This book presents chapters that have been brought together to consider the multitude of ways that post-2000 popular music impacts on our cultures and experiences. The focus is on misogyny, toxic masculinity, and heteronormativity. The authors of the chapters consider these three concepts in a wide range of popular music styles and genres; they analyse and evaluate how the concepts are maintained and normalized, challenged, and rejected. The interconnected nature of these concepts is also woven throughout the book. The book also seeks to expand the idea of popular music as understood by many in the West to include popular music genres from outside western Europe and North America that are often ignored (for example, Bollywood and Italian hip hop), and to bring in music genres that are inarguably popular, but also sit under other labels such as rap, metal, and punk.

Glenn Fosbraey is the Head of English, Creative Writing, and American Studies at The University of Winchester, UK, and specialises in the academic study of song lyrics. He has published a number of chapters and articles on the subject and co-wrote Writing Song Lyrics: Creative and Critical Approaches (2019).

Nicola Puckey is a Senior Lecturer in English Language, English Linguistics, and Forensic Linguistics at The University of Winchester, UK. Her specialisms include language, gender and sexuality, and music as a form of discourse.