Coachella 2019: Reading Between the Lineup
The official Coachella 2019 lineup dropped semi-unexpectedly Wednesday night, sending festival-goers into a frenzy as the final validation of dropping major money on a ticket at last forced their hands to click “buy now.” The festival’s galactic poster details the numerous artists performing at the two weekend event, from headliners to lower-level acts, using font size to form its own definitive ranking of importance. But a closer look at the fine print speaks volumes to a changing music industry, from the festival newcomers, to the artists that were notably left out. In just a few lines of text, Coachella’s 2019 lineup captures some of the major shakeups that are dominating music right now.
A Continued Battle for Equality
Music in 2018 is almost synonymous with Ariana Grande. She dropped her exquisitely crafted album Sweetener, earned her first Hot 100 No.1 with “thank u, next,” and quite literally broke YouTube with the release of the song’s music video. While Grande is certainly not a breakout star, she did undoubtably have her biggest year yet in 2018. In that case, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that the immense strides in her career should continue to be lauded as she snags the only spot as a female headliner. But it still is. Justin Timberlake was previously reported as the artist to grab Coachella’s “pop star” headlining slot, but his ongoing battle with bruised vocal chords most likely caused him to relinquish the coveted spot. Taking all of that into account, Grande’s appearance on the roster seems like little more than a “fill-in” that prevents the topline of Coachella from being dominated by males (Timberlake, Childish Gambino and Tame Impala) as it was reportedly planned. While we’re grateful that Grande will be gracing the Coachella stage, she is certainly beyond the seemingly “freebie” nature of this slot. A scan down the rest of the lineup, particularly in its top lines, shows that female artists like Kacey Musgraves, Billie Eilish and Ella Mai are still extremely outnumbered by male performers, despite having dominated the charts in 2018.
Breaking Boundaries
Pop music is continuing to go global. American mainstream music as we know it is undergoing some major changes with the undeniable impact of Latin and K-pop music. Songs like Cardi B’s summer smash “I Like It” that featured Latin artists J Blavin and Bad Bunny indicated that this globalization is no trend; it’s here to stay. This year’s Coachella lineup is giving international artists some major recognition, with Korean group BLACKPINK (the first K-pop girl group to perform at the festival) earning a topline spot on the roster, along with Rosalía, Bad Bunny and J Blavin. Although Coachella has come a long way since shoving prominent Japanese group X Japan to the fifth line of the lineup last year, the 2019 roster is more than just a feeble effort to rectify the 2018 fiasco. Instead, the lineup is being directly informed by an audience whose demands for change are finally being met.
Hip-Hop Takes a Backseat
When it comes to mainstream music, hip-hop undoubtably reigns supreme, but in this year’s lineup, artists like Kid Cudi, Juice WRLD, Sheck Wes and Playboi Carti are finding their names in noticeably smaller font. Even a household name like Wiz Khalifa has been unceremoniously bumped to the third line. While Coachella’s 2019 lineup isn’t without its fair share of hip-hop artists, they aren’t as pervasive as in years past. In fact, there isn’t more than one rapper in the top eight names for any of the three days. Childish Gambino is the only remotely “hip-hop” headliner, and even he has been favoring ‘70s psychedelic funk for the past three years. Compared to last year’s lineup, which prominently featured artists like Post Malone, Migos and Cardi B, this year’s Coachella favors diverse sounds with artists like Maggie Rogers and CHVRCHES, and shifts away from the domination of hip-hop.
Long Live Rock
The choice of Tame Impala as the festival’s third headliner left many scratching their heads, especially since the Australian rock band hasn’t put out an album since 2015’s Currents. Surely The 1975, who just released the critically acclaimed album A Brief Inquiry…, seemed like viable headlining candidates. While this could mean that Coachella Need-to-Knows have an inside scoop on some upcoming music from the band, it also shows that live rock performances are still valued in an age where hip-hop maintains streaming authority. According to Rolling Stone, in the “first three quarters of 2018, five of the biggest tours were by rock acts.” Although rock artists don’t dominate the charts like they used to, they still possess the ability to sell out venues across the country. Music festivals like Coachella are built on the very foundations of rock legends, so it only makes sense that a psych-rock band like Tame Impala would be used as a way to pay homage to the days of yore. Since rock no longer controls the radio, the choice of Tame Impala, a band with no new music to buzz about, also raises an interesting question of what exceptions will be granted to future Coachella headliners as the choices for radio-approved rock become slimmer and slimmer.
Electronic Dance Music is Still…Dancing?
It might have seemed like we were out of the EDM brotronica heyday, this year’s Coachella lineup begs to differ. Awarding topline spots to artists like DJ Snake, Diplo, Bassnectar and Zedd indicates that EDM isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Last year’s lineup favored the electro-chill sounds of Kygo and ODESZA, but this year is a call back to the floor thumping, crowd jolting sets of EDM’s mid 2000s golden age. While the streaming era has helped create a more melancholy-electro sound, this year’s lineup lets us know that the final beat has not yet dropped for the EDM genre.