music micro genres explained

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, 955 The Heat, Phoenix Radio

Social media and other online spaces have become a sea of aesthetics over the last several years. Visit any site where people can easily log in and communicate, and you will see users promoting curated sets of tastes, styles, and behaviors. “Clean girl aesthetic,” demands a sleek, minimalist wardrobe, simple beauty routines, and fresh, natural food and hygiene products. “Academia” aesthetics center around the worlds of prep school or college and university life, and involve dressing like a prep school student, college instructor or professor or librarian, and indulging in the expected foods and activities such as reading poetry and drinking coffee or tea. Some pages devoted to understanding modern aesthetics list more than fifty, while others offer thirteen pages of thirty-two each. While each aesthetic may include musical genres or bands that fit the clothing, décor, and lifestyle, this contemporary method of categorizing things has most directly impacted music through the increasing popularity of micro genres. Fans and musicians alike may find music increasingly categorized into micro genres, as more and more music is offered and accessed online. Narrowing things down into the smallest subcategory possible can make it more likely to draw the attention of the anticipated audience. 

Smaller than a sub-genre, a micro genre has its own distinct characteristics not found in the wider sub-genre or the larger genre. A micro genre also differs from a sub-genre and from fusion in that, like an aesthetic, a micro genre is designed to cater to specific themes or tastes. Just like their fashion, décor, and food and activity counterparts, music micro genres are numerous enough to devote entire websites to the topic, but three stand out as the most accessible, the most startling, and the most obscure music micro genres. 

Most Accessible: Christian Rap, Pop, or Country 

Contemporary Christian music is described by some as its own genre. Others argue that because it does not have a distinct sound all its own, it is a sub-genre of whatever style of music is being played. However, each specific type of modern Christian music is often considered a micro genre, because it is written, produced, and marketed to appeal to very specific themes and tastes in music. 

Christian Rap is created to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as is all Christian music. But it is also created for and by people who love Rap music. Someone who accepted Jesus and their Lord and Savior, but did not enjoy the sound of Rap music at all would not be a Christian Rapper or a fan of Christian Rap. The same holds true for Christian Pop and Christian Country. It is this focus on a narrow category of listeners that qualifies each form of modern Christian music as a sub-genre for many. 

Rap fans who never thought to listen to Christian Rap before might want to try Lecrae. His song “Graced up,” performed with Miles Minnick, was released in May 2025, and sends a message of the blessing of the grace of Jesus Christ on a person’s life. Christian Pop is perhaps best exemplified today by Brandon Lake, particularly “Hard fought hallelujah,” a catchy song about being willing to go through trials in life to glorify God. “Deeper still,” by Ben Fuller is likely to appeal to Christians who love country music, as it sounds like a more traditional-leaning modern country song, but the lyrics center around finding Jesus “at the end of myself,” and a desire to know Him and His love deeper. 

Christian micro genres are easy to find, with entire stations, numerous playlists on streaming services, and whole sections of music stores devoted to Christian music. While aimed at Christians who enjoy each type of music, those who are not Christian may still like some Christian music in their favorite genre, as it basically sounds the same as what they are already into. 



Most Startling: Horrorcore

“Horrorcore” might best be defined as “Hip hop music for people who love horror movies, paranormal or horror fiction, and/or true crime.” The genre is Hip-hop, and some people call “Horrorcore,” a sub genre rather than a micro genre, but it qualifies as a micro genre because the themes in Horrorcore music are especially dark, even when compared to some of the grittier themes and lyrics of mainstream Rap and Hip Hop music. 

The most well-known Horrorcore artists may be the Hip-Hop duo Insane Clown Posse. Some of their song titles themselves are explicit, but like much of Horrorcore, even the most mundane sounding titles or choruses are woven around graphic, scary stories. “Prom Queen,” with its chorus beginning “Won’t you be my prom queen?” sounds like a typical teen crush tune, but listen closely and it is clear that the song is actually about a young man who is planning to murder someone at his prom. Similarly, Razakel’s “Cherry Red,” blends Hip-Hop with pop and sounds like it should be a dance song, but the lyrics reveal it to be written from the perspective of a murderer threatening a potential victim. 

Although the lyrics of Horrorcore music can be disturbing, it is important to remember that the artists are doing the same thing with their music that Stephen King does with his fiction or Wes Craven with film, that is, telling a fictional story to an audience who wants to enjoy that type of story. 


Most Obscure: Zeuhl

Even if you do not listen to them yourself, there is a good chance you know somebody into Christian Rap, Christian Pop, or Christian Country music. You may even know someone who listens to Horrorcore. But you probably do not know anybody who listens to one of the most obscure music micro genres, Zeuhl. 

This micro genre was formed in 1969. It is often described as a blend of Jazz, Progressive Rock, Classical Music, and other styles. Free Jazz is noted as a particular influence. Musically, this makes Zeuhl an extreme form of fusion music, but it is the lyrics that push it into micro genre territory. 

Zeuhl was founded by the French band Magma, but rather than writing and singing their songs in French, Magma’s music is almost entirely in a language called Kobaian, a language that was invented by the band’s drummer, Christian Vander. It may not be possible to find a genre more “micro” than “type of music that was founded in a language invented by a single individual for that genre.” 

Magma is not the only Zeuhl band. In a 2020 bandcamp article titled, “There is no prog, only Zeuhl: A guide to one of Rock’s most imaginative subgenres,” writer Jim Allen lists twelve bands he defines as “Zeuhl,” while the wikipedia entry for “Zeuhl” lists twenty-four. 

The easiest way to hear what “Zeuhl” sounds like is to search YouTube for videos of Magma. 

For more information about micro genres, vist….the entire internet. Then come back a few months later and search all over again. Just as some lifestyle aesthetics seem to be here forever, while others are fads that fade in a season, some music micro genres have been around for more than fifty years, while others may have lasted only a few years and then faded away, with new ones forming and categories shifting over time.