A. G. COOK, the visionary behind PC Music, has already redefined pop with his audacious and inventive approach. His latest project, ‘Britpop’, blurs genre boundaries, exploring the essence and future of pop through a blend of nostalgia, innovation, and a deep dive into British cultural identity.

Words: Martyn Young. Photos: Sinna Nasseri.

A. G. Cook is one of few artists in the 21st century who can truly say they have shaped the future of pop. Daring, exuberant and subversive, PC Music, the pioneering record label and collective he founded back in 2013, has been a constant shining beacon of questing experimentalism and pop brilliance that has defined an era, traversing through all manner of genres and wild ambition. It’s been a journey that has taken in triumph and tragedy and has seen the producer forge powerful and inspiring creative collaborations and reach the exalted heights of working with Beyoncé on ‘Renaissance’. Does the unassuming, softly-spoken, long-haired producer consider himself a star as he prepares to release his third solo album? “I don’t see myself as a pop star, but for the last decade or so, I’ve really enjoyed playing with ambiguity,” he smiles from a sun-drenched room in his home in Los Angeles.

Ambiguity has always been central to the PC Music story and A. G. Cook’s vision for what music can be. ‘Britpop’ is perhaps the ultimate realisation of all that ambiguity, creative expression, and sheer bonkers escapism, but is it pop music? Does it matter? Like most things for A. G. Cook, the answer is it’s anything you want it to be. “People can’t even decide what pop is,” he says animatedly. “Every year, it gets less and less clear with the different levels of what’s considered mainstream now. The whole argument about is pop popular or is it like classic pop, what does that mean? Is it a genre? Specifically, I feel like a lot of the music that I’ve worked on with different collaborators hasn’t been shying away from that conversation at all levels.”