Why Do Pop Singers Have An Accent?

I have some theories about the reasons why pop singers pronounce words so strangely. Lemme tell you 'bout them!
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Thanks!

[@Megan98]

welcome to my kitchein we have bananeys and avocadois

[@tuahabadar]

I know this from the vine :D

[@shubh5614]

"I got that reference :DD"

[@nopenope273]

ævøcçædôs

[@irstalina]

hahahha

[@carmenismyname]

Lmao 😂

[@johnstrong3029]

That strange-vowel singing style drives me bonkers, and thanks for addressing the issue. It sounds like a bad impression of a female toddler, or, perhaps, a talking goose. There are probably thousands of indie bands that have that vocal style.

[@traceylamplugh7727]

And it's getting boring!

[@greekphreak]

It sounds like a TODDLER. THANK YOU!

[@henn863]

I think we have Colin Meloy to thank for that.

[@carolincas]

and i hate all for them for not being themselves.

[@strawberryfieldswhenever]

@@traceylamplugh7727 It's _always_ been boring.

[@PotterMarauder]

This is one of my biggest pet peeves, but when I point it out, people never know what I’m talking about. Like how can you not notice, literally EVERY artist is doing it.

[@ntomky]

Same!

[@vickynguyen6466]

If they're young, they don't notice it, because it's normal to them. They don't know anything else. Every aspiring teenage singer also just sings like this because they're (without really consciously knowing it) imitating their favorite singers. It's wild to me lmao.

[@danieljakubovic2294]

Like George Carlin said - I don’t have pet peeves I have major psychotic hatreds !

[@melissadembowski6159]

Same here. And I can't sing much so I can't really copy it. All the classic rock and pop artists I listen to don't do it-it's like a thing that became big in the 90's and on...maybe it's to do with the advent of autotune?

[@arcpuffin]

Thank you! YES! And I’m sorry but they are FORCING themselves to sound that way

[@mikelopez6928]

for a while i thought i was the only one who noticed. i literally searched for this.

[@irstalina]

Mike Lopez hahah same here

[@juliel1787]

Mike Lopez me too!! Drives me crazy

[@tressinar]

Annnnnd me too

[@jameskerr3257]

Me too! Ha!

[@sarahmorice-brubaker7652]

Same!

[@JensLarsen]

Because they are all secretly Danish? 🙂

[@oselini]

They sound russians to me :-)

[@stefan1024]

Obviously Canadian!

[@AlexanderLJensen]

så sandt!

[@metallsnubben]

Kamelåså!

[@Kane2044Gameing]

Cue soviet national anthem..

[@isetmfriendsofire]

Halsey's voice drives me CRAZY. And her version of this cadence is probably the most exaggerated that I've heard.

[@BSPT12]

Yesssss.

[@bradfield2266]

Yes! 100%. Awful. Halsey, you are awful.

[@funniestvids2day196]

Shes awful lol

[@frooties3359]

Halsey and Grace Vanderwhal. God I hate them lmao.

[@nik1128]

I've never hated a person until halsey opened her mouth

[@jasonh9335]

So I’m not the only one who is bothered by Shawn Mendes saying “touich ”

[@mansie.]

Actually, even I thought I was the only one.

[@KJ-oq3xr]

I can't stand Lewis Capaldi's sound too

[@Levi_The_One_The_Only]

Tbh I can't hear anything weird at all I think I'm so desensitized to this type of singing already... And I come from a classical singing background! I can't sing pop for the life of me lmao but classical hell ye

[@ultbias9484]

Omg same 😂😂

[@MikeyAfterDark]

imagine listening to Genaye-sis " Invisible Touich" NOW!

[@AdamThorton]

It irritates me. It's homogeneous. Almost every time an old song appears in a commercial now, it's a cover with this horrible thing going on. I'm SICK OF IT!

[@louisalee8205]

and movie trailers!!!

[@andychips]

I think they think it’s supposed to sound ‘edgy’, but if they’re covering someone else’s song it just comes across as disrespectful. It’s like they think the original artist didn’t do a good enough job.

[@astridvvv9662]

Oh my fucking GOD. This is literally the first I've seen this mentioned outside of my own head. They're the fucking WORST. SO CLICHE.

[@AdamThorton]

@@astridvvv9662 Just heard a bastardized version or Sweet Dreams in some trailer. Euch.....

[@yugster78]

There is a version of Guns n Roses-Sweet child o mine that been going on the rounds in TV add here in the uk done like this, it sounds pure shite!

[@datcat1981]

OMG YOU SOUNDED *EXACTLY* LIKE LORDE WHEN YOU SANG 'BIRDS FLYING HIGH' AT THE END. *EXACTLY*. THAT PROVES YOUR POINT EVEN MORE

[@CallmeXtina80]

but I mean, that makes sense because she's from New Zealand

[@datcat1981]

How does that make any more sense?

[@CallmeXtina80]

well she actually has an accent and she sounds weird in speaking voice too

[@AimeeNolte]

AND she can read. 🙃

[@noodoo19]

Lorde took this ridiculous mal-pronunciation thing to a whole nuthah levah. The floodgates opened and it started raining nails on chalkboards.

[@mr.yellowstrat3352]

Thank God somebody is pointing this out. I think the industry promotes it because they think it has a certain "sex appeal". It drives me crazy when they sing like that and instantly drains any attraction I had to the beginning of the song. I'm 25 so I'm not "too old to understand", I'm just too old too listen to garbage.

[@manoah007]

same for me. like the new Little Mix song is spoiled by their weird enunciation not even 10 seconds into the song.

[@marfaxa]

I am also very mature.

[@js0683]

ikr i hate it and i'm not that old

[@ace-smith]

@@marfaxa I'm very, so, so mature for my age. I sure do hate this new music! Adults, do you welcome me yet?

[@traceylamplugh7727]

Ther is no emotion in the voice!!!!!

[@suburbanindie]

Reminds of me the Vine video - "WELCOME TO MAI KEECHIN, WE HAYAVE BANAINEES, AND AVOCAUHDI"

[@22hr.traffic]

Bænænæs ænd ævæcædæs

[@churchgirlsarv7294]

“GOOD=GUOID” THE THUMBNAIL KILLED ME-

[@skripnigor]

Advanced pop singers come with built-in pronunciational plugins.

[@Jacksilver2]

Yeah, the "Winhouser 2.0"

[@russwilson2305]

Shmuel, Jakob -Ha! Waves AutoBjork

[@4ngellvc874]

Ariana lol

[@ericrankin4165]

lmfao

[@EclesysGalaxy]

i'm screaming AHHHHHHHHHHHHH LMAO Autobjork

[@raghavrao5221]

That's some goiuoiiood research

[@011mph]

Raghav Rao 😂

[@ciaindeed8657]

Constipated Kermit sounded exactly like Shakira.

[@tongatiger]

When I hear them do this "hip sing" I automatically write them off because they're jumping on this ridiculous bandwagon with this accent they don't speak and never did. It's pretentious and has gotten boring and repetitive. It's so played out now. I find it cringy. That's my opinion. Doesn't mean I'm right but it's right for me. It's so bad I had to seek support! That's why I'm here for those who have to know why people are here. And for the record, I'm here in 2019.

[@carolincas]

totally agree.

[@tongatiger]

@Tracey Lamplugh EwwwwWWWW!!!

[@LaylahniJade]

Too me it just sounds like the sung equivalent of "pouty-baby-talk".

[@carlpowell0]

i agree, its annoying

[@bitwize]

Britney Spears built a whole career around singing in a sexy baby voice.

[@TallicaMan1986]

bitwize no her producers did. They said she had the ideal pop voice. It eventually ruined her singing voice as she got older.

[@bandit7319]

That's exactly it! I hate it.

[@axiomist1076]

Thats it! you got it. I think its adora ble and it makes me wanna cuddle with her. Shes so gooid!

[@fromchomleystreet]

As an Australian, and a singer myself, I can assure that this weird affectation is certainly NOT an Australian accent. Even the two Australasian singers you include in your montage of people doing the weird voice (Lorde and Sia) have not a trace of their natural speaking accent (New Zealand and Australian, respectively) in their singing performances. The affected accent all these singers are adopting is still an intrinsically American accent, even though it includes some very odd vowel sounds that belong to no region of the USA, or indeed of anywhere else in the world. This is such a bizarre phenomenon. I wonder if they are even consciously aware of it. It’s quite possible they’re not, in the same way non-American singers are usually not consciously aware of “Americanising” their vowels. It’s just become part of the style of music that they’re singing. The thing that’s so weird about this new fad is that, as far as I can tell, it doesn’t mimic any actual accent that’s spoken in the world.

[@Aids45]

I actually reckon Sarah Blasko is one of the first to widely use this technique, I remember hearing "Don't u eva" and thinking how interesting her voice sounded

[@fromchomleystreet]

@Liz Muschinski the “world” thing you identify is the lack of what linguists call the rhotic “R”. We don’t specifically pronounce the “r” in a word if it either ends a word (eg “car”) or is followed by a consonant (eg “bird”), but always pronounce it if it is followed by a vowel, even if that vowel is the start of the next word (eg we DO pronounce the “r” in “car” in the phrase “car and truck” and will often, paradoxically, insert an “r” where there is none if one word ends in a vowel and is followed by a word that begins with a vowel, eg pronouncing “Law and Order” as “Laura Nawda”). It’s not unique to Australian accents. Among native English speakers, we share our non-rhoticness with the South East of Britain, New Zealand, South Africa, old-timey Bostonian (“pahk the cah in the Hahv’d yahd”) and New York accents, and some southern US accents. Standard American shares its rhotic “R” with Canadian, Irish, Scottish and West Country UK accents, among others. Interestingly, they think ALL English accents were rhotic until the 18th century, when some in and around London began dropping their “R”s as a sort of affectation that caught on. America had already been settled, which explains why Canada and most of the US missed out on the shift (with the exception of Eastern-most colonies that continued to be most influenced by continued contact with Britain), while Australia and NZ were settled after the shift had already occurred.

[@fromchomleystreet]

@Liz Muschinski Well, it’s all relative. There’s no “right” or “neutral” way of speaking English. What’s your accent?

[@paulw6057]

@@fromchomleystreet I wish the person you are replying to didn't delete their comments so I could understand the context of what you are saying; suffice to say that I bet a lot of Americans, and even some Australians, do not realise that most of us don't pronounce words like 'don't' (for instance) as 'doiyn't and 'no' like 'noiy' . Perhaps ironically, you hear those kinds of vowel sounds in certain American accents such as those used by cliche gangsters in old movies. Words such as 'early' pronounced as 'oily' and and 'bird' as 'boiyd'. It's just that some Australians have adapted it for different words, because its a more natural derivation for an Australian voice to make. Also, the only reason we would say 'Laura Nawda(norda)' for 'law and order' is because we are being lazy and are dropping the 'a' and 'd' on the word 'and'. Try saying 'Law norda' with most English accents, there is a break which would make the contraction pointless. Some Gaulic/Welsh English or colonial American accents might say 'Law'norda', at a stretch.

[@glennkelly4058]

It's a plague worse than prickly pear and lantenna.

[@peterjohnstoltzman]

Aimee, seriously, thank you so much. My skin has been crawling this morning listening to modern stuff my teenager is listening to. But I’m trying so hard not to be a dick about it, and I really appreciate your level-headed analysis here. You’re such a great youtuber-this video is fantastic.

[@Julia29853]

It just sounds so obnoxiously whiny to me. Like they are crying, whining and breathlessly whispering while wandering, slightly off pitch, all over the melody. Sounds like fingernails on a blackboard to me. 😝

[@fermisurface2616]

Be a dick about it. Don't let your kid be a poser.

[@FIREENGINE3]

@@Julia29853perfect description

[@mansie.]

Halsey has her way of doing the "unnecessary vowel sound" with each word in EVERY song. My brain can't process it neither ignore it and certainly can NOT cope with it. So I stopped listening to her and many other artists. It's not my thing. I don't think "comfort" comes with age maybe one day you just know why it doesn't make you feel comfortable while listening. I'm not 25 yet but I know this is what I don't like. When I was a teen, I always wondered why "uis", "gouid", "touich" !? After watching this video I understand why.. thank you for putting this forth, much appreciated!

[@mattd7650]

To me it sounds like the "rich girl" speaking voice. Adding in all the vocal fry valley girl stuff. I am not bashing it, just commenting on where I hear it the most.

[@riverAmazonNZ]

Matt Durrah I think it’s also a generational thing. Girls my age (35) tend to have a clearer tone of voice than younger ones who tend to add vocal fry. Unless the older ones are trying to fit in with a young crowd, in which case they’ll add vocal fry as a choice. It’s painful to listen to.

[@kalisticmodiani2613]

River Amazon, people have been complaining about vocal fry for ever. You're just probably too young to remember. And they are mostly wrong. There's no wrong or right accent, accents just "are". Also you don't usually complain when men vocal fry which is pretty frequent too.

[@bbbbrrrzzt5166]

Already tried by Frank (and Moon) Zappa in ‘Valley Girl’, referring to the accent of the San Fernando Valley girls. Doesn’t really sound anything like this, though.

[@Sam-gy3ok]

Yeah seconded, but a rich white accent trying to sound black american

[@BschoneB]

Can’t wait for that singing trend to pass. I can generally avoid that music by not listening to it, but when I’m watching a trailer for an intense movie then suddenly, a crappy “serious” cover of a song comes on where a person is singing in that goofy modern style, it totally removes me from the immersion I had into that trailer.

[@qewdascz1839]

No what is weird in music when people pronounce the word “I” as “Oi” like,, no????

[@qewdascz1839]

Oh and what Halsey did in that example 😬 why did she go “emptyiNASS”

[@aspergerart4635]

I pronounce "I" as "Ah" a lot of times, "do" as "deeuh"/"too", can't pronounce "squirrel" (I sound like "es-quee-ah" or "sskueel" 🤣) I separate to much the words to make each sound clear, and I've been told I tend to click the "T" too much at the end of words (you would hear me saying "the exiT linghT isn'T whorkin' prropehr-lly" for example 😋 worst part is I can barely spot my own accent (or almost any accent) so ...yeah, I have a weird way to speak English 🤣🙈

[@netpunk5890]

UP THE PUNX OI OI OI

[@whitefawn4196]

Oi won’t loi (lie) to you

[@juliel1787]

I’ve been asking this question for so long and nobody seemed to know what I meant!!! Now I don’t feel so crazy. I hope you’re right about this accent thing passing. I can’t even listen to the freakin radio anymore. Thanks for the video👍

[@AimeeNolte]

🙌🏼🙌🏼thanks for watching

[@lauralmendes]

Ditto!!!

[@mikedevenney7986]

I found this video two years after you left your comment when some song drove me crazy enough to spend half my workday searching for an answer. Sadly, it is taking it's time getting out of here (or is it he-uh, I dunno anymore. Stupid dipthongs) THANK YOU AMY!

[@nguzoloveinlofi3832]

Shakira has beeeeeen doing constipated Kermit the frog. I think the modern pop accent is a suburban accent mixed with auto tune (I'm writing this before I watched the whole video).

[@AimeeNolte]

Lolol

[@nguzoloveinlofi3832]

Aimee Nolte Music And I'll add one more thing- I don't think Amy Winehouse is the source, I think it's Avril Laviegne.

[@AimeeNolte]

Might be!!

[@JulioLeonFandinho]

Shakira is from Colombia so, she's got an excuse xq

[@seheyt]

I'm with you on the autotune thing

[@organicio]

I searched for this after listening to Dua Lipa say "Break my Heaaaauuuyyyyt"

[@PumpkinMozie]

I'm so glad someone pointed this out....I have been trying to complain to my friends about how annoying pop singers' pronunciations are for years and people always say that they can't hear it!! So frustrating

[@ConsciousExpression]

Whoever can't hear it needs their 'earing checked.

[@FIREENGINE3]

They’re sheep 🐑

[@alexandriaramos9042]

Ugh thank you so much for this. I thought I was the only one who was bothered by this. I hate that it’s being normalized.

[@BSPT12]

Yesss. They all sound the same now. It's boring and doesn't take much talent. Autotune + strange pronunciation.

[@barccat]

I loved Amy, now I love Alexandria. : )

[@SuneHesselbjerg]

Im actually surpriced alle the "Me"'s turning into "Mæh" wasn't mentioned :O

[@AimeeNolte]

Would have been another five mins! 😂 Rufus Wainwright prime example of that

[@knorenknor3493]

Sune Hesselbjerg guys.. thats what you have to do when you sing in overdrive.. my vocal coach tells me that all the time.. that’s a technique.. what even is this I

[@corinacook7852]

Love the Ruference! I actually consider the James Heffield “me” to go somewhat mehhhehhll

[@allrequiredfields]

"It's gonna be may" -Justin Timberlake

[@shryggur]

Yes, it's somewhat normal in singing to make your vowels more open. So all ee's become eh's or ay's, oh's come closer to ah's and sometimes ooh's become ow's. Listen to classical singing, some opera, sometimes it seems to be just one long ooooaaaaaaoooaaeaeaeae :')

[@jesdadotcom]

This has been driving me insane for years. Thank you for researching it!

[@CrayCristy]

Hey Aimee! I'm not sure if you'll ever see this, but I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am for your video. I was working on an informational-type-video on what people call "cursive singing" nowadays, and I was having a difficult time finding trustworthy sources on such a "pop" & WOM type of subject. Your video gave me so much insight on where this type of singing comes from and really gave my video an extra edge. I made sure to credit you in my latest video I titled as "The Truth of Cursive Singing" as one of my sources and inspiration during my research. Thanks for everything that you do!

[@AimeeNolte]

Thanks so much! I will check it out! Yeah, my kids told me about a year ago that this type of thing is called cursive now. I’m glad it’s got a name. :-)

[@jenmarks]

I really can't wait until this trend fades out forever. It truly hurts my ears and tightens my chest to hear or even think of it.

[@Lovebug3003]

Jen Marks ‘tightens my chest’ that’s exactly what I experience too. Physical cringe

[@noomithenymphasmr3937]

Me three!

[@FIREENGINE3]

@@Lovebug3003yes!

[@RoyMaya]

I don't have a problem with weird pronunciations as long as it works for the song. That example of Britney Spears is a great example - she knows what she's selling and she does a great job at it. We must remember that music is just an illusion. Great songwriters and performers know how to make you believe the magic trick. ;)

[@ShellShock794]

Roy Maya Exactly. Music is art and there should never be strict guidelines for it. However, that being said, there's still a line to cross between artistic and negligent/ignorant

[@Racerhfx]

Roy Maya i

[@dlariby]

I disagree slightly. Michael Jackson knew how to twist things and excel. Much modern music goes overboard in mispronunciation and too often lacks real talent. Overall, popular music has simply gone downhill over time.

[@bradfield2266]

Sorry, but this is one magic trick I’m NOT falling for. Britney Spears’ “bae-beh bae-beh” is one thing, but the Lorde/Halsey/Shawn Mendes nonsense is preposterous in a grating, ignorant copycat way. It doesn’t make sense because none of them are selling an attitude, they’re just copying each other’s ridiculous mispronunciation.

[@eric.marjan]

The Amy Winehouse thing seems legit -- I think it's got to be something that people unconsciously associate with sounding "sexy" or exotic, perhaps just British. Also kind of "valley girl" vocal fry, which is a bit more universal in American teen culture.

[@Janeflame5]

I wanted to end it all when I heard: "I-eee won't lie-eee to you I know he's juh-eeest not right for you." "Juh-eeest"? Seriously?! This is what makes me wanna smash my phone! I literally hold my breath at that part cause the cringe is so real. Thank you for understanding my pain.

[@dlariby]

I feel your pain. Last year when you got a paper cut and poured cactus juice on it, then rubbed it over a burner, I felt that too. JK, I like your comments actually.

[@allrequiredfields]

Seriously though, I want to stop them mid-sentence and ask them if they're okay. Like 'honey, do you need a doctor? Are you having a stroke? Did you just hit your head?'

[@cmja09]

Ultra cringe

[@mykemorales]

Tom DeLonge - "You're already the voice inside my YEAD"

[@524coconut]

Lol where r yaoh, and eim so soohry

[@mogmason6920]

Doin’t woist yoir toime oin me

[@UtauReni]

THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! "guoid" and "touich" and such have been driving me crazy for yeeeears. i get that others like it, but it's really not my cup of tea unfortunately :/

[@quwandathornton]

Lauren it makes me cringe and slightly angry lol

[@EddieMachetti]

I’m so so so happy I’m not the only one that’s been hearing this over the years. It makes me so incredibly uncomfortable.

[@LimeGreenTeknii]

9:32 I guess you could say people over 30 are just out of toich

[@mchobbit2951]

I'm not 30 yet and I hate that dumb new pop singer pronunciation...

[@elsongs]

You laugh now...until you yourself become over 30. :P

[@JimGroome]

No... It's the children who are wrong

[@jemiller226]

All of you missed Lime's joke. :(

[@oinkcalhoun]

All of the people in this reply missed the joke.

[@bobrose4614]

I know I'm late to the party on this but I think that the modern origin of this isn't Amy Winehouse, but Alanis Morissette. If you listen to her hits from the 90's (pre everyone you mentioned) you can hear these distinct vowel changes. I think it was mostly because of her Canadian accent. Let me know what you guys think?

[@floraline7153]

A bit, but I think her style was a put-on more than anything. Listen to her earlier pop music and you might agree. That said, the good news is Morrissette sounds and sounded nothing like, say, Lana Del Rey or Selena Gomez or Regina Spektor. They and countless others all sound alike.

[@koolstup]

Agreed, and Tori Amos

[@olatundehoward4095]

Alanis and Bjork.

[@davidpanzer1166]

Agree on Morrisette

[@gypsieladie]

Finally found my people. Lol Everybody says I'm crazy when I bring this up.

[@jonashamre9738]

Top notch Aimee, this should be a TED talk (and I mean that in a guid way ;) )

[@varumora]

This is a nightmare for people trying to learn English xD

[@TheZenytram]

that why i don't use music to learn english, or else i will just learn how to sing in english.

[@varumora]

Tristan what I meant is that people who lives in other countries (Spain in my case) the only English we're exposed to is on TV and music. And we take for good a lot of things that are actually wrong. For example in my case I just recently understood that writing "I'm gonna love you" is wrong. And there's a lot more of that in pronunciation, which is (in my opinion) the most difficult part of learning English.

[@schwammi]

Tristan I know nobody that doesn't lol

[@ThisJustin_87]

Tristan I picked up alot of Korean listening to kpop. Of course I can't fluently speak any of it so from that point youre right.

[@pokemaster12131]

Now that I think about it, music is really repetitive and easy to remember, so, besides the weird pronunciation, it should still make learning a language a bit easier...

[@AbaddonAlmighty]

There's also the weird, lazy "R" noise that so many singers have been doing for the past few years.

[@floraline7153]

Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Norah Jones, Florence, Halsey, Regina Spektor, etc., etc., etc., etc. It's overflowed onto children, local musicians both in original and cover bands, and everyone auditioning on TV shows, including country singers. I fear it will never go away so I cling to completely indie music, certain unique artists like Tame Impala, or just music from the past.

[@dennisantle5905]

I know the R sound you speak of. I started hearing it first with John Legend years ago. Shortly after I started hearing it more frequently. The thing is....it sounds natural and cool in John Legends voice and you can hear it in his voice when he speaks during interviews. For all those who copy the sound, it sounds like they're trying to be someone they're not. I'll never understand how this music sells...teenagers and kids i guess🤷‍♂️

[@dennisantle5905]

When John Legend sings the word "her" for example it subtly sounds like "hurl". There's a weird R+L combination with every R. Like i said though for some reason it sounds cool when John Legend does it. When some of these mainstream and indy artists do it they sound like a mentally challenged walrus/seal.

[@AbaddonAlmighty]

@@dennisantle5905 😄

[@AbaddonAlmighty]

@Nope Nope 😄 Fitting.

[@sapphirus777]

Watching this a year later. It's still here. Please make it STOIIIIP

[@cylcyls]

I jest wanna lewk goid for yo goid for yo oh oh

[@anthonydemitre9392]

Others that played with word sounds, Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell, David Sylvian, Sade, Bjork, and the secretly Danish lol

[@roido6614]

Thank you Aimee for showing this to the world. As a musician, and have good ears, this type of singing is so repetitive and irritating. As soon as they open their mouths, my face just scrunches' up. Too many copy and paste singers, not unique at all. I wish these singers would just use their normal voices. This is why I go back to listening to old school and other Artists.

[@kevinhenderson2625]

I found this video when I was listening to Lorde and asked myself, "why does she make her words sound so weird?"

[@tannenottup5036]

I'm only 18 and I can't stand these weird vouica'als. You've explained why I can't stand listening to Shawn Mendes and Selena Gomez. Thank youiou!

[@lilylowsky]

tan nenottup good for you! 🙌🏻

[@cmja09]

Vouicaieels

[@gulps5007]

no you can’t stand them because you’re jealous of them. admit it

[@omelasbaby]

that unpleasant "er" sound must be why a lot of people hate Country 6:40

[@hamflavoredlipbalm6077]

Dew yew remembuhrrr the twenny furst naiyt uh septembuhrrr

[@EddieMachetti]

You just blew my fuckin mind

[@Timliu92]

Hahahahah you hear that in post-grunge singing as well. Wrrrth errrms wrrrde opawwwn

[@meredithwilliams4671]

@Mr.ManMakesLotsOfCan Tyler Childers, Cody Jinks, Sturgill Simpson, and Colter Wall would disagree ;)

[@meredithwilliams4671]

@Mr.ManMakesLotsOfCan Yeah, even the indie stuff is a more conservative genre, I'll freely admit it. Conservative as in holding on to traditional themes, not necessarily political. It's cool, I don't bash people for their musical tastes so if those artists arent your cup of tea, no harm done.

[@lisaclaire4679]

Aimee, you’ve just validated my irritable attitude about this singing style. Thanks for giving it a name. Yes, I’m old. I’m not changing.

[@JamesWiltshire]

This has literally drove me crazy for years but everyone I rant to doesn't get it! Thank you for this it's like therapy 😂

[@OFFSIDESwithLSUfreek]

I think you nailed it. It may very well have started with Amy Winehouse's purposely-retro jazzy-bluesy pronunciations and somehow morphed into mindless millennial diphthong roulette.

[@TheKtwStudios]

**Generation Z, or the generation that came after millennials....unless you're including the britney spears example. I clarify because Shawn Mendes and Alessia Cara are arguably the worst offenders of this "weird vocal style" but their music is predominantly popular among teens and tweens, not us Millennials.

[@Violetcas97]

The funny thing is Amy's pronunciation also came from her very thick british accent, as well as she tried to mask it behind that jazzy "Supremes" type speech

[@pinktourmaline4930]

@@TheKtwStudios Throw in Halsey as well

[@gzeuskraiste]

Mindless Millennial Dipthong Roulette, new band name, I called it

[@ace-smith]

@@SeanPeckham-xe2gt Everything I like is genius and everything that came after that is stupid and bad, of course.

[@rachelsmename6]

Have you ever noticed how "Red Hot Chili Peppers" uses an L at the beginning of some words. For example, "Li (long i) = I. So they may say "Li don't know" which is "I don't know".

[@AimeeNolte]

Oh yeah totally!

[@douglaschambers3765]

Aimee knocked this video out of the park! Such a great lesson on vocal styling. Well done!!!

[@ProximaCentauri88]

After 2 years, this over-affectation just won Grammy's with Billie Eilish, the so-called "big change" in pop.

[@Jackhammer69able]

I’m sure Billie Eilish is a great person, but my God… If only she sang as though English was her first language…

[@jvanness90]

I subscribed the minute you brought up Amy winehouse. I’ve been saying that that sound originated from her for a while now. We’re very much on the same page

[@AimeeNolte]

Thanks so much

[@DaveZula]

There are definitely lots of examples of this from before Amy Winehouse. Gavin DeGraw's album Chariot came out several years before Amy's breakout album and these weird pronunciations are all over his stuff. Ashlee Simpson and Avril Lavigne were doing this well before then too. The earliest example I can think of is Blink182's stuff dating back to the 90's.

[@russwilson2305]

They copy Bjork. I was listening to her greatest hits the other day and it struck me... Thats what it is.

[@VictoriaSobocki]

David Paul Very good examples

[@SirRiconious]

Voyce insoyd moy eeeaaaad

[@SquidProQuo80]

Nailed it Russ. Bjork can give the word "line" 11 syllables and she can growl for no reason.

[@silcoxjakob]

David Paul Green Day did it before Blink

[@samwallaceart288]

I’ll just work around the issue by pronouncing “good” as “gucci”. That way nobody panics.

[@catherineburt743]

I loved your description..and the last little demonstration of the young jazz singer.. thank you

[@duffypratt]

I think part of the issue is what happens when auto tune meets a slided note. That perhaps combined with the modern aversion to holding a long, sustained pitch.

[@bradfield2266]

No, this is definitely a choice being made. Not an accident of Autotune.

[@Pretzels722]

🎶Do you belieeeeeeeve in life after love? 🎶

[@kidautism]

You nailed it ! Thank you for putting this information together and sharing your observations.

[@Helenheaven22]

So glad to see more people discussing this! A few years ago, when I first started noticing the trend, I would ask everyone what was going on and they all made me feel like I was hearing things! I finally found an article discussing the Indie-pop vocal trend. I'll be okay when it dies off, too.

[@JW-tw4bp]

thank god someone has finally made a video like this that isnt just bashing modern pop music

[@DocSardo]

No doubt Amy Winehouse influenced a generation of female singers, and the current crop seem to all be imitating either her or Adele. But before her there were singers like Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star and Gwen Stefani of, well, No Doubt (see what I did there?).

[@jemiller226]

Oh man! Hope Sandoval indeed. "Faaaaaaaaaaaayde iiiiiieeeento you...strange you nyeeeeeever knew". To transcribe her singing in IPA would be horrifically difficult.

[@jemiller226]

I should add, though, that I wouldn't change the way that Hope sang that for the world.

[@carlkolthoff5402]

Yeah, Tori Amos have done this in more or less every song since forever.

[@karashea7823]

Aimee, thank you for confirming this. I’ve noticed it too and I can’t believe just about every new female vocalist sings like this. I’m a singer and I can’t even imitate it! I’m pretty sure I heard this style about 13 or so years ago on a tv ad for some liquor. I thought it was cool as it was unique. I’d hear it again, in ads only, and thought “wow we’re hearing a lot of this singer”. Now every female sing ger has the same voice. Drives me CRAZY!! PS new subscriber. Looking Forward to learning a lot from you

[@TheSecondIDare]

I wish current singers would find and use their own voice, rather than use the same style as everyone else. Its a massive waste of their abilities.

[@Tismitch]

That is the thing though, the vast majority of singers all sound very similar, with a mild American accent regardless of where they are from. I don't understand what the issue is with the divergence from that norm. I welcome it as good diversity.

[@bee-ep9qz]

I love the snark, but more than that I love how you didn't treat the subject snobbishly and actually researched it. I love it! Super interesting

[@landrixi1987]

the all pretend. in their head they are just thinking : "omg i'm just a dork" " im so querky"

[@paulthrussell]

I really really want to hear more Constipated Kermit. Let's make this the new big thing, people.

[@emdawg3]

YASSSS

[@DrumWild]

*_"I SOAR a film today, oh boy..."_*

[@floraline7153]

The British end a vowel sound with an R whenever the next word begins with a vowel. For example, "She was wearing a brar (bra) and I asked where she bought it." Certain northeastern American natives have this same habit.

[@shryggur]

Floraline's right, it's called intrusive R if you want to look it up

[@thinkpad20]

Creed and Pearl Jam certainly didn't have a problem with the "errrrrr" sound...

[@fakiirification]

this video was guoid.

[@FlashmanVC]

The amount of knowledge Aimee has is amazing. Really awesome video.

[@kitkat261]

I'm still hearing this current version, it's so common I can't tell singers apart. I found the term and have already forgotten it.

[@tonydeltablues]

Hi Aimee, I have to agree that the affected way which a lot of 'pop' singers sing is perhaps a troublesome, or at least hard to digest. I'm a 46 year-old male from the UK. I listen to a variety of music from rock, alt rock, pop, jazz, funk lots....I have a 16 year old daughter, who is a fine singer singer/piano/guitar player. When she sings she can adopt an 'affected' or modern phrasing. I am, of course, immensely proud when she sings, which she has at school in front of a large audience. I think you are right in saying that Amy Winehouse has definitely been instrumental in influencing vocalists of the past 10 -15 years. You could argue, however that jazz is the real problem: Winehouse was majorly influenced by the very great jazz female vocalists you've cited (Fitzgerald, Holiday, Vaughan)... Thanks for your videos regards Tony

[@Jaysonjams04]

At 31 years old, I hear these young singers and it sounds to me like 1920’s gangster/flapper kind of “m-yeah see” talk. But instead of extra consonants, they’re putting extra vowels. Ex: “ima gonna rubs hims out”

[@adamgarrett3182]

So glad someone pointed this out. All the singers sound like Phil and Lil from Rugrats. But at the same time, my generation had a bunch of pop acts that sang with an overtly nasally sound. “It’s gonna be MAAAAAY” so I can’t complain.

[@peerlessrecords6236]

you blew my mind. I thought I was the only one recognizing this and you made a whole video about it damn I'm pleased haha 😅

[@tigristhelynx7224]

When you said "touich and uis and gooid" in that way, it reminded me of the valley girl dialect from California. They pronounce words with dipthongs, and with the questioning upswing at the end. When you popped the first video clip in the beginning, I was baffled as to what she had just said and had to hear it a few more times to get it, though that Halsey clip I would still not know if the lyrics weren't on the screen. Matt from Muse is also guilty of this, it's a cocktail of british accent and bending words into a frenzy of morphing sounds, which is beautiful, but I need a lyric sheet. Maybe some of this is the modern version of scat, concentrating heavily on vocalizing the sounds of words to compliment the rhythm, and concentrating less on getting the songs meaning across.

[@ZoyaStreet]

I really like the strong historical argument you make here that there is, essentially, no unaffected way of singing - or at least, that "normal" pronunciation is rarely optimal when singing. I think the new trend of adding extra diphthongs sounds a bit silly but that's not a bad thing necessarily - it's only music, we don't have to take it so seriously all the time. tbh I do enjoy it - it gives me something relatively easy to latch onto when I'm singing along to something so that I feel a bit like I'm embodying that singer's personality.

[@bradfield2266]

Oh my.

[@JoeNormal]

Lol Love love love you!! This was so great to watch. You described exactly what we all feel! Thank you for posting.

[@ByzCSGO]

Your video is informative yet humorous, I love it :D.

[@LeiliMana]

Such an interesting video!! I am actually going to "look" at music in a whole different light now!

[@EdwardFanatic2236]

I'm so happy I see more vocal coaches/musicians talk about this because I've been wondering this for years.

[@Mombatramba]

Great video. I'm excited I found a new channel I like :)

[@hamflavoredlipbalm6077]

My favorite bands enjoy odd unintelligible sounds. Gorillaz with Damon Albarn's British slurring, Red Hot Chili Peppers with their "Kehlifownya," Pearl Jam with Eddie Vedder's baritone, and Nirvana with their... everything.

[@ceephaxx]

Very interesting video, Aimee. I was fully expecting a takedown of the current vocal trend, but you've reminded me that, of course, pop music has a grand tradition of such things. My personal theory is that access to varied cultural sources is the key. KZbin has allowed unprecedented access to a glorious mish-mash of musical styles with minimal "gatekeeping" so naturally things have got a bit weird for a while!

[@seheyt]

Awesome exposition, editing, opinion and banter. I love this one. And I didn't even fully realize how pervasive that thing has become, but I strongly remember it as a new thing with Amy W indeed.

[@NeepNop]

Watched this in silence with subtitles. When you demonstrate the alternate vowel sounds nothing is translated correctly 😂

[@eliza7ioana]

I am over 30 and absolutely love this style 🥺and when you did it at the end YOU NAILED IT♥️!! Thank you for a very informative video, subscribing

[@HedaFalcon]

I love videos like this. Keep up the good work! 👍

[@ronnieblanchet4072]

So awesome Amy. Thank you for all that you do!

[@conradschuman]

This is a great video, I watched some years ago. Then recently saw a performance online and this singing style is still in full swing if not even more. nearly a decade now. 2024 in the house.

[@billyboyinbc]

Thanks for laying it out. I've been scratching my head for a while when I've heard it.

I came here for the pop music critique, but I didn't expect so much phonology. As an aspiring linguist, I'm very happy to have watched this.

[@RustyDobbs]

Nice job, Aimee! Talent manifests itself in so many ways. It's one thing to play, teach, perform and otherwise entertain using the skills you have as a musician. It's quite another to set all that aside and create interesting content with thought, clips and narrative. Hope that side of you continues to elbow its way in for a little more airtime. I know it takes more time and effort but you nailed this one. This was really well done!

[@donrocktheimposter912]

This was a really fun one. I love talking about things like this..

[@TallGreyMan]

It's like there was a tumour in my head. This video feels like I just found a community of people who have tumours in their heads. But this video also gives me the hope of betterment, that one day the tumour WILL BE REMOVED. Aimee, you should be awarded for calling this out.