The Return of Pop Punk: how an old genre is coming back with new voices

The resurgence of pop punk has brought new fans to the genre and opened the doors for Black artists

By Dónal O, Gannon

Photo provided by Hobivas Sudoneghm

Pop punk is reaching popularity it has not seen in years, and new artists are challenging the conceptions on what, or who can be pop punk. Pop punk was a mainstay in the early 2000’s. Groups like Blink-182, Sum 41 and Panic! At the Disco were massive commercial successes in the mainstream and saw wide radio play. Movies like American Pie and shows like the OC and One Tree Hill featured pop punk in their soundtracks. Defined by distorted guitars and lyrics about young love, angst and partying, pop punk had a reputation as the soundtrack of the dissatisfied suburban youth.

But in looking at the biggest bands of the pop punk boom, the genre was overwhelmingly white, and male. During the early 2000’s when pop punk was at the height of its popularity and cultural influence, most bands looked fairly similar. Outside of a few exceptions (Dave Baksh of Sum 41 is of Indo-Guyanese heritage, and Longineu Parsons of Yellowcard identifies as African American), pop punk bands were mostly made up of white men.

Connecticut based pop punk band Always Grounded

Anthony Dailey, drummer for the band Always Grounded has seen the scene change from when he was growing up to where it is today. Growing up a fan of pop punk and playing in pop punk and rock bands for 8 years, Dailey has been there firsthand to see the change in the scene. As a Black artist in the scene Dailey felt like he did not “look the part” and was not always accepted by the pop punk scene.

“I didn’t feel welcome, like I wasn’t a real fan and couldn’t relate. I felt like I wasn’t a belonged fit or part of the scene, “said Dailey. In the heyday of pop punk, nearly every major band was 3-4 white guys, and People of Color were not seen in band lineups or at concerts.

“When I was younger, I went to Warped Tour every year with my friend Patrick, it didn’t feel to me there were a lot of other people who looked like me,” Dailey said, “definitely on stage it was a very white crowd.”

Vans Warped Tour was a traveling music festival from 1995 to 2019 and heavily featured pop punk, rock, and emo music.

“I think there’s been a big shift,” Dailey said, “There’s a lot more diversity in the scene now. I think just in general as a society or online, we changed and are more accepting. We have a little more awareness for people of different backgrounds.”

Now new acts and singers are carving new space in the genre for more diversity.

“It's easier now for me to be like ‘yea I like this style of music and make this style of music’. I think it is still a very white dominated genre, it is however when I see people like Willow. There’s an acceptance to it I don’t think there was before,” Dailey said, “You couldn’t have had that ten years ago.”

Last year, black singer-songwriter Willow Smith released the album Lately I Feel Everything, with a heavy pop punk sound as well as featuring past staples of the genre Avril Lavine and Bllink-182 drummer Travis Barker. In 2022, Machine Gun Kelly’s song Emo Girl featuring Willow, putting her at the forefront of the changing face of pop punk. Emo Girl spent two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Pop punk fell off in popularity in the early 2010’s, as R&B and hip hop grew to dominate the charts, but is now experiencing a resurgence in the mainstream. Daily said the scene is not at as homogenous as it once was.

“Especially with the fact there is influence from stuff like emo rap, that whole scene has sort of blended in which is a very diverse scene,” said Dailey, “Other subcultures that are more diverse have talked about their inspiration from pop punk and its all starting to melt together and there no longer is that dividing line.”

The emo rap scene and pop punk share many of its same themes, and with the success of black artists like Juice WRLD, as well as the two genres have shared fans and artists. Other black artists have shown appreciation for the genre. Rapper Lil Uzi Vert has cited Paramore’s lead singer Hailey Williams as a major musical influence. After his death in 2017, Lil Peep posthumously released the song I’ve Been Waiting with Fallout Boy, showing the shared DNA of the two genres.

Even outside the genre, many mainstream artists have released music in the past few years with the classic pop punk sound. Pop artist Olivia Rodrigo’s song Good 4 u hit number one on the singles charts in 23 countries, and has an undeniable origins in pop punk with the guitar heavy chorus. Rodrigo is a bi-racial Philipino-American who recently picked up multiple Grammy awards, including for best new artist

Machine Gun Kelly, previously mostly known as a rapper, has transitioned to pop punk and has brought a new wave of the sound to the mainstream. Albums like Tickets to my Downfall and the single I Think I’m OKAY brought new attention to the genre and brought in features from black artists from the rap scene with Trippie Red and Iann Dior.

Other New bands such the Orlando based group Magnolia Park have been making waves in the scene, with one of the few pop punk bands led fronted by a Black singer. While pop punk has gotten more diverse, POC bands have faced pushback from some for “not belonging in the genre.”

“I think if you’re still worrying about the color of a person doing a thing you’ve already lost,” Anthony Brown said. Brown has been in the pop punk scene for most of his life and plays guitar in the New Jersey based band Today Is.

“Records labels are seeing a pattern of ‘oh, our generation of people like this style of music are now older and have our own money and can pay for it. I think a lot of people like me listened to this style of music, loved it, and wanted to play it themselves,” Brown said.

Punk as an umbrella genre has always been considered predominantly white, but black artists have been on the ground in the movement since the very beginning.

Preston “Chip” Morris was a guitarist in the band Pure Hell, considered by some to be Americas first black punk band in the 1970’s and 80’s. Cited as an influence for later bands like Bad Brains, Pure Hell was on the forefront of the burgeoning genre.

Chip said he was influenced by bands like the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Led Zeppelin. The later manager of Pure Hell Curtis Knight played with Jimi in 1965. “[Jimi] was a big influence cause I was a kid when I would solo. And then in ‘77 we get Curtis Knight as our manager isn’t that wild?” Morris said.

Before punk even had a name, Chip and his bandmates were playing in New York City opening for Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols.

“It just happened that way, we didn’t go there ‘oh we’re a punk band and this and that’ there wasn’t even punk,” said Morris.

Chip described those early days, “There were a few Black people in the audience, nothing like it is now after all this time has passed.”

Bands like Pure Hell, Bad Brains, and Suicidal Tendencies showed that despite its reputation, punk is a genre that can be played and enjoyed by anyone.

In New York, Pure Hell was hanging out with bands that were on the forefront of punk, like the New York Dolls. “They were one of the top bands in New York and they helped us out,” said Morris.

Pure Hell would eventually go on to play in London and release one album Noise Addiction that would go unreleased for over 20 years, eventually being put out in 2006.

Chip is still performing in his native Philadelphia.

People of color have been in alternative music scenes since the beginning, but are now beginning to see greater attention and respect in the scene.

Last year Magnolia Park signed to Epitaph Records, the same label as pop punk heavyweights Green Day and the Offspring. In 2020 another Black pop punk band, Meet Me @ The Altar was signed to Fueled by Ramen, who also produce mainstays of the genre Paramore and Panic! At the Disco.

The resurgence of pop punk in the mainstream has brought a new generation of fans to the genre, and expanding the space for new voices.

“One thing that’s been weighing on my mind a lot, I think we need to be accepting of anything new coming out. I worry about what this new great revival that’s happening any type of gatekeeping stopping it from growing. We need to give new music like this a chance to grow,” Dailey said.

Pop punk is changing, and its future is one that is more inclusive and diverse than the past.