Choice of Music from a Specific Decade

Growing up, music has become something that helps define where you came from. The ’90s was a time where genres expanded & each one got more chances to be in the spotlight. New genres emerged and boy bands became a thing. Female artists & foreign artists also became more widespread. Genres branched out more & new styles emerged as well. So if you can only listen to music from a specific decade, the 90s might be the choice to go with. 


More genres & styles of music were much more fluid during the 90s. The decade had various shifts in what was in the mainstream. Sometimes pop will take the front seat & the following week there will be some hip hop and R&B. As we go down some aspects of 90s music, we learn why this decade has been so iconically known for its multiculturalism & alternative media. 


With main genres like Pop, Rock & Hip Hop, this decade was known for its expansive sub-genres. Alternative music allowed artists & bands alike to have their styles of music to be more specified. The main genres (Pop, Rock, Metal, Country, Rap, Electronic, and Hip Hop), is the umbrella for music, branched out during this decade. 



Rock music branched out more than some other genres. With sub-genres like grunge & metal (which branched out even more), rock music developed more versions of itself. With bands like Nirvana & Foo Fighters, grunge music (and post-grunge) became one of the many defining sub-genres of the decade.

Punk music (sub-genre of rock) got a resurgence during this era. With bands like Green Day & Blink 182, this subgenre became popular & well known.

Metal music was expanded in this decade by the concepts it has associated itself with. With death metal focusing on the idea of death & thrash metal focusing on aggressive release, metal music became heavily identified for releasing negative and aggressive energies.

When you think of pop music in the 90s, you think of boy bands, girl groups & teen pop artists. Backstreet Boys & N’Sync was on the front of the boy band scene. They brought catchy tunes while providing a variety of faces into the mainstream. British pop was also mainstreamed in the states due to the girl group The Spice Girls. Being the most successful British girl group during the decade since the Beatles.


Girl Groups has gotten more prevalent during this decade, especially with the inclusion of The Spice Girls during the early 90s. After this, Destinys Child followed through with the pop sub-genre. 


Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that was geared towards preteens & teenagers. Focusing on the millennials (Gen Y), teen pop music incorporated catchy tunes with simple & effective lyrics that focused heavily on the performances of the artists. Here is where you will get a lot of one-hit wonders & music that will more or less stick in your head for an extended period of time. Teen pop artists also focused on image & popularity to maximize their exposure. 



R&B (rhythm & blues) music in the 90s got more contemporary. Sub-Genres like hip hop, rap & soul strengthened the R&B umbrella. With artists & groups ranging from Whitney Houston & Boys ll Men, to Mariah Carey & Missy Elliot, the sub-genres got more defined. Sub Genres of R&B music became more about what each artist said rather than just the sound of the music. 


With Lauryn Hill being one of the most successful hip hop artists of the decade and Whitney Houston being one of the most successful R&B artists of the decade, female rappers became a lot more dominant during the 90s. Artists like Missy Elliot & girl group Salt N Pepa gave rise to female rap music.


Rap music in the 90s are remembered by the artists who made this genre well-known. Dr. Dre, TuPac & DMC (to name a few) gave notoriety to this genre. By using similes & metaphors rappers in this decade connected their lyrics more & related a lot to the different rivalries that occurred. 



Electronic music in the 90s was more modern and new age. With the growth of computers, musical technology & reduction of cost, electronic music (mixed in with dance music), EDM became a defining genre in the 90s. Most of its music was derived from dance music. With mixes of downtempo & distortions, electronic music was the height of party & feel good vibes. Mostly popular in Europe, electronic music got popular with artists like Moby & Kraftwerk.

The popularity of country music exploded during the 90s decade. From Garth Brooks & George Morgan to the Dixie Chicks & Tim McGraw, country music used influences from other genres like pop music as well as sub genres of their own like line dancing to not only redefined country but to popularize it into the mainstream. 



The 90s decade of music was a time of new found sounds & defining moments. Artists & bands was popping out of nowhere while new genres was created. Performers from outside the states came in with a new perspective on music which helped defined the decade. Without any specific genre, the 90s was more of an expansion of the main genres & introductions of new ones. It was a time where musical exploration was more valid & open. So if you can only listen to one decade of music for the rest of your life, the 90s might be the option to go with.