Change of rhythm on today hits

[Dagge]

Interesting change has happened on the rhythm base of many popular or even hit songs of today. Out of first ten songs on Today Hits on Apple Music chart (as of Dec 25 2020), eight of them have the same syncopated rhythm. https://music.apple.com/mx/playlist/todays-hits/pl.f4d106fed2bd41149aaacabb233eb5eb?l=en

I find it amusing because my roots are from the CEE EU region where eastern and western culture mix and such rhythms are something in everyday use, even considered boring and lame. Music has really become international by influence, while structure remained largely intact. It is reasonable to expect that mainstream popular music will acquire distinctive music styles from other parts of the world.

This song could be an example, indeed raw and not a very sophisticated one (some even call it trash), but an example of those culture mix music trends that may inspire composers to use specific regional sonic solutions and mix them with pure western style songs. The number of views far exceeds the population in the SEE region. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUz9OBIuFrs

[bugmenot]

True folk music has irregular compound time.

Balkan music is Greek. Gypsy brought it from Balkans to Spain, Spaniards took it to South America. Everything was born in Greece.

How do you describe Western European music, not in terms of charted hits?

[Dagge]

True folk music has irregular compound time.

Balkan music is Greek. Gypsy brought it from Balkans to Spain, Spaniards took it to South America. Everything was born in Greece.

How do you describe Western European music, not in terms of charted hits?

You are right about Balkans. European music is melodic, less 'rough' compared to the US R&B, more naive in tonality. That doesn't mean it is better, just different. Modern Talking, Boney M, Sandra Cretu, Max's things, ABBA, italodisco, Stock Aitken Waterman. No wonder BSB got big first in the Europe. One Danish producer said we cannot make american rap and R&B music because we don't live that life. Denniz Pop has changed that a bit, but not much. Germany alone is famous for loving very melodic tunes, although they have rap music on their charts because of programming. But that kind of the music is not natural for the EU taste in general, yet there is not much choice than to import from the US culture.

[j.fco.morales]

Like Max said himself, it was his approach to R&B.

Softer, poppier, more melodic. Different processing.