Courtesy of Mobile Music.

Categories are fun, but they‰’re the most fun when you can use your own powers of persuasion to make up totally arbitrary reasons for why certain things belong in categories. Thus, my friends and I have created the “Pop or Not?” game. The rules are simple:

1. Play literally any song 
2. Argue about it. Is this song pop or not? 
3. Vote to decide its pop status

Any sub-genre of pop counts as pop, but you must clearly define what the sub-genre is. Here are two easy starter examples:

Ke$ha, “We R Who We R‰Û 

Obviously, this song is pop. No sub-genre. Kesha doesn‰’t actually rap, which could shift the category ever-so-slightly; she talk-raps. Danceable beat, extreme amounts of glitter – everything about the song, sure, but also the video, is pop confectioner sugar you could definitely snort in a drained swimming pool.

Alison Krauss and Union Station, “The Boy Who Wouldn‰’t Hoe Corn‰Û

I mean, this is clearly bluegrass. Jerry Douglas is playing a Dobro, which I spent most of the song thinking was a mandolin. Everyone‰’s singing with a twang. There are sick banjo solos. While it follows a simple chord progression, there is nothing “pop” about Alison Krauss (except maybe for that one time when she performed with Taylor Swift).

Now that we‰’ve created the binary (pop vs. not pop), we can go a bit deeper into this game with some songs released in 2015.

MisterWives, “Our Own House‰Û

Mandy Lee fits into the classic flower-crown-wearing indie princess and the first verse could be just straight indie pop, but as soon as the horns and the swinging electric guitar come into the first chorus, we find this song firmly categorized as an offshoot of happy-go-lucky indie pop.

Emile Haynie feat. Lana Del Rey, “Wait for Life‰Û

I‰’m not going to lie and pretend that Lana doesn‰’t add some pop status to this song, especially because I wouldn‰’t categorize Haynie‰’s entire album as pop (“Ballerina‰’s Reprise‰” is almost too ethereal and Imogen Heapy for me to be convinced of its pop merits). However, even without Lana‰’s classic-Hollywood-aesthetic voice, the strings and tinkling piano drive this song towards sad, instrumental pop.

George Ezra, “Blame It on Me‰Û

This song was played quite a bit on British pop radio, but Ezra falls more along the lines of Jake Bugg than Hozier. The chorus brings in a reminiscent pop vibe, but I‰’d still categorize this song as “bluegrass nouveau.”

Lord Huron, “Fool for Love‰Û

Lord Huron is kind of a toughie. There are some definite indie elements to the song, but it‰’s repetitive enough to scrap over into pop. Because of their extremely relaxed Vampire Weekend sound, I‰’m going to call “Fool for Love‰” super-chill indie pop. As a side note, it would be a great addition to any coming-of-age indie movie main-character-gets-it-together-scene.

Rhiannon Giddens, “Black Is the Color‰Û

A couple of things complicate this one. First of all, it‰’s a cover of a folk song. Second, Giddens repurposes it in a sort of funky-soul, updated Stevie Wonder style. However, wasn’t Stevie pop in his day? Isn’t funk the new pop? Still, the overwhelming feeling about “Black is the Color‰” calls for too old of a sound to be classified as pop. This one‰’s going under post-soul covers (not to be confused with the cultural movement of the same name).

Lunchmoney Lewis, “Bills‰Û

It‰’s pop. I can‰’t explain this one other than it‰’s hyper as hell and I can‰’t stop listening to it.

Kendrick Lamar, “King Kunta‰Û

Remember how I said that funk is the new pop? We‰’ve come across yet another case where I don‰’t think that rule of thumb applies. A lot of it is because Kendrick, I‰’m pretty sure, uses funk as a reference to the black power movement – not so much because funk beats are catchy and good for dancing. There‰’s a chorus, sure, but the subject matter and the beat make “King Kunta‰” from Kendrick‰’s To Pimp a Butterfly a funk-inspired rap song.

The Mowgli‰’s, “Bad Dream‰Û

For our last tune, I‰’ll go with pseudo-punk pop, one of my all-time favorite categories. Sharing this hallowed title are the likes of Good Charlotte, All-American Rejects and All Time Low. Just a pop song with a fast beat and an electric guitar instead of a synth (and “Bad Dream‰” uses both anyway).

If you disagree with any of these totally unbiased, 100% factual categories, feel free to dm me: @erdeanduncan. Play with your friends and family, procrastinate through finals week; the “Pop or Not?” game is sure to make you go mad with categorization power.