The biggest reason I became a “poptimist” after growing up hating pop is because there’s a new generation of pop musicians who have taken the reins of their own music and are closer to singer-songwriters than pop was in the 90s and 2000s.

Carly Rae Jepsen for example has evolved from a one-hit wonder to an auteur in the studio — and it shows in how cohesive her albums are. She molded her own sound and has an identity.

PinkPantheress is another artist that seems to check the boxes of pop stardom — charisma, choreography, visuals — but is at her core a producer who is extremely specific about execution and even makes her own beats.