It seems like a lot of things about the early 00's, especially around 2002 and 2003, are not cool now. In fact, the 90's seem to be more cool now than '02 and '03. Here are some examples:

- Friends (although its a 90's show, it was still popular all the way until 2004 when it ended. After watching the reruns so many times, it got old)
- Sitcoms like "Grounded For Life", "Off Center", and "Maybe It's Me" (Does anybody even remember those?) A lot of early 00's shows were cancelled after a short time. Also, The WB launched a lot of shows back then, but the only shows that prevailed are "Smallville" and "Gilmore Girls"
- Reality shows like Joe Millionaire and Married by America
- Cita (That annoying girl on BET. Thank God she's not on there anymore)
- Even Nelly, 50 Cent, and Eminem has lost their popularity since their peak in the early 00's
- and finally, thinking the war with Iraq is a good idea, believing that there are WMD's, supporting Bush, and hating the French (and calling French Fries "Freedom Fries") seem to be really uncool now.

Boy bands c.2000-2001 aren't really cool anymore.

50 Cent is way more of a mid '00s star. He didn't hit it big until 2003, and had a ton of hits in 2005.

50 Cent is way more of a mid '00s star. He didn't hit it big until 2003, and had a ton of hits in 2005.



Yeah 50 Cent didnt become well know until Get rich or die tryin' in 2003 and had another hit album in 2005. He's not really early 00's.

I stand corrected. 50 Cent debuted in 2003, and he is not past his peak. However, Ja Rule and Ashanti are some other ones from the early 00's that are.

I stand corrected. 50 Cent debuted in 2003, and he is not past his peak. However, Ja Rule and Ashanti are some other ones from the early 00's that are.



Oh yeah, Ja Rule is long past his peak(by like 5 years). Ashanti is still popular but also past her peak.

I stand corrected. 50 Cent debuted in 2003, and he is not past his peak. However, Ja Rule and Ashanti are some other ones from the early 00's that are.


Those I would probably agree on. Ashanti's big year was 2002 which is still early '00s. Ja Rule has had hits in 2003 and 2004 so he's still been pretty popular towards the middle of the decade, but generally Ja Rule is more of a 2001/2002 thing as well.

I stand corrected. 50 Cent debuted in 2003, and he is not past his peak. However, Ja Rule and Ashanti are some other ones from the early 00's that are.


Ja Rule, Ashanti, and even Jay-Z seem to be early '00s things that are past their peak, along with say Alicia Keys. Also, I think nu metal was still pretty big 2001-2003, The White Stripes were cooler back then...I agree that some TV has lost its popularity. Like that whole brand of sitcoms such as "Grounded for Life" and "Malcolm in the Middle" that batfan mentioned, and "The West Wing" and some of the older HBO shows.

Ja Rule, Ashanti, and even Jay-Z seem to be early '00s things that are past their peak, along with say Alicia Keys. Also, I think nu metal was still pretty big 2001-2003, The White Stripes were cooler back then...I agree that some TV has lost its popularity. Like that whole brand of sitcoms such as "Grounded for Life" and "Malcolm in the Middle" that batfan mentioned, and "The West Wing" and some of the older HBO shows.


Alicia Keys was still huge in 2004 and even early 05. The others I'd probably agree on.

Puddle of Mudd, Staind, Default, Pink, J-Lo, City High, Michelle Branch, Nelly Furtado, probably Nelly too (his peak was early '00s) are other mainly early '00s artists.

Puddle of Mudd, Staind, Default, Pink, J-Lo, City High, Michelle Branch, Nelly Furtado, probably Nelly too (his peak was early '00s) are other mainly early '00s artists.



Wow, City High i'd forgot all about them. Yeah I think Nelly's peak was arguably 2001.

Add Enrique Iglesias, Craig David, B2K, Vanessa Carlton, Eve to the list as well.

Yeah, Jennifer Lopez has fallen precipitously from being one of the biggest celebrities and radio stars to being just a minor star. Pink and Michelle Branch and Christina Aguilera and even Jessica Simpson (for her music) fall into this category as well, of early '00s artists who were huge around 2002. Even Eminem is sorta past his peak, which was probably like 2002. I also think those velour tracksuits with writing on the ass were much bigger in the early '00s. Other very dead fashion things are the craze for exposed thong underwear c. 2001-2002, Hot Topic type clothing and slogan T-shirts ('90s holdover like Nu Metal), and some neo-hippie fashion from c. 2000. There's sort of this whole thing of things from the late '90s being vaguely cool through 2002, like Marilyn Manson-type shock rock, late '90s pop-rock, even early-mid '90s holdovers like The Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, The Stone Temple Pilots, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Grunge.

the craze for exposed thong underwear c. 2001-2002,
Ah, exposed thong underwear I remember those days vividly. My school became very uptight about exposed underwear, but us students obviously didn't mind  ;D the good old days of promiscuous high school fashion.

Nuuu Metal.  :D

Battlebots  ::)

Boy bands
Battlebots
Limp Bizkit

Jennifer Lopez may very well be the artist who's most precipitously fallen since 2002 or so, you never hear anything about her anymore...I suppose she's just past her peak, and she was waaay overexposed.

Jennifer Lopez may very well be the artist who's most precipitously fallen since 2002 or so, you never hear anything about her anymore...I suppose she's just past her peak, and she was waaay overexposed.


Yea she has definitely fallen. "All I Have" in early 2003 with LL Cool J was her last huge hit. She was one of my favorites around 2001 or so.

Puddle of Mudd, Staind, Default, Pink, J-Lo, City High, Michelle Branch, Nelly Furtado, probably Nelly too (his peak was early '00s) are other mainly early '00s artists.


Wow was I wrong on Nelly Furtado, I wasn't expecting her to comeback back then, but I'm glad she did.

The early 2000s are a long time ago. 2002, that's 5 years ago.

dressing like a slut

The early 2000s are a long time ago. 2002, that's 5 years ago.


XDD 5 years is not long.

Let's see...

Trucker hats, boy bands (although individual members are doing fine, especially Justin Timberlake) and I think that Britney is definitely past her peak (even if she garners attention as being a slob.) Nu Metal is also dead. I was in 7th/8th grade when Limp Bizkit was at its peak, and I regret buying their sheesh.

One thing I'd like to see go away that's popular now is the whole "uggs/leggings" combination on girls, as well as Emo culture.

Nu Metal is pretty much dead, now if only Emo could die too!  ;D

Nu Metal is pretty much dead, now if only Emo could die too!  ;D


AMEN!

Craig David,
Limp Bizkit(99-01 period though)
Jagged Edge(97-01 period mainly even though they scored a hit in 2003),
112(more like 96-01 period even though they had a hit in the middke portion of 2005)
Jay-Z
Ginuwine(96-02 period)
B2K

Jeez R&B like 112, Jagged Edge, and Ginuwine has really faded out the past couple of years.

A fashion like Baggy Jeans is still around but fading fast and even was fading a couple of years ago. Baggy Jeans is more like a 1994-2002 thing. Style seems to be going back to the early 80's in terms of clothes that fit.

A fashion like Baggy Jeans is still around but fading fast and even was fading a couple of years ago. Baggy Jeans is more like a 1994-2002 thing. Style seems to be going back to the early 80's in terms of clothes that fit.





oh ya, now that you mention it....it's been awhile since I've seen guys walking around with their jeans clear down to near their knees and their boxers hanging out. :D

Now that it's 2007, it seems that the early 00's are really out of date. The other day I heard an Ashanti song on the radio (I think it was "Rain On Me", or one of the songs from 2002), and it had me thinking how out of date that song was. I think I feel that way especially toward 2002 since that was one of the most dull and depressing years of this decade, probably because it was immediately following 9/11/01, but I also have a lot of bad personal memories from that year.

Redneck jokes...they got really old, really fast.

I agree.

It seems like a lot of things about the early 00's, especially around 2002 and 2003, are not cool now. In fact, the 90's seem to be more cool now than '02 and '03. Here are some examples:

- Friends (although its a 90's show, it was still popular all the way until 2004 when it ended. After watching the reruns so many times, it got old)
- Sitcoms like "Grounded For Life", "Off Center", and "Maybe It's Me" (Does anybody even remember those?) A lot of early 00's shows were cancelled after a short time. Also, The WB launched a lot of shows back then, but the only shows that prevailed are "Smallville" and "Gilmore Girls"
- Reality shows like Joe Millionaire and Married by America
- Cita (That annoying girl on BET. Thank God she's not on there anymore)
- Even Nelly, 50 Cent, and Eminem has lost their popularity since their peak in the early 00's
- and finally, thinking the war with Iraq is a good idea, believing that there are WMD's, supporting Bush, and hating the French (and calling French Fries "Freedom Fries") seem to be really uncool now.


i'd say calling french fries "freedom fries" was never very popular.

I also agree with that one.

Freedom Fries.....  ;D

i'd say calling french fries "freedom fries" was never very popular.



Definitely, that was never cool, always was considered a joke.

XFL

An actress like Julia Stiles: whatever happened to her? She had a hit movie with "Saved The Last Dance" but than she just went off the radar screen.

Britney Spears  ::)

Britney Spears  ::)
She's still awesome but  8)

i'd say calling french fries "freedom fries" was never very popular.

I think it's stupid too.Why down aN ENTIRE ETHNIC GROUP BECAUSE THEY DON'T AGREE WITH OUR PRESIDENT?

Other very dead fashion things are the craze for exposed thong underwear c. 2001-2002,

Are you sure this is dead? I've seen a fair number of girls with the exposed thong-look from 2004 through 2006. I distinctly remember seeing a girl dressed this way as recently as July, 2006.

I thought it was so funny the first time I saw it, though! I was thinking, hey, those kids really need to pull their pants back up!  ;D

Britney Spears  ::)
Um she was cool from 1999-2001 musically. Since than she has been more famous for her personal life than for her music the last few years. I have heard she is in the process of working on a new album though.

- Cita (That annoying girl on BET. Thank God she's not on there anymore)


I have to agree with Cita. Man that show got under my skin.  ;D

Wow, City High i'd forgot all about them. Yeah I think Nelly's peak was arguably 2001.
Yeah Nelly his last big hit was "Grillz" in early 2006. He's had a couple hits chart in 2008 I think but they've charted at #43 and #42(Party People w/Fergie)on the Billboard Hot 100.

Yeah Nelly his last big hit was "Grillz" in early 2006. He's had a couple hits chart in 2008 I think but they've charted at #43 and #42(Party People w/Fergie)on the Billboard Hot 100.



Wow, I made that post over 2 years ago. ;D

But yeah, I agree about Nelly. He was really popular in the early '00s, with songs like "Country Grammer" and "Ride With Me", but kind of faded out pretty quick a few years back. I actually kind of like some of his early songs.

Cell phones.

Now everybody has one, how cool can they be?
???

You know, I've been going back recently and reading some of my old video game and anime magazines from the 2000-2003 period (okay, 2003 isn't early 00s, but oh well) and I really have realized how dated a lot of the things have become.  I used to think that 2000 and 2001 were the only really dated years, but 2002 is now quite dated and even 2003 is showing its age.  Its honestly hard to believe because it didn't really seem dated until I really started looking at things and comparing them to today.  The fact that I was looking through magazines also really helped show the age, as magazines tend to pack in plenty of references to current events.

Some of the major differences.  This list will emphasize video games and animation since those are the magazines I looked through:

- VHS was still a player back then.  Most stuff was released on both DVD and VHS.  That era is gone now.
- Old fashioned cel animation was still popular in the theaters, like Lilo and Stitch.  Despite Lilo and Stitch being one of the biggest cartoon hits of 2002, Disney and everyone else abandoned 2D cel animation shortly afterward.  Its all CGI animation now and I miss 2D animation being in theaters.
- Video games back then were transitioning from the Playstation/Nintendo 64 era to the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox era.  The Gamecube and Xbox are dead and PS2 is on life support, but still chugging along.  In the early 00s, Sony was by far the dominant game company with Nintendo being in last place.  Now, Nintendo is the dominant company and Sony is in last place.
- Speaking of video games, the video game market in 2000 and 2001 had more of a "classic" feel (although 2001 is arguably the transition from that era to today).  Starting in 2002, online play started to become more common, shooting games took off (one of my 2002 magazines attributes the sudden growth of shooting games to the war-happy American mindset of the post 9/11 2001-2003 era), American companies completely overtook Japanese game companies (easily the dominant region for games in the 90s), and the systems of the late 90s died out.  -
- Starting in 2003, game stores started to liquidate their old 2D games from the 80s and 90s.  It used to be you could find a ten year old game in game stores easily, but not now.
- The Japanese animation (anime) market was growing by leaps and bounds in the early 00s, climaxing with the anime film Spirited Away winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Picture of 2002.  Today, there are more anime fans then there were back then, but the industry is struggling.  This is because most new anime fans watch their anime online (not an option for most early 00s internet users) and refuse to buy DVDs.
- The style of anime changed too, but not as much as one would think.  Surprisingly enough, many anime shows from the early 00s have actually aged rather well and still appear to be very current.  Same goes for a lot of American animation, like Spongebob.
- The Teen Pop era of the late 90s/early 00s dated extremely quickly.  It went from extremely popular in early 2001 to extremely unpopular in early 2002.
- The clothes are distinctly out of fashion now and appear to be "dull" compared to modern fashion.  I also remember a lot of goths (now extinct in my area) wearing these pants.  My god, were these pants horrible.
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w259/sonikuu/sheeshtypants.jpg
- Nu Metal was, of course, popular, and lasted until 2004.  Hardcore Rap was also still popular (Eminem, DMX, etc.), most likely as a holdover from 90s Gangsta Rap.  Rappers today like to say they're hardcore, but they spend their time talking about their cars and women, whereas rappers like Eminem and DMX talked about how they were going to personally kick your ass.

Perhaps some day I'll post some scans of my magazines from this era.  It really is amazing how dated the early 00s are now.  Even the little things like the ads are dated.

Cell phones.

Now everybody has one, how cool can they be?
???
I hated cell phones back then and still hate those damn things!

You know, I've been going back recently and reading some of my old video game and anime magazines from the 2000-2003 period (okay, 2003 isn't early 00s, but oh well) and I really have realized how dated a lot of the things have become.  I used to think that 2000 and 2001 were the only really dated years, but 2002 is now quite dated and even 2003 is showing its age.  Its honestly hard to believe because it didn't really seem dated until I really started looking at things and comparing them to today.  The fact that I was looking through magazines also really helped show the age, as magazines tend to pack in plenty of references to current events.



Great post and I totally agree. I was in high school in the early '00s and there really have been alot of changes since then. Most of the people that go to my old high school today seem to be totally different than the students were when I was there. A good bit of the music is outdated, maybe not as much as songs from 1990 might have been by 1998 but still , groups like the Backstreet Boys/O-Town/LFO/Limp Bizkit/Kid Rock/etc. certainly sound outdated today.

On the point of video games, I also agree. Platform games were still alot more popular then than they are today. Spyro The Dragon and Crash Bandicoot had several outstanding games on the original Playstation, and Super Mario 64 and Donkey Kong 64 were both landmark platform games on the Nintendo 64. 2001 was sort of a turning point year for games, with Halo and Grand Theft Auto III both coming out late that year. After that, the rise of FPS games and GTA knock-offs that we are currently in began.

It's weird because that time seem like just yesterday to me. Sometimes, I have to remind myself that 2000 was already 8 years ago.

Peaceful Dudes who post below me

Vitamin C

Vitamin C


The actual Vitamin or the singer? lol

Vitamin C
Yeah I was thinking about her a month ago. She had a couple hits and than she went off into obscurity.

Great post and I totally agree. I was in high school in the early '00s and there really have been alot of changes since then. Most of the people that go to my old high school today seem to be totally different than the students were when I was there. A good bit of the music is outdated, maybe not as much as songs from 1990 might have been by 1998 but still , groups like the Backstreet Boys/O-Town/LFO/Limp Bizkit/Kid Rock/etc. certainly sound outdated today.

On the point of video games, I also agree. Platform games were still alot more popular then than they are today. Spyro The Dragon and Crash Bandicoot had several outstanding games on the original Playstation, and Super Mario 64 and Donkey Kong 64 were both landmark platform games on the Nintendo 64. 2001 was sort of a turning point year for games, with Halo and Grand Theft Auto III both coming out late that year. After that, the rise of FPS games and GTA knock-offs that we are currently in began.

It's weird because that time seem like just yesterday to me. Sometimes, I have to remind myself that 2000 was already 8 years ago.


As far as video games go, its amazing that things changed as quick as they did.  Reading through my magazines from the early 00s (currently going into late 2002 at the moment), the look and feel of video games changed completely from 2000 to 2002.  Games have changed drastically since 2006 as well, but not nearly as much as how things changed between 2000 and 2002.  

One of my video game magazines from 2002 (Electronic Gaming Monthly) points out in its August 2002 issue the latest trends in video games: shooting games, licensed games (games based on movies, comic books, etc.), Grand Theft Auto III copycats, cel shading (3D games with graphics done similar to 2D animation.  A trend I miss because it was really unique yet was only popular for a year or two), and, what they consider to be the most important trend, the sudden explosion of violent, "mature" games.  Those type of games had always been around, but the magazine notes that the amount of games of that nature skyrocketed in 2002, spurred by the success of Grand Theft Auto III and Halo in late 2001.

By way of comparison, 2000 still had a fairly classic feel to it.  Shooting games had some extremely popular games that year, but it didn't overwhelm gaming like it did in 2002 and certainly was not the most popular genre.  Platforming games were commonplace, Japanese RPGs were at the peak of their popularity (they are struggling today), Sega was still making game systems with the Dreamcast, 2D fighting games still had a level of popularity (I remember everyone loved to play Marvel vs Capcom 2 at the arcade), Nintendo was still using old school cartridges, and the Game Boy (introduced in 1989) was still around, just in a color version.  By 2002, the Dreamcast, Game Boy, cartridges for non-portable game systems, and 2D fighting games were pretty much dead.  RPGs and Platformers were still existent and would decline slowly, rather than suddenly dying off.

I'd say video games were one of the areas of pop culture where things changed drastically from the 90s early on in the decade.  Most areas of pop culture still some degree of 90s influence in 2002, but video games kicked the 90s to the curb fairly quickly.

Most game systems last about five years before the new one comes out, so the next generation of games will start around 2010/2011.  I think we'll see a repeat performance of what happened in the early 00s and the video game industry of the 2010s will cast aside the 00s with ease.

^ Yeah, I've noticed that too about the lifespan of videogames and systems getting shorter too. For example, the NES was popular for a long time, it just got "less hot". I remember a Nintendo Power magazine article from around 1993 (when the Super NES and the original Gameboy were co-existing with it) that said something to the effect of the original Nintendo being "still the big one", where they mentioned how even though it was around for about 7 years by that point, the games were still decently popular and selling.


Overall I think you're right too, about 2003 even starting to look dated (just because "older stuff" like VHS were still hanging around a little bit). I guess that happens after 4 or 5 years, especially when it comes to technology and the "look" of things.

Ja Rule  ;D

I wish rap would suddenly go away like Disco did in 1979.

Hmm, I do remember the front flip and dyed in the front being more popular back then. The whole 70s-skater-nostalgic-long hair-hoodie teenage boy look wasnt really as popular in 01 or 02 as it is now, though I wouldn't call it unusual to see long hair back then, just not as popular. Also, a lot of pop has definitely died out, like Shrek-esque and all those Smash Mouth songs everyone use to sing (and for the record I do love Shrek and Smash Mouth, just not a hundred 8 year olds singing "I'm a believer", not knowing it was made 40 years earlier initially :)).

I wish rap would suddenly go away like Disco did in 1979.


Disco didn't go away in 1979.  It survived briefly into the early 80s before transforming into what was known as Hi-NRG

Disco didn't go away in 1979.  It survived briefly into the early 80s before transforming into what was known as Hi-NRG

I've lectured on this topic myself.

Anyway, I think the '00s will be the least "cool" decade since the 1930s!
:o