

[@Reesle]

This is precisely why my favourite songs are from the 2014-2018 era. Best drops imo. I hate about 95% of anti-drops.

[@WindowsNT_]

If anyone wanted to know the music around 4:43 is both of us - idealism

[@ukjent1626]

In Norway we still listen to a lot of music with drops the genre of "russemusikk" as its called here feature them heavily, and it never occurred to me that people elsewhere partied to boring pop-hits with anti drops. Can someone describe the party music In the US or elsewhere im actually very curious?

[@giancarlofelicianocastaned9316]

Pink Venom has one of the best anti drops ever.

[@jkRatbird]

My first thought was that it’s a backlash from brostep.

[@andrevitor.x]

K-Pop is really full of antidrops hahaha Pop is sad now, we need a fun revival

[@freezhollywood]

I was just talking to my friend about beat drops and how they used to make the song feel bigger and make a line stand out n make it a moment. Especially rappers tht use witty wordplay like Wayne or 2 Chainz and Kanye. Made everything feel bigger. I hate minimalism. Bring back the bigness and brightness.

[@milosummers2779]

you asked what i thought of when i thought beat drop and what i thought was NOT what played next😭

[@milosummers2779]

gimme a donk beat drop any day of the week xxxxxxx

[@natangweiitula]

Ruff 😂😂😂😂

[@Peskycide]

Okay, but is a day in the life's final piano chord the first anti-drop?

[@adam346]

1:11 speak for yourself, I still listen to plenty of metal that do both beat-drops (sort of) and so many, many, many break-downs... it's a bit ridiculous and they are almost a meme in metal these days but they are just part of the floor-work and a good way to inject both a different style and break up a song into different parts without using a-typical writing.

[@DoraEmon-gu1te]

That is reason i move to kpop right now

[@derraumdeuter3671]

Is alfo a MMA fan by any chance?

[@kkoakey]

just beacause a song does not have a drop does not mean its called anti-drop ...please!!!

[@drendelous]

could not care less about k-pop

[@MarmaladeMagnolia]

Was this video got transported from 2019 or something? Cuz as far as I know this anti-beat drop trend seems to only popular during the late 2010s, in this decade so far the songs are usually either don’t have a beat drop buildup or have one plus with an actual beat drop