glaive and Hyperpop’s Breakthrough Moment

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The singer glaive, just 16 years old, has become the biggest breakout star from the world of hyperpop. An intuitive songwriter with a springy voice and a direct line to a wellspring of raw emotion, he’s a true talent looming in a scene that isn’t anti-pop so much as meta-pop, chaotic and a little indifferent.

Hyperpop is a loose scene at best — it has a home on the Spotify playlist that de facto gave it its name, but many of its performers are ambivalent about the moniker, and the music lumped under the umbrella varies widely. But with the recent success of 100 gecs, the duo that is something like the genre’s spiritual elders, and the long shadow of the PC Music collective, the style is inching closer to widespread embrace.

On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about glaive’s rapid ascent, how hyperpop is and isn’t a traditional scene, and what the future might hold for a singer and sound that are figuring it out in real time.