"Pop 101" is a song recorded by Canadian

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band

Marianas Trench The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench located in the western Pacific Ocean, about east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about in length and in width. The maximum known ...

, featuring hip hop artist Anami Vice. Written and produced by lead singer

Josh Ramsay Joshua Keeler Ramsay (born June 11, 1985) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, producer, recording engineer, multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for being the lead vocalist of the pop rock band Marianas Trench. He has produced and has written ...

, it was released July 29, 2014 through

604 Records 604 Records (stylized as VIOIV Records) is a music production company. It is named after area code 604 of the Lower Mainland, where the company's offices are located. History The company was co-founded by Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger and ...

Cherrytree Records Martin Kierszenbaum, also known by his pseudonym Cherry Cherry Boom Boom, is an American music personality. As a songwriter and producer he worked with Lady Gaga, Sting, Madonna, Mylène Farmer, Keane, Tokio Hotel, Far East Movement, Robyn, Fe ...

, and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

. Originally announced as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

off the band's forthcoming fourth studio album, '' Astoria'' (2015), the song was later scrapped from the album and serves only as a

buzz single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

; it is also included on their 2015 extended play, ''

Something Old / Something New ''Something Old / Something New'' is the third extended play recorded by Canadian rock group Marianas Trench, released May 26, 2015 through 604 Records, Cherrytree Records, and Interscope Records. It contains two songs originally recorded for th ...

''. "Pop 101" entered the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

at No. 27, and was certified Gold by Music Canada in November 2014.

Content

"Pop 101" is primarily a pop song with influences of

, but also features allusions to hip hop,

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

, and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. The song is

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

in nature, scrutinizing the music industry and particularly the trends and clichés of modern

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

. Ryan McNutt of AUX.TV found the song to be "oddly compelling" given writer/producer Josh Ramsay's own formulaic work and success with "

Call Me Maybe "Call Me Maybe" is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen for her EP ''Curiosity'' (2012) and later appeared on her second studio album and first international album ''Kiss'' (2012). The song was written by Jepsen and T ...

" (2011).

Music video

The video for "Pop 101" was directed by Kyle Davison and parodies music video tropes and current trends of celebrity culture, including house parties,

twerking Twerking (; possibly from 'to work') is a type of dance that came out of the bounce music scene of New Orleans in the late 1980s. Individually performed chiefly but not exclusively by women, performers dance to popular music in a sexually provo ...

and

harem Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

s. It premiered August 1, 2014 exclusively on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

before being uploaded to the group's official

VEVO Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

page on August 4.

Chart performance

"Pop 101" debuted at No. 27 on the ''Billboard''

on the chart dated August 16, 2014.

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles 604 Records singles Songs written by Josh Ramsay Cherrytree Records singles Marianas Trench (band) songs