By the 2010s nu-disco production had permeated mainstream pop, with producers often working anonymously for pop acts

From the early 2010s onward, nu-disco influences spread beyond specialist club music into mainstream pop. Nu-disco artists Aeroplane and Soulwax became massively influential and released on major labels, while other producers were commissioned anonymously for pop acts. Steve Kotey of Chicken Lips said in 2012 that ‘30 percent of music in the charts have the feeling of this left-field disco production style.’ Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ (2013, with Nile Rodgers) was the biggest nu-disco hit of that year. The trajectory continued with Taylor Swift’s ‘Style’ (2015), Calvin Harris’s Funk Wav Bounces (2017), Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia (2020) and Roisin Murphy’s Roisin Machine (2020).

Examples

Daft Punk ‘Get Lucky’ (2013): 4/4 kick + Nile Rodgers guitar + disco bassline — peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Dua Lipa ‘Don’t Start Now’ (2020): nu-disco production, peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Assessment

Trace the mainstream absorption of nu-disco production from 2000-2020, naming at least three specific commercial tracks. What does Kotey’s ‘30 percent’ claim in 2012 suggest about how underground production aesthetics diffuse into pop?