In his essay “In the Empire of the Beat”, Hughes describes disco as a vehicle for self-exploration for gay men. Through dancing to disco music, they redefined and reclaimed their gay identity from conventional intolerance. After reading his defense of disco, I thought of city pop, a subgenre of Japanese pop music that grew in the late ’70s and ’80s. City pop has heavy influences from the Western music of that time period, among which includes disco, and is generally defined as city themed music targeting urbanites. At the time, city pop was considered a deviation from what was considered more acceptable pop music in Japan. As a genre, it freely explores and take inspirations from that era of Western music, creating an eclectic range of sounds. Because of the Western influence, there is a often a wide inclusion of English lyrics. It is a style of music that celebrates the success of post-war Japan within the economic bubble. That unique narrative is reflected in the energetic and optimistic nature of the music. Unlike disco, city pop is not a dance that taxes the dancer’s bodies. However, like disco, city pop transcends and transports the dancer away from the realities outside. When listening to city pop, the hearer is whisked away to a fantastical paradise with no worries.

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