The era of 1990s in worldwide music was one of the most influential for the variety of different music genres, as it was filled with new types of rap, pop music, alternative rock and heavy metal music. Moreover, the period of 1990s was also one of the most interesting ages due to the dramatic number of performers and musical bands that produced only one musical hit, popular till nowadays; however, they wouldn`t be recognized for their other songs.
The beginning of the age was marked with the creation of different music genres that became the parts of the mainstream those years. For example, techno music with bands like Technotronic and C+C Music Factory and their outstanding hits made a breakthrough in the genre of electronic music; moreover, the future generations of electronic music producers took their inspiration on these bands among all the others in the genre. Hip-hop music also achieved its place among the genres of mainstream of 1990s with songs of MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, Tone Loc and the others. The lyrics of the hip-hop artists combined the themes of their music career, the themes of social issues and the sexual themes, as well. It should also be mentioned, that these hip-hop performers have become the examples to follow for the later hip-hop musicians. Moreover, while the sexual and career themes prevailed the music of hip-hop and techno, the new type of rock music has also appeared. The bands like Soundgarden and Pearl Jam offered the listeners, mostly young people, the catchy choruses about teenage angst and the difficulties of the young boys and girls. Moreover, the appearance of Nirvana on music stage changed drastically the whole rock scene, as the band became one of the pioneers for the grunge music.
The appearance of Nirvana and other alternative rock and grunge bands marked the beginning of the new period of rock popularity till the middle of 1990s, as the audience became tired of the hopelessness of these bands` music. Therefore, the “happy rock” with positive lyrics and energetic melodies appeared with the bands like Sister Hazel, Hootie and the Blowfish. Among the positive themes contradicting the negativity of the rock music of those years, the “happy rock” groups described the themes of love and relationships through their ballads and songs.
This period of “happy rock” in the middle of 1990s made the existence of new sub-genre of pop possible. The “bubblegum pop” that prevailed the mainstream pop music scene till the end of 1990s with singers like Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears that combined the catchy tunes and upbeat choruses with the energetic lyrics on romantic, sexual themes, and the themes about love and relationships. The videos of the genre became more sexual too. The period of 1990s was also the age of boys bands` increasing popularity, which reached its high point with the bands like N`Sync and The Backstreet Boys. It should also be mentioned that the tendencies that formed the basis of the pop music of 1990s undergone only slight changes till nowadays. The only thing changed, is the increasing usage of electronic melodies and rhythms, like the ones of dubstep, which is popular nowadays. However, the style, the appearance and the music structure of pop music remained the same. In addition, despite the disappearance of boys and girls bands from the Western scenes and their replacement with solo performers, the Eastern pop is still being mostly represented by such bands.
All the musicians of this age made their influence on the society and the society influenced them, as well. The musicians gave the same feeling that dominated in the society or contradicted it. The examples provided above only serve as the proof of it; therefore, the music of the 1990s has grown the population of happy “bubblegum” teenagers on the one hand, and the depressive and struggling youngsters, on another, as it is visible with the contrasting division among the music genres.
The period of 1990s has also become the period of many death among the talented musicians, singers and rappers. The well-known examples of Kurt Cobain, Cliff Burton, Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Randy Rhoads and many other outstanding musicians of their genres died in the 1990s. It is obvious that without them, the genres changed drastically, as the key elements and details of these performers simply vanished. However, I do not think that the music would have become better or worse if these deaths never happened, as every creative person changes his inner creative appeals and the desires of expression. The saddest point in their deaths that these musicians are rarely replaced by the ones of the same talent and skills, as the music nowadays has changed mostly to business, and not the process or art, where the skills and the feelings of a musician are combined to conduct a masterpiece. Everybody knows the constant usage of auto-tunes and vocoders that allow the performers not to sing in tune, which makes the popularity of unprofessionals on a music stage inevitable. I`m not trying to say that the same wouldn`t happen if the musicians of 1990s and even earlier were still alive; however, the music would have become much different and of a higher quality than nowadays.
References
Joline, M. (2011, 03 15). A journey through the music of the 1990s. Retrieved from The Bucknellian: http://bucknellian.blogs.bucknell.edu/2011/04/15/michelle-jolines-review/
The People History. (2013). Music Played in the 1990's Popular Music From the 90s. Retrieved from The People History: http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/90smusic.html
thomas10. (2011, 07 23). Famous Dead Musicians/Artists and Causes of Death (Pt 1, Age 16-36). Retrieved from last.fm: http://www.last.fm/user/thomas10/journal/2011/07/23/4i06tu_famous_dead_musiciansartists_and_causes_of_death_(pt_1,_age_16-36)
