in the 50th anniversary of punk thread, we got sidetracked into a discussion about the decline of the '80s hair bands, the '90s rise of grunge, and former Whitesnake fans moving on to things like pop-country. Delvin wrote that to some:
" the grunge bands were too depressing, didn't put enough fun and sex into their music, looked and dressed as if they rolled out of bed and put whatever dirty laundry they could find on the floor back on."
I read that, and thought: Damn, sounds like what me and my friends said about grunge! Tho we didn't get into Garth Brooks - we (and many others) moved into Golden Age hip-hop and, to a lesser degree, electronica and New Jack Swing. And it absolutely WAS fun, sexy, stylish and - important for us single fellas on the prowl - danceable. Girls liked it.
Hip-hop /electro-dance in the '80s was pretty niche, very much an underground scene, apart from the occasional breakout RunDMC hit. So why was there such an explosion by the '90s? Well, apart from the decline of the hair-farmers, we've talked about how by the late '80s, college rock seemed to be losing its sizzle. Grunge was no fun, "country" was crap. So thousands hit the dance floor, shouting "Push it! Wiggle It! Everybody JUMP!" Sure, it could be silly fun, but the alt crowd could dig it, because sonically it was pretty avant-garde, it was racially/culturally diverse with many female performers, and (some knucklehead rappers notwithstanding) often free of the dumb sexism of '80s poodle-heads.
By the '90s, rapping was evolving from strictly partytime rhymes to a more proactive, rebellious attitude that us former punks could relate to a lot more than disco-y early hip-hop. We easily moved from "Rise Above!" to "Fight The Power!" A lot of grunge seemed like it wasn't about rebelling against the system, but just giving up. Nirvana admitted they were greatly inspired by bands like The Pixies and Husker Du, but those bands covered a whole gamut of emotions. Funny, positive, romantic songs would be mixed in with the darker ones. Grunge, however, left out those lighter emotions far too often, leaving it feeling thematically lop-sided. Hip-hop seemed more well-rounded.
Hip-hop and electro rave stuff used many of the same sonic tools, so fans of one were often fans of the other. They both fed off of each other. If you were a white British guy who loved hip-hop, you probably wisely decided "Er, maybe I shouldn't rap about ghetto life. Or rap at all." But you could still get in on the action with instrumentals/turntablism/sampling. And lo! electronica exploded. For the first time, you could walk into a record store, and the "electronic" section wasn't just a lonely bin in the back with old Wendy Carlos and Tangerine Dream albums, but up front, boasting so, so many new artists and releases. There was a lot of excitement for it in youth/pop culture. Yes, there was way too much sound-alike (
thump-thump-thump) techno, but at its best, the likes of MARRS, 808 State, Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, The KLF (and its various spin-offs), Coldcut, etc brought a fresh energy that many found missing from the ol' four-white-guys-with-electric-guitars routine.
So,...does Digital Underground have Pearl Jam to thank for everyone doin the Humpty Dance?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2026 11:03AM by MrFab.
