The entire rap genre transformed at the exact same time the entire rock genre transformed

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

I just realized something I never thought about before. I was in my Will Smith thread saying the song I posted was released in 1988. And if you're old enough you'll remember almost all rap songs back in 1988 had a very similar style to what Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff had. And they were mostly east coast guys on the radio back then. But then NWA released Straight Outta Compton that same year 1988, and transformed rap forever.

After NWA came out, nobody wanted to hear corny, positive hip hop. We wanted to hear about that thug life. So rap became darker and harder. Edgier. More gritty and realistic. The WHOLE rap genre had to adapt or die off. Even MC Hammer released Pumps In The Bump trying to adapt to the new style (didn't work. Still was a decent song though.).


OK, so now look at the rock genre. There's no argument that after Nirvana came out with the Nevermind album, the entire rock genre was changed forever. And I mean transformed completely. Remember we went from 80's hair metal like Van Halen and positive rock like Eddie Money or Bon Jovi......we went from THAT....to depressing lyrics, screaming, guitar distortion, more realism, a harder sound, and much more edge.


ok check this out:


Nirvana came out in 89 with the Bleach album. But Nevermind put them in the entire countries ear. Nevermind was released in 1991.


So how crazy of a coincidence is it that NWA came out with some hard shit, Straight Outta Compton, that didn't sound like ANYTHING anybody had ever heard before, and transformed their genre........at almost the exact same time Nirvana came out with some hard shit, Smells Like Teen Spirit, that didn't sound like ANYTHING anybody had ever heard before....and transformed THEIR genre too?!



NWA came out in 1988 but I don't think they blew up nationwide until around 1990...maybe late 89. Nirvana came out in 1988 but blew up when Teen Spirit started airing, which was 1991.

Both these bands came out and made almost everybody else in their genre obsolete. And with both bands the transformation of their ENTIRE genre was complete by 1994.
By 1994 in RAP - you didn't hear styles like Fresh Prince, LL Cool J, Run DMC....those styles were DONE. By 94 you heard Dr. Dre, Snoop, Tupac, Biggie, Warren G, Bone thugs, etc.
By 1994 in ROCK - you didn't hear styles like Eddie Money, Van Halen or Bon Jovi. No you heard Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, etc.




Another similarity is that Nirvana created two new subgenres of music....grunge and alternative rock. And that in turn created 2 new SUBCULTURES OF PEOPLE, and social trends, fashion, attitudes.
NWA created a new subgenre of hip hop, Ganster Rap. Which in turn created a new subculture of people, social trends, fashion, and attitudes. Both subcultures wore a lot of flannel shirts too, and baggy pants, and beanies. It was weird.


I have no point here, lol. I just find it interesting and a little weird that both rap and rock changed in almost the exact same ways, starting at nearly the same time, and both being completed by 1994. There are a LOT of similarities there that I never noticed. So what's up with that? Why did that happen with both genres and why did it happen with both genres at the same time? And it goes deeper than the music genres changing. If you remember, those changes in rap and in rock changed our entire culture! Or at least the subcultures of rap fans and rock fans. Black people started dressing in flannel, big baggy pants, beanies, dew rags, etc. And rock fans started dressing in flannel (another similarity!) shirts, fairly baggy pants, beanies, skate shoes, etc.

 

[revoltub]

Nirvana just copied the pixies.

 

[Cheese]

I dont see it.

 

[Pliny Pete]

Rap and rock n roll were both created by one race of people and then ruined by another so they got that in common too

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

Nirvana just copied the pixies.

Kurt liked to say that and he loved Pixies but have you heard the Pixies? I mean I like 'em but Nirvana was a million times better.

 

[Urban Youth]

Seems like a corporate push to me, did Nirvana really make Alt. Rock too? There were a bunch of groups out in the UK that were experimenting with unconventional sounds.

PE>NWA

 

[SSgt Dickweed]

You know what coincided with the popularity and decline of gangsta rap and hard rock? Legalized abortion.

All these Gen X'ers who made these music and consumed it were born when it was illegal to have abortions. The decline of the popularity of these music coincided when the age group of the consumers meant that they were born when it was legal to have abortions.

 

[revoltub]

Kurt liked to say that and he loved Pixies but have you heard the Pixies? I mean I like 'em but Nirvana was a million times better.

No not even close. Ive listened to both a lot. Smells like teen spirit? Copied from Umass.

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

Rap and rock n roll were both created by one race of people and then ruined by another so they got that in common too

thats not true. no one race created rock music.

 

[90 50]

What?

I guess you’ve never heard of some small bands like Metallica or Iron Maiden , Nirvana was soft as fuck and didn’t make rock harder, but branches off to a softer alt rock emo bs

 

[Pliny Pete]

thats not true. no one race created rock music.

This is my favorite rock song

 

[aus101]

What happened? The 80s became the 90s. Suddenly everything that was cool was now lame. Hair, fashion, music, all had to change or seem “dated”.

Now culture is more reboots and rip-offs. Someone from 98 would be a fish out of water in 88. Someone from 2018 would probably fit right in back in 2008.

 

[90 50]

And grandmaster flash mother fucker. Learn some gd history!!

 

[Osculater]

What?

I guess you’ve never heard of some small bands like Metallica or Iron Maiden , Nirvana was soft as fuck and didn’t make rock harder, but branches off to a softer alt rock emo bs

Very true, it is like comparing baby powder to chalk

 

[punky brewster]

Rap and rock n roll were both created by one race of people and then ruined by another so they got that in common too

Lol

 

[Madmick]

I dont see it.

I do. It was a West Coast revolution in the pop industry filtered chiefly through two cities: Los Angeles and Seattle.

It's not like the 80's lacked for dark rock (the rise of Metal, for example, with bands like Megadeath and Metallica) or that the more positive, socially conscious and folklore-driven rock from guys like Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp wasn't a cycle away from the drug-induced melancholy of the 70's itself, but there was a definite sea change that ran nearly in parallel.

For disenfranchised, poor white kids it was the garage-sourced Grunge revolution of the 1980's; those who never quite climbed the hill to Reagan's Shining City, and who felt left behind and forgotten. For disenfranchised nonwhite kids it was the politics of L.A. that culminated in the 1992 Rodney King beating. I can't believe it, but ESPN turned out what I consider to be the finest documentary I have ever seen:

Ironic, isn't it, that the title of that film echoes the nationalist manufacturing shibboleth forwarded by Reagan's administration, and also invokes Springsteen's defining track itself, "Born in the U.S.A."

Maybe it was inevitable following the birth of MTV in 1980. It was definitely the biggest cultural driver of that era when it came to music; what Rolling Stone magazine was to the late 60's and 70's before it. I dunno, but I remember reading in that magazine, or maybe it was Pitchfork, the comment that, "Kurt Cobain killed the headband single-handed." That has always stuck with me.

I definitely see it.

 

[Mike]

Both genres were reacting to the materialism of the 80s, as Mick said the poor and those alienated from society were looking for something more raw and realistic. The 80s turned every genre into cheesy pop music, and it was only a matter of time until the music changed to match the more pessimistic attitude of the early 90s

 

[Cheese]

I do. It was a West Coast revolution in the pop industry filtered chiefly through two cities: Los Angeles and Seattle.

It's not like the 80's lack for dark rock (the rise of Metal, for example, with bands like Megadeath and Metallica) or that the more positively socially conscious and folklore-driven rock from guys like Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp wasn't a cycle away from the drude-induced melancholy of the 70's itself, but there was a definite sea change that ran nearly in parallel.

For disenfranchised, poor white kids it was the garage-sourced Grunge revolution of the 1980's; those who never quite climbed the hill to Reagan's Shining City, and who felt left behind and forgotten. For disenfranchised nonwhite kids it was the politics of L.A. that culminated in the 1992 Rodney King beating. I can't believe it, but ESPN turned out what I consider to be the finest documentary I have ever seen:

Ironic, isn't it, that the title of that film echoes the nationalist manufacturing push forwarded by Reagan's administration, and also invokes Springsteen's defining track itself, "Born in the U.S.A."

Maybe it was inevitable following the birth of MTV in 1980. It was definitely the biggest cultural driver of that era when it came to music; what Rolling Stone magazine was to the late 60's and 70's before it. I dunno, but I remember reading in that magazine, or maybe it was Pitchfork, the comment that, "Kurt Cobain killed the headband single-handed." That has always stuck with me.

I definitely see it.

Still dont see it.

 

[Kirin]

Both genres were reacting to the materialism of the 80s, as Mick said the poor and those alienated from society were looking for something more raw and realistic. The 80s turned every genre into cheesy pop music, and it was only a matter of time until the music changed to match the more pessimistic attitude of the early 90s

Interestingly enough, it's come full circle: all genres are cheesy pop music once more.

It's another illustration of how the music industry is a reflection of the trends and fads that the record executives want to push onto the highly impressionable lemmings which will buy what they're told is popular.

 

[blaseblah]

thats not true. no one race created rock music.

Black musicians pioneered rock n roll.