Punk Goes Pop series created by Fearless Records. It contains a collection of songs by various artists performing covers of pop songs. It was released on April 2, 2002 and is still thriving. Its success caused Fearless Records to release more pop cover albums. The basic formula is having punk bands do creative covers of pop songs, putting a new spin on traditional songs that have been heard over the radio. It gives the song a new direction and meaning, which highlights the power of music. Not only has the original song connected with listeners, just by changing the style can give it a whole new take which is very refreshing to hear.
You can listen to some of the most popular covers here:
Mayday Parade is a proud artist on these albums and they even have a cover that has 16 million views featuring Vic Fuentes:
Since Rap is becoming more and more popular and taking over the radio, it would great to make covers to capitalize on the buzz. Punk and rap have a lot of the same qualities, which gives it the perfect mix. Punk is an aggressive form of rock music while rap is more lyrical and fast-paced. Overall they are both subcultures that give voice to outsiders, and that mix is even stronger combined. These artists are people who don’t fit the norm and find connectivity in music.
One of the most impressive covers is Fame on Fire’s cover of “XO TOUR Llif3” by Lil Uzi Vert.
You can view the original song here & the cover:
On the topic of punk covers, everyone remembers Framing Hanley’s cover of “Lollipop” by Lil Wayne.
You can view the original song here & the cover:
One can even argue that these covers are better than the original, depending on your taste. Overall, I love seeing the merge of these two genres and I hope that more bands will be open to covering these songs. It is also a great way to get traffic to a band’s Youtube page by covering popular songs and doing it well. Hopefully, there can be a Rap Goes Punk in the next year to open up people’s tastes.
