With the Adult Contemp movement, rise of R&B over rap, and return of Pearl Jam  >:( it seems like it could be 1996.

Are we regressing back to the mid '90s, pop culturally?

I'm not sure we ever fully left the mid-90's pop culturally. I still think todays culture is mostly just watered down 90's. Is R&B really overtaking rap again? I know it did for a little while in the late-90's but I didnt know it was doing it again.

I'm not sure we ever fully left the mid-90's pop culturally. I still think todays culture is mostly just watered down 90's. Is R&B really overtaking rap again? I know it did for a little while in the late-90's but I didnt know it was doing it again.


Oh for sure.  But the post-apocalyptic, bright-white, preppy atmosphere somehow makes it really smack of this decade, even if a song for instance could have came out in 1996 instead of 2006. 

As for R&B, it seems like R&B and adult contemp are actually starting to take over glam rap.  This is probably a good thing  ;D

Oh for sure.  But the post-apocalyptic, bright-white, preppy atmosphere somehow makes it really smack of this decade, even if a song for instance could have came out in 1996 instead of 2006. 

As for R&B, it seems like R&B and adult contemp are actually starting to take over glam rap.  This is probably a good thing  ;D



First off, yeah R&B overtaking glam rap is a GREAT thing ;D

But, no doubt the 00's have a much different feel than the 90's. I guess I was refering more to the music of the 00's which is mostly watered down 90's music.

First off, yeah R&B overtaking glam rap is a GREAT thing ;D

But, no doubt the 00's have a much different feel than the 90's. I guess I was refering more to the music of the 00's which is mostly watered down 90's music.


Oh, I agree about the music.  That's the main similarity between now and the '90s, both decades are an alternative rock/teen pop/R&B/hip hop/adult/country construct musically speaking.  The fashion is also pretty similar.  The television, politics, technology and overall feel of the '90s is probably as close to the '80s as now.

Oh, I agree about the music.  That's the main similarity between now and the '90s, both decades are an alternative rock/teen pop/R&B/hip hop/adult/country construct musically speaking.  The fashion is also pretty similar.  The television, politics, technology and overall feel of the '90s is probably as close to the '80s as now.



Yeah, even 00's stuff like disney pop isn't that much different from the boy band craze and emo is still mainstreamed alternative rock.

Yeah, even 00's stuff like disney pop isn't that much different from the boy band craze and emo is still mainstreamed alternative rock.


'00s music is also a lot more cheesy and stupid.  But to be honest, I actually like '00s music better than '90s music, but the '90s was the last era TV ruled, so that more than compensates.  8)

'00s music is also a lot more cheesy and stupid.  But to be honest, I actually like '00s music better than '90s music, but the '90s was the last era TV ruled, so that more than compensates.  8)



Yeah, the 90's had alot of great shows. TV is really the one area that the 90's has a huge advantage over the 00's.

Yeah, the 90's had alot of great shows. TV is really the one area that the 90's has a huge advantage over the 00's.


Definitely.  Television was popular still more popular than the Internet during the '90s and even in the early '00s.

I think TV is about on par with the internet now when you count cable. I don't blame the internet on declining TV viewership, I blame '00s culture being uninspired and network TV currently being pretty unbearably crappy. I think the regression to mid-late '90s stuff like a form of adult contemporary and R&B is just genres maturing, like alternative rock matured around 1995-1996 to adult contemporary. The same thing happened in the late '80s and early '90s, to a certain extent, with the maturation of new wave and synth pop. Also, there was more "pure R&B", like Toni Braxton, that was popular in the mid-'90s than now, alot of the stuff popular now like Ne-Yo and Mario appropriates glam rap styles in a softer way. So, the maturation of genres is what I hold culprit for the return of the mid-'90s. This happened in the early '70s too, with the rise of Stevie Wonder, the Delfonics and the fall of '60s-style Aretha Franklin/Otis Redding Decca "true soul" and classic Motown. I think of it as the comparative fall of Detroit and rise of Philadelphia that was only curbed by the rise of Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder against lighter, fluffier acts like the Delfonics and the Chi-Lites and the Dreamers. And Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder were more innovative, in the first place. The Delfonics and Chi-Lites are the equivalent of Boyz II Men. R&B and real "black" music, along with adult contemporary, didn't start returning until 1986 in the '80s with Whitney Houston, so maybe this is another way 2006 parallels 1986, and the '00s parallels the '80s.

I think TV is about on par with the internet now when you count cable. I don't blame the internet on declining TV viewership, I blame '00s culture being uninspired and network TV currently being pretty unbearably crappy. I think the regression to mid-late '90s stuff like a form of adult contemporary and R&B is just genres maturing, like alternative rock matured around 1995-1996 to adult contemporary. The same thing happened in the late '80s and early '90s, to a certain extent, with the maturation of new wave and synth pop. Also, there was more "pure R&B", like Toni Braxton, that was popular in the mid-'90s than now, alot of the stuff popular now like Ne-Yo and Mario appropriates glam rap styles in a softer way. So, the maturation of genres is what I hold culprit for the return of the mid-'90s. This happened in the early '70s too, with the rise of Stevie Wonder, the Delfonics and the fall of '60s-style Aretha Franklin/Otis Redding Decca "true soul" and classic Motown. I think of it as the comparative fall of Detroit and rise of Philadelphia that was only curbed by the rise of Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder against lighter, fluffier acts like the Delfonics and the Chi-Lites and the Dreamers. And Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder were more innovative, in the first place. The Delfonics and Chi-Lites are the equivalent of Boyz II Men. R&B and real "black" music, along with adult contemporary, didn't start returning until 1986 in the '80s with Whitney Houston, so maybe this is another way 2006 parallels 1986, and the '00s parallels the '80s.


Oh it certainly also relates to the fact that tv sucks, but I do think the Internet has some effect since it's another thing to do. I also think that the cable, main and satellite networks will eventually be streamed into TV sets via the Internet.

Oh it certainly also relates to the fact that tv sucks, but I do think the Internet has some effect since it's another thing to do. I also think that the cable, main and satellite networks will eventually be streamed into TV sets via the Internet.


Yeah, I think that part of the reason people are watching less TV is that there's something else to do. Though if you're not interested in interactive entertainment, TV is still the way to go, and I'd argue people spend more actual set-aside time for TV, even if we watch less TV than my mother's generation did in the suburban '50s, '60s, and '70s. There's also more dilution of viewers with the rise of 1000-channel digital cable, which appeals to alot of people WAY more than crappy basic cable. In fact, I think cable had something to do with the decline in the quality of network TV.

I think eventually it'll be like closed internets, with wireless substituting satellite. But like a closed university internet, if you know what I mean? And there'll still be a remote control, and a group of companies will dominate it to a hilt and make sure you get it through a TV.