Major-label machinery intentionally spread genre-blurring production across pop acts

Evidence

Both Pharrell and Kanye were voracious omnivores, exploring global culture and bringing unexpected influences into hip-hop. Jimmy Iovine, the veteran music mogul behind Interscope Records, signed the Neptunes in 2004 and gave them their own label, Star Trak. This partnership extended their genre-blurring sound to a broader roster of artists, including Gwen Stefani on her minimal, cheerleader-chant hit “Hollaback Girl” (backed by four Japanese “Harajuku Girls”) and Swedish garage rockers the Hives on The Black and White Album. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 110

Categorization

• XREF: Institutional distribution enabling aesthetic collapse of boundaries — connects to the reader’s mechanism question about internet-collapsed distribution.