Are "one-hit wonders" a thing of the past?

Which will probably take a while since the three labels seem pretty content with their current system of "career artist investment only."

There were a handful of one-album-wonders in the 2010s -- Fetty Wap comes to mind. But this is mostly a dead concept as well.

I've gotten the impression that Makonnen has been pretty prolific as a behind-the-scenes writer for others. And he did a record with Lil Peep.

And I feel like DRAM has a crossover fan base regardless of huge hits (between the Badu collab, Tiny Desk, etc).

I hate the assumption that having one giant hit confers a responsibility to continue having giant hits, and that it's somehow shameful if lightning doesn't strike twice.

Also I feel like streaming + algorithms has made it *more* likely to have one unrepeatable hit, since something can blow up on TikTok or whatever and listeners may have no interest in following an artist, or even know who the artist is. Everything's just a song on a playlist.

Also there are huge streaming hits with millions of plays that will never make radio.

The landscape just feels more adventurous and exciting when a handful of breakthrough artists can emerge every couple months in a way that hints at a broadly shared experience. Whether or not they can repeat their success shouldn't matter; if people like the music they'll continue listening.