Pop-ception: Pop Culture References Within Pop Culture

Every period of time, typically quantified through a decade, is defined by pop culture. The 90s feel starkly different from the 80s, even though one seems to blend seamlessly into the other. Yet these two decades are tonally, culturally and consumption-ally distinct from one another, because as humans grow and evolve, our culture reflects those changes–it is shaped through fashion, books, movies, music and, in more recent decades, the internet. The internet serves as a digital archive of pop culture moments, both before and after the internet’s existence starting in the early 90s, which gives artists the ability to pull from a wider variety of inspiration than ever before. Whether it’s obscure old TV shows, paparazzi photos, award show moments, or viral social media videos, today’s artists have access to an overwhelming amount of content at their fingertips. This accessibility, plus the rising nostalgia in today’s pop culture sphere, has influenced many contemporary artists to reference some of the most notable media moments and looks to continue building on the “lore” of these nuggets of pop culture history.

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HAIM’s recent single “Relationships” is the first single the band has released since their feature on the Barbie movie soundtrack in 2023. It’s a catchy track–a perfect springtime lead-in to their highly anticipated album– but what first caught me was the cover art. It looked vaguely familiar: the three HAIM sisters strutting outside in a parking lot, arms stretched out, taking in the sunshine, looking free. I knew this photo. It resembled the celebratory paparazzi photo captured of Nicole Kidman seemingly after her divorce from Tom Cruise was finalized in 2001. It is an iconic photo that is used as a meme often on social media platforms like Instagram, so much so that Kidman tried to set the record straight in an interview with GQ, claiming the photo was taken on a movie set, not after paying a visit to her lawyer. Online sleuths searched to prove Kidman was lying, which shows just how recognizable this piece of media is to the internet. The band has released two other singles, “Everybody’s trying to figure me out” and “Down to be wrong,” which both feature recreations of well known paparazzi photos, creating an exciting and nostalgic buzz leading up to the band’s first album in four years.

Doechii’s viral single, “Anxiety,” samples Gotye and Kimbra’s 2011 inescapable hit, “Somebody That I Used to Know.” It was famed largely due to the music video’s accumulation of over 2 billion views on YouTube, which cemented itself in internet culture infamy. One of the first of its kind, the video was parodied, remixed and memed relentlessly – if you were on the internet during this time, you were bound to come across some sort of content related to this video. It continued to be a polarizing song to listeners since it was everywhere. The concept truly left a stamp on 2010s pop culture.

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But the song’s impact was not left behind in the 2010s. Doechii first put out “Anxiety” on her YouTube channel during COVID-19. She made a music video where she sat on her bed in front of a large tapestry and rapped into her handheld mic - but her video didn’t reach viral status until late 2024-early 2025 on TikTok, when she swept the internet with her unique and captivating style of hip-hop, causing her career to skyrocket. Her fans begged for the song to be released as a single, and she delivered, including an anxiety-filled music video remake, complete with nods to both the original Gotye and Kimbra music video, and her own viral YouTube clip, like a pop culture Inception moment. This double reference she incorporated is incredibly creative and reflective of the early social media culture she grew up in.

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Pop culture references in music are fun, but can be messy. Kanye West has been at the forefront of countless chaotic media moments due to his extreme and erratic behavior. Arguably, the biggest headline during the first quarter of his career was when he interrupted Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech at the 2009 VMAs for Best Female Video for her popular hit song, “You Belong With Me.” The same year, Beyoncé was nominated for “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” –both videos deeply embedded into mass media through memes, remakes and references–but West thought Beyoncé deserved the award over Swift. He yanked the mic from her hand and declared, “Beyoncé had one of the greatest videos of all time.”

The moment went down in award show history, as Swift was left stunned and the crowd booed. To make matters worse, West referenced it in his 2016 song “Famous” with the lyrics, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex, why? I made that b**** famous.” The lyric was completely unnecessary and frankly, disgusting, which only fueled the tension brewing between the two for years following the award show moment. The success of Swift today far surpasses the media moment, but the two remain distant, as his song and actions following proved there was no chance at mending the relationship.

As we enter the second half of the 2020s – over 30 years after our introduction to the internet – it is important to note just how enmeshed we are now with pop culture discourse consistently in our palms. We have almost unlimited access to archival pieces of public media, serving as a constant reminder of our past that helps influence our future creations. Artists are creating layered and interesting work that encompasses pieces of media moments fans create more online discourse about, which continues the cycle. These documented media spectacles – like any fashion trend throughout a particular decade – also prove they always come back, and it’s at the hands of the artist to repurpose these moments into original inspirations for decades to come.

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