Millennial Whoop
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About
The "Millennial Whoop" is a neologism referring to any sequence of notes alternating between the 5th and 3rd notes on a major scale, which are often heard during vocal segments in a variety of contemporary pop songs.
Origin
On August 20th, 2016, The Patterning published an article by musician Patrick Metzger of the band The Apple Kickers,[2] which coined the phrase "millennial whoop" to identify "a sequence of notes that alternates between the fifth and third notes of a major scale." For examples of the sound, Metzger initially cites portions of the "California Girls" (heard at :51) and a parody song by The Lonely Island (heard at :40).
In a subsequent article update, Metzger provided a list of songs identified by readers as having the Millennial Whoop:
Frank Ocean – “Ivy” (2016, Millennial Whoop at 2:53)
Dagny – “Backbeat” (2016, Millennial Whoop at 0:00 as part of longer melodic phrase)
AURORA – “Running With the Wolves” (2016, Millennial Whoop at 1:11)
Berlin After Midnight – “All Night Long” (2016, Millennial Whoop at 0:52)
twenty one pilots – Ride (2015, Millennial Whoop at 0:48)
Tove Lo – “Habits (Stay High)” (2014, Millennial Whoop at 0:48)
Of Monsters and Men – “Mountain Sound” (2014, Millennial Whoop at 2:15)
Andy Grammer – “Forever” (2014, Millennial Whoop at 3:15 at the beginning of a longer melodic phrase)
Fifth Harmony – “Anything Is Possible” (2014, Millennial Whoop at 0:20)
CHVRCHES – “The Mother We Share” (2013, fragmented Millennial Whoop at 0:00, standard Millennial Whoop at 0:33)
Filter – “Burn It” (2013, Millennial Whoop at 1:10)
One Direction – “Heart Attack” (2012, Millennial Whoop at 0:37)
One Direction – “Live While We’re Young” (2012, Millennial Whoop at 0:53)
The Lumineers – “Ho Hey” (2012, Millennial Whoop on the word “heart” at 0:58)
Rebecca Black – “Sing It” (2012, Millennial Whoop at 0:03)
Chris Brown – “Turn Up the Music” (2012, Millennial Whoop at 1:30)
Big Tree – “Storm King” (2011, Millennial Whoop at 2:24)
Outasight – “Tonight Is the Night” (2011, Millennial Whoop at 0:52)
The Head and the Heart – “Down in the Valley” (2011, Millennial Whoop at 1:48)
Justin Bieber – “Baby (featuring Ludacris)” (2010, Millennial Whoop at 0:46)
Michou – “Growing Younger” (2010, Millennial Whoop at 0:37)
Alejandro Sanz – “Looking for Paradise (featuring Alicia Keys)” (2010, Millennial Whoop at 0:14
Kings of Leon – “Use Somebody” (2009, Millennial Whoop faintly at 0:02, louder 1:28)
Cymbals Eat Guitars – “And The Hazy Sea” (2009, elongated Millennial Whoop at 0:00)
Mates of State – “Goods” (2007, Millennial Whoop at 0:20)
Green Day – “Are We the Waiting” (2004, Millennial Whoop at 0:34)
Death Cab for Cutie – “Lightness” (2003, Millennial Whoop at 0:32)
The Rasmus – “In the Shadows” (2003, Millennial Whoop at 0:12)
The KLF – “Last Train to Trancentral” (1991, Millennial Whoop at 1:00)
Baltimora – “Tarzan Boy” (1985, Millennial Whoop at 1:11)
Morris Day and the Time – “Jungle Love” (1984, Millennial Whoop at 0:38)
Spread
On August 26th, Redditor breadvelvet submitted The Patterning article to the /r/popheads[4] subreddit. On August 27th, 2016, Quartz released an article about the song riff along with a video highlighting various examples (shown below).
On August 28th, Redditor philamignon submitted the article to the /r/NewsOfTheWeird[3] subreddit, referring to it as an "annoying whooping sound." In the coming days, several other news sites published articles about the pop music cliche, including USA Today,[5] AV Club,[6] Refinary 29[7] and Slate.[8]
Search Interest
External References
[1] Qz – Millennial Whoop
[2] The Apple Kickers – The Apple Kickers
[3] Reddit – This same annoying whooping sound\
[4] Reddit – The Millennial Whoop
[5] USA Today – What is the millennial whoop
[6] AV Club – Pop musics obsession with the millennial whoop
[7] Refinery 29 – Whats the millennial whoop
[8] Slate – The Millennial Whoop
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Top Comments
oodee
Aug 30, 2016 at 04:17PM EDT
Fatty Bunter
Aug 30, 2016 at 05:00PM EDT