Random J Pop playlist: Produced by Max Martin

A few nights ago a friend and I were having a full blown WhatsApp conversation on Max Martin's back in the day bops. Ya know, that good Britney, ★NSync and Backstreet boys shit. We usually end up having this trip down memory lane at least once every couple of months and it's always like we're having it for the first time. But on this occasion it dawned on me that 'I CAN MAKE A DAMN PLAYLIST OF MAX MARTIN'S BOPS' so that's what I went and did*.

*Spotify only ya'll. Sorry Google music and Apple music users. But there's every chance similar playlists exist on both platforms. I mean...it's Max Martin, bitch!

Max Martin is one of the most prolific song writers and producers in Pop. This is not subjective. It is fact. Max Martin is a legend and his contributions to Pop and music as a whole have already gone down in history. But unlike many of his producer peers, Max isn't interested in being a celebrity, which is why you'll find very few videos, interviews and pictures of him; which is crazy for somebody who has been crafting high charting hits for the past 20 years for some of the biggest pop stars in the game, many of whom are complete social media whores. The latter of which being something that he doesn't place strict regulations on, even if he doesn't embrace it fully; as you will find him buried in Ariana Grande's Instagram posts and in the inlay of Taylor Swift's 1989 album.

But what's so crazy about Max is how he's always been able to maintain constant and consistent relevance in sending acts to the top of the charts across the ever-changing soundscape of Pop. In the late 90s to 2000 it was Britney Spears, Backstreet boys and ★NSync. In the early 2000s when Pop got pushed aside for R&B and more Hip-Hop based sounds, and the acts he became notable for grew too cool for the school of Max Martin's music. His once chart dominating sound that pretty mnuch shaped Pop radio had pretty much disappeared. But he re-emerged with a brand new sound and shot back into the charts and our consciousness with Kelly Clarkson's "Since U been gone", which was the beginning of a new era for Max, which saw him adopt a more punk / rock tinged sound. A sound which pretty much transformed and shaped Pop exactly as it did in his hey day with Britney and co. A sound that would propel the likes of Ke$ha and Katy Perry to super stardom, as well as giving P!nk a gust of wind in her sails. Max once again being at the forefront of Pop would bring him full circle again with the likes of Britney Spears, the Backstreet boys and the one artist that had eluded Max during a period where we would have expected her to have gone to him at some point: Christina Aguilera. As Pop become cool again and began to be more of a spectrum, Max would turn his attentions to already established acts who had already broken records, only to have them break a few more. After doing stints with Max Martin to produce a couple of songs for their albums, Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande would go on to have their future albums produced largely in part by Max Martin.

He is quite literally the Godfather of Pop.

Max Martin is that producer that some love to hate. But there's no denying he crafts some great songs. Even if you don't check for the artists fronting his songs, you can't deny the songs themselves. I tried to fight "Oops!...I did it again" and "It's gonna be me", but I stood no chance in hell.

You know when a pop song is good when that shit doesn't age and Max Martin's shit don't age for fuck. Strip out the meta Titanic bridge section and "Oops!...I did it again" still sounds great. "It's gonna be me" will always pop off. And I can imagine we'll still be hearing Ariana's "God is a woman" and Taylor's "Shake it off" years from now. These songs will be (and already are) to a new generation what the Britney, NSync and Backstreet boys songs were to mine.

🎧 Listen on Spotify: Produced by Max Martin

Max Martin is a treasure ya'll. There's no denying his discography for a second. Ain't no fucking with Sweden and pop.