i take your point but:
Why rap has overtaken rock as the most popular genre among music fans #siderbar: this interactive map of popular music across the globe is pretty interesting: https://pudding.cool/2018/01/music-map/
country may still be the top seller of physical albums tho, but, and this may be due to my preferences, hip-hop ‘feels’ like its has been the most commercial, if not the most popular, genre for some time now…yet there are some people who still may not think it significant or pay any attention to it at all…
there definitely might be an overestimation of the influence of some the more pet ‘designerly’ aesthetics that is somewhat separate from the masses (still don’t want to believe bladerunner 2049 wasn’t appealing to gen pop) and could agree that there are many aesthetic trends that probably won’t ever reach or even approach critical mass, i think it could still be culture tho and still be mined for influence & inspiration; which does translate into all different kinds & tiers of product in ways that are subtle…