I'm not condoning either one, as both are equally irritating for different reasons, but as of lately, a lot of bling/crunk rap seems to be out and all the freshies in my school are dressing emo, rather than ghetto just two years ago. I dont know if this is just a local thing, so I want to know what you guys think?

There's a such thing as glam rap? :o

Is it similiar to the glam rock that David Bowie used to do?

Well, I consider all the crunk/snap rap sheesh and post-1996 popular rap to be glam rap, because its similar to the hairmetal of the 80's in that its totally superficial and fake. Its not a universal term yet though :)

I'm not condoning either one, as both are equally irritating for different reasons, but as of lately, a lot of bling/crunk rap seems to be out and all the freshies in my school are dressing emo, rather than ghetto just two years ago. I dont know if this is just a local thing, so I want to know what you guys think?


Okay, let's use another word than "ghetto", especially since everyone doesn't dress the same in what you perceive to be "the hood". I hate that term. Emo is more or less a middle-class phenomenon; therefore, it's not replacing anything considering the smaller sect of followers.

Well, I consider all the crunk/snap rap sheesh and post-1996 popular rap to be glam rap, because its similar to the hairmetal of the 80's in that its totally superficial and fake. Its not a universal term yet though :)


I know I never heard of it being used.

Is this a Decadeology thread? ???

Neither genre I'd say has replaced each other. Remember Gangsta rap broke out in 1992 at the same time grunge was huge. Both grunge (1991-96) and west coast rap (1992-96) had their heyday at the same period of time, but neither replaced the other. Gangsta rap ended with Death Row Record's dissolution and the deaths of Tupac and Biggie, and the grunge era ended when Soundgarden broke up in April 1997. Some people say that as grunge began to decline, rap began to replace rock music in popularity among teen audiences, but I'd say thats highly debatable.

IMO it appears Emo is at the point grunge was at in 1996.  In a couple years it will be gone, if not sooner.

The glam rap era is on its last legs, I'd expect a major shift in hip hop to happen around 2011.  Hopefully a G-funk revival. :)

Is this a Decadeology thread? ???


That is a good question.

Although my knowledge of decadelogy is very limited.

I'm not condoning either one, as both are equally irritating for different reasons, but as of lately, a lot of bling/crunk rap seems to be out and all the freshies in my school are dressing emo, rather than ghetto just two years ago. I dont know if this is just a local thing, so I want to know what you guys think?



I don't really see a whole lot of people dressing in the "Emo" style around here. I don't really recall seeing too many people into that kind of music, but the last year that I was in high school was back in 2004/2005, and at that time rap was still extremely popular.


Is this a Decadeology thread? ???



It resembles it a bit, but it's not full fledged "Is 1999 more like 1799 or 1899" decadeology ;)

Rap isn't as prevalent as it was a few years ago, but Emo hasn't replaced it.  In fact, Emo seems to be in massive decline.  Emo kids were once extremely commonplace around here, but now they're going extinct.  "Real Emo" as a whole seems to have really taken a hit as the "Pop Emo" of Fall Out Boy and other similar bands (who also happen to be popular among the Emo fanbase) replaced it and got the key teenage girl audience (much more valuable than the angst filled teenage guy audience).  The only real Emo band with a fanbase left is My Chemical Romance who manages to appeal to that previously mentioned teenage girl demographic.

The last time true, whiny, heartbroken Emo was really commonplace around here as 2006.  Nowadays, I see more hatred and dislike of Emo kids than I actually see Emo kids.  The backlash against the Emo trend now, ironically, seems to be more popular than the Emo trend that is so hated.  Even my mom, when she goes to my little brother's high school to pick him up for appointments or early release days, has commented on the lack of Emo kids.

There are less people wearing Hip Hop style clothing, as the topic creator mentioned, but there are even less people wearing Emo clothing around here.  If anything, I'd say the amount of people dressed casually, not as a stereotype, has increased.  People still wear tight pants (an Emo stereotype), but not as part of an Emo outfit.  Of course, things may be different in your area.

^ I would agree with that, I think most music styles get really commercialized towards the end of their span (either with going pop or with more ballads), and that seems to be true with Emo, at least from what I've seen.

Would you also agree that girls tend to drive pop music more than guys? Not to stereotype but it does seem like *on average* girls/young women are trendier and more into it than men are. Like that's what drove the Beatles in the early days, as well as the two teenpop eras in the late '80s and late '90s...girls who thought the bandmembers were hot. Not that anything is wrong with that, lol.

Rap isn't as prevalent as it was a few years ago, but Emo hasn't replaced it.  In fact, Emo seems to be in massive decline. 




I don't really see a whole lot of people dressing in the "Emo" style around here. I don't really recall seeing too many people into that kind of music, but the last year that I was in high school was back in 2004/2005, and at that time rap was still extremely popular.




Okay, after reading all these replies, I guess the whole emo culture is just local...meaning it will be dead before long  ;D! idk, I guess that means pop culture as a whole is officially at a stand still (of course, I thought it had been for years  :D), like in '89 - mid '91 and '79 - '81. Does that mean 2010 or even 2009 could be when the next cultural shift takes place? Most shifts happen in the second year of a decade ('71 prog rock, '81 MTV, '91 grunge, and '01 9/11) but things have gotten so bad so fast, unlike the latter part of aforementioned decades where things merely got stale (this decade has been stale all along, except maybe '02- '05, now pop culture is beyond stale).

NEW QUESTION - When will the next pop culture shift (the next MTV, next Nirvana, etc.) occur?

Okay, after reading all these replies, I guess the whole emo culture is just local...meaning it will be dead before long  ;D! idk, I guess that means pop culture as a whole is officially at a stand still (of course, I thought it had been for years  :D), like in '89 - mid '91 and '79 - '81. Does that mean 2010 or even 2009 could be when the next cultural shift takes place? Most shifts happen in the second year of a decade ('71 prog rock, '81 MTV, '91 grunge, and '01 9/11) but things have gotten so bad so fast, unlike the latter part of aforementioned decades where things merely got stale (this decade has been stale all along, except maybe '02- '05, now pop culture is beyond stale).

NEW QUESTION - When will the next pop culture shift (the next MTV, next Nirvana, etc.) occur?



Good question.

Of course, no one really knows for sure, but if I were to make a prediction I would also say sometime around 2011 or 2012. Pop culture is certainly as stale right now as it has ever been (IMO it's far more stale now than it was in the late '80s or even late '70s) and I don't think the same formula of cheesy rap songs, and post grunge/emo rock songs being hits cant last too much longer.

Popular music almost always changes because a new group of musical consumers start coming of age. I believe that once kids born in the later part of the '90s start becoming teenagers in the early part of the next decade, they will search for something new, and that's when what we have now will finally be put to bed.

Okay, after reading all these replies, I guess the whole emo culture is just local...meaning it will be dead before long  ;D! idk, I guess that means pop culture as a whole is officially at a stand still (of course, I thought it had been for years  :D), like in '89 - mid '91 and '79 - '81. Does that mean 2010 or even 2009 could be when the next cultural shift takes place? Most shifts happen in the second year of a decade ('71 prog rock, '81 MTV, '91 grunge, and '01 9/11) but things have gotten so bad so fast, unlike the latter part of aforementioned decades where things merely got stale (this decade has been stale all along, except maybe '02- '05, now pop culture is beyond stale).

NEW QUESTION - When will the next pop culture shift (the next MTV, next Nirvana, etc.) occur?


I'd say 2010-2012 is a good bet. I'm incredibly curious to find out just exactly what it might be. Good point about this decade being generally stale in terms of pop culture, no major shift happened, the 90s just sort of grew into the 00s.  Which is what happened when the 70s became the 80s.

EMo wasn't even that big in the first place except for that small burst of popularity from mid 2005-mid 2006 but that was about as popular as the EMO trend got I think. EMO was never as big as Glam Rap was(not even close.) Right now Glam Rap is starting to show some big declines in popularity even if the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 is a rap song which it is right now.

As for todays music this the worst music since the whole teen-pop craze of 1999-2000 and the disco era. I mean music is just really really stale right now to me. The late 80's even had better more music than this and even 1997-1998. I mean the music of 2007 and 2008 just lacks feeling to me.

As far as Glam Rap goes I think its the longest lasting musical trend since its evil rock counterpart "Hair Metal" I mean I think Hair Metal was around from 1983-1986 but it wasn;t that really popular until it got really popular from 1987-1991. I mean trends like Grunge, Disco, or both teen-pop era's of the late 80's and late 90's/early 00's didn't last as long as Glam Rap or Hair Metal did.

^ I would agree with that, I think most music styles get really commercialized towards the end of their span (either with going pop or with more ballads), and that seems to be true with Emo, at least from what I've seen.

Would you also agree that girls tend to drive pop music more than guys? Not to stereotype but it does seem like *on average* girls/young women are trendier and more into it than men are. Like that's what drove the Beatles in the early days, as well as the two teenpop eras in the late '80s and late '90s...girls who thought the bandmembers were hot. Not that anything is wrong with that, lol.


Girls definitely drive pop music more than guys.  Heck, girls drive pop culture in general more than guys.  Not only do girls tend to like bands because their members are good looking, but girls are also extremely into fashion.  Also, a lot of the biggest fans of reality tv I know are girls.  From personal experience, girls are also less likely to deviate from the mainstream pop culture than guys are.  The reason is simple: girls are much more consumerist than guys (think about the stereotypes of women: shopping, fashion, etc.  All are essentially forms of consumerism) and are more easily marketed to.  Girls have been driving pop culture since at least the debut of the Beatles, if not earlier.

NEW QUESTION - When will the next pop culture shift (the next MTV, next Nirvana, etc.) occur?

2011 is my choice year.  It is always the "1" year that sees the pop culture shift, as was the case with 1981, 1991, and 2001.  The "0" is usually similar to the decade that came before it.  

With that said, we should be seeing hints of the pop culture shift right about now.  Late 70s Disco was a hint of 80s pop music and New Wave started in the late 70s (although The Knack were completely different from A Flock of Seagulls, they were both still labelled New Wave).  The late 80s saw Rap music become mainstream and, despite the popularity of the hair bands, the slowly growing popularity of more serious Alternative bands such as REM.  The late 90s had Nu Metal (which extended until 2003 or so) and the transition of Rap from the Gangsta culture of Dr. Dre and Tupac to the materialistic culture of Puff Daddy (a culture that still dominates Rap today).  Pop culture shifts don't occur suddenly, they need to build up first and that build up usually occurs in the later part of the previous decade.

With that said, we should be seeing hints of the coming pop culture shift right about now.  What these hints are, no one can truly say yet, as the pop culture shift has yet to occur.  I personally think the hints of the shift are the growing popularity of more serious Rap music (Common had a #1 album, Lupe Fiasco's song "Superstar" was surprisingly successful) and the recent internet driven "download our album online before its in stores for whatever price you want" model that rock bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have done.  These two trends seem like they may be hints of the coming pop culture shift, but I may be wrong.

With that said, we should be seeing hints of the coming pop culture shift right about now.  What these hints are, no one can truly say yet, as the pop culture shift has yet to occur.  I personally think the hints of the shift are the growing popularity of more serious Rap music (Common had a #1 album, Lupe Fiasco's song "Superstar" was surprisingly successful) and the recent internet driven "download our album online before its in stores for whatever price you want" model that rock bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have done.  These two trends seem like they may be hints of the coming pop culture shift, but I may be wrong.


I agree with you about the growth of serious hip hop, that'll truly be something popular in the next decade (I mean, hey, what's more anti-50 Cent (in hip hop) than Common?), since a backlash against this one is almost inevitable. Whether rap itself gets shunned from white culture and continues to be a black culture phenomenon, or is still embraced by both, is uncertain (Remember "Disco Sucks"? Disco and funk were still popular in the black community for a while afterward, until hip hop became universal there). I have a gut feeling that rock will make a big comeback in a few years, as more serious minded rock usurps the pop-emo that we're going through right now (which, ironically is far worse than the ongoing glam rap scene (except maybe Soulja Boy  8-P)). There's no doubt things will be less commercialized, as a more 90's-esque indie feel creeps in to counteract 2000's materialism and superficiality (and IGNORANCE). I certainly hope I'm right...a second 2000's is a future that seems too stale to handle.  :-\\

2011 is my choice year.  It is always the "1" year that sees the pop culture shift, as was the case with 1981, 1991, and 2001.  The "0" is usually similar to the decade that came before it. 

With that said, we should be seeing hints of the pop culture shift right about now.  Late 70s Disco was a hint of 80s pop music and New Wave started in the late 70s (although The Knack were completely different from A Flock of Seagulls, they were both still labelled New Wave).  The late 80s saw Rap music become mainstream and, despite the popularity of the hair bands, the slowly growing popularity of more serious Alternative bands such as REM.  The late 90s had Nu Metal (which extended until 2003 or so) and the transition of Rap from the Gangsta culture of Dr. Dre and Tupac to the materialistic culture of Puff Daddy (a culture that still dominates Rap today).  Pop culture shifts don't occur suddenly, they need to build up first and that build up usually occurs in the later part of the previous decade.

With that said, we should be seeing hints of the coming pop culture shift right about now.  What these hints are, no one can truly say yet, as the pop culture shift has yet to occur.  I personally think the hints of the shift are the growing popularity of more serious Rap music (Common had a #1 album, Lupe Fiasco's song "Superstar" was surprisingly successful) and the recent internet driven "download our album online before its in stores for whatever price you want" model that rock bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have done.  These two trends seem like they may be hints of the coming pop culture shift, but I may be wrong.


Excellent point. I believe like what happened to rock with the alternative boom in the early 90s is currently happening to hip hop, though we won't see it explode until about 2011. The Radiohead/ Nine Inch Nails "give it away free a week before release" model is definitely a hint of a big sea change in the way music is consumed. Music will transition from being a so called "product" into something more along the lines of a utility that feels like its free. Theres talk of an iTunes unlimited model where people pay a little extra for an iPod and in return can download as much as they want from iTunes for as long as they have the device. Warner Music also hired a guy with the intention of making internet users have an extra $5 fee tacked onto their ISPs and in return download as much music from file sharing networks as they want. I hope it happens. :)

Apparently, it is very difficult to beat piracy.  I heard that the unlimited Itunes would be somewhat cheap, like $40 - $50.  Since the average person only downloads 20 songs (for $20), if Apple can get $40 - $50 for unlimited use, then they are ahead of the game.  That is good for us music enthusiasts!!!!!

Apparently, it is very difficult to beat piracy.  I heard that the unlimited Itunes would be somewhat cheap, like $40 - $50.  Since the average person only downloads 20 songs (for $20), if Apple can get $40 - $50 for unlimited use, then they are ahead of the game.  That is good for us music enthusiasts!!!!!



Yeah it would help to stabilize things, as well as finally adapted the industry to the unlimited way people consume music in the digital age.

Speaking of the next pop culture shift, I have to revise my earlier statement. Given how stale and tired our current pop culture is, it could happen as early as 2009. Here's  why. Bill Clinton being elected President in 92' pretty much solidifed the 90s.  President George H.W. Bush's 4 year term as President sort of marked a transition between the 80s and the 90s (1989-92 was that period). If a Democrat is elected as President this year, there will be no such thing, and the culture shift will happen much quicker and be more earth shattering than than the one that happened in the early 90s.

Not to mention we are already experiencing a possible recession. Regardless whether it is one or not, its much worse than the mild downturn of post 9/11 2001. THe 1990-91 recession, accompanied with the Gulf War, and finally Rodney King was the biggest in a trilogy of events that started with Black Monday 1987 that ultimately killed off the 80s.

The pattern is repeating itself, but much earlier. I'd say by 2010 things will be the equivilent they were in 1992 culturally.

Not to mention we are already experiencing a possible recession. Regardless whether it is one or not, its much worse than the mild downturn of post 9/11 2001. THe 1990-91 recession, accompanied with the Gulf War, and finally Rodney King was the biggest in a trilogy of events that started with Black Monday 1987 that ultimately killed off the 80s.

The pattern is repeating itself, but much earlier. I'd say by 2010 things will be the equivilent they were in 1992 culturally.


That's a really good point, presidential elections really shift the mood of the country and that's reflected in pop culture. I'd say it takes about a year in office for it to really start taking effect. Some time in 1993 it felt like that fringey "inbetween" era (where it was generally the Nineties in overall "cool" pop culture, but you had alot of '80s holdovers too) was gone and the Internet/Starbucks era was just starting to get off the ground.

Same thing with Reagan defining MTV culture by 1982ish. I guess the difference was that Bush One was a Republican too, which might be why the '90s came in slowly over his term before it was totally saturated. I think when a different side comes into office, it changes the mood quicker. Like Dubya's election - I think even before September 11th things were changing, like reality tv and the decline of boybands.

The slow death of emo will probably be seen as the "declining of the 00s" too.

That's a really good point, presidential elections really shift the mood of the country and that's reflected in pop culture. I'd say it takes about a year in office for it to really start taking effect. Some time in 1993 it felt like that fringey "inbetween" era (where it was generally the Nineties in overall "cool" pop culture, but you had alot of '80s holdovers too) was gone and the Internet/Starbucks era was just starting to get off the ground.

Same thing with Reagan defining MTV culture by 1982ish. I guess the difference was that Bush One was a Republican too, which might be why the '90s came in slowly over his term before it was totally saturated. I think when a different side comes into office, it changes the mood quicker. Like Dubya's election - I think even before September 11th things were changing, like reality tv and the decline of boybands.

The slow death of emo will probably be seen as the "declining of the 00s" too.


Good point too. Emo currently is where grunge was at in 1996. Its a good ways past its peak in popularity and definitely dying off. Even Panic at the Disco only had a minor hit this year with "Nine in the Afternoon."

I also believe that if we are going through a recession right now, its quickly killing off the "2000s materialistic/ Laguna Beach/Hills/Paris and Lindsay era" as we speak.

I also believe that if we are going through a recession right now, its quickly killing off the "2000s materialistic/ Laguna Beach/Hills/Paris and Lindsay era" as we speak.
Yeah I notice the tabloids being less newsworthy in the past year. I mean who really cares about Paris Hilton anyway? I think the tabloid news on the celebrity's was a hot product from 1999-early 2007 as far as an 00's trend goes. I credit Jennifer Lopez and Puffy's relationship for starting the whole tabliod trend thing back in 1999. I mean did we really here about celebs every move in 1998? Not to my knowledge.

Good point too. Emo currently is where grunge was at in 1996. Its a good ways past its peak in popularity and definitely dying off. Even Panic at the Disco only had a minor hit this year with "Nine in the Afternoon."



That's a good way to look at it I think.  It seems like current pop music is stuck in a state where people still like it only because nothing new has emerged yet. Maybe sort of like pop music in 1990 or 1991 when people were just waiting for something new to come along and it finally did when grunge became exploded in 1992.

Now, of course it's hard to predict these things, but I would be willing to bet that if a different sounding type of rock music were to emerge and catch on right now, it would almost immediately wipe out the remaining "post-grunge" and "emo", in the same way that hair metal was wiped out so quickly in the early '90s.


That's a really good point, presidential elections really shift the mood of the country and that's reflected in pop culture. I'd say it takes about a year in office for it to really start taking effect. Some time in 1993 it felt like that fringey "inbetween" era (where it was generally the Nineties in overall "cool" pop culture, but you had alot of '80s holdovers too) was gone and the Internet/Starbucks era was just starting to get off the ground.

Same thing with Reagan defining MTV culture by 1982ish. I guess the difference was that Bush One was a Republican too, which might be why the '90s came in slowly over his term before it was totally saturated. I think when a different side comes into office, it changes the mood quicker. Like Dubya's election - I think even before September 11th things were changing, like reality tv and the decline of boybands.

The slow death of emo will probably be seen as the "declining of the 00s" too.



I've always believed the theory that a presidential election can change, at least somewhat, the general "feeling" of an era. Decade's often define President's as well. When thinking about the '50s, President Eisenhower easily comes to mind. It's the same way with Reagan and the '80s, Clinton and the '90s, and even Bush and the '00s

With a new President, and especially if a democrat wins, I would expect the early part of the 2010's to have a different feel to it than the main part of the '00s.

Yeah I notice the tabloids being less newsworthy in the past year. I mean who really cares about Paris Hilton anyway? I think the tabloid news on the celebrity's was a hot product from 1999-early 2007 as far as an 00's trend goes. I credit Jennifer Lopez and Puffy's relationship for starting the whole tabliod trend thing back in 1999. I mean did we really here about celebs every move in 1998? Not to my knowledge.


Oh yeah, I never thought of that, but that's a good point about J Lo and Puff Daddy. I remember hearing about them all the time, lol. Even though tabloids were always around, it didn't seem as pervasive pre-1999...it was more laid back for most of the '90s.

That's a good way to look at it I think.  It seems like current pop music is stuck in a state where people still like it only because nothing new has emerged yet. Maybe sort of like pop music in 1990 or 1991 when people were just waiting for something new to come along and it finally did when grunge became exploded in 1992.

Now, of course it's hard to predict these things, but I would be willing to bet that if a different sounding type of rock music were to emerge and catch on right now, it would almost immediately wipe out the remaining "post-grunge" and "emo", in the same way that hair metal was wiped out so quickly in the early '90s.


I've always believed the theory that a presidential election can change, at least somewhat, the general "feeling" of an era. Decade's often define President's as well. When thinking about the '50s, President Eisenhower is easily comes to mind. It's the same way with Reagan and the '80s, Clinton and the '90s, and even Bush and the '00s

With a new President, and especially if a democrat wins, I would expect the early part of the 2010's to have a different feel to it than the main part of the '00s.


I think especially if a Democrat wins the 2010s will be a progressive decade that deals with social issues. The 90s were in some ways a continuation of what had been started in the 60s and 70s in terms of civil rights. The 90s had a much different feel compared to the 80s as well, which definitely had to do with Clinton being President. If I could use imagery to describe what the decade felt like the 80s seemed to be like cold, industrial, shiny metallic. For some reason I look back on the 80s and they seem almost gloomy. The 90s seemed like sunny skies, trees and big fields, until you get to the 1999 new millenium hype era. The 2000s is somewhat a revival of the 80s, but its not the same as the original 80s decade. All I can say is I hope the next decade goes back to the 1991-96 stripped down feel, which was cool because in so many ways this period paralled the late 60s and early 70s. 

I definitely think that music is now at a state where people are looking for the next big thing to wipe Emo and post grunge off the face of the earth. In my opinion the peak of emo was 2004-06 and post grunge was a late 90s leftover that lasted too many years. Both rap and rock are so commercialized and poppy now, we need a revival of hardcore, darker styles of music.

You all have pretty good points. I agree that if a democrat wins this year we will be seeing a major shift much sooner than we would normally, since that's usually what triggers a change in attitude. I also agree on the recession being very potent in driving away the tabloid obsession of this decade (at least one positive came out of it, I mean, celebrity worship is just unhealthy).

Another question comes to mind then. What exactly do you guys think will be the next trend in music, TV, and films? Even video games?

I think independent music will rise up in the next decade (we're already seeing it now with Enter Shikari and the diminishing control of the industry by the major labels) with an attitude and sound reminiscent of early nineties alternative. I think TV will have far more intelligent sitcoms as reality continues to die its slow death, and cartoons starting to get slightly better (not up to par with the 90's, but the Mighty B and Chowder are at least a step up from Jimmy Neutron and Kids Next Door). I have no clue about movies or games, but I think FPS's will die down a bit, since thats pretty much what every other big 2000's game is (**cough** Halo **cough**).

You all have pretty good points. I agree that if a democrat wins this year we will be seeing a major shift much sooner than we would normally, since that's usually what triggers a change in attitude. I also agree on the recession being very potent in driving away the tabloid obsession of this decade (at least one positive came out of it, I mean, celebrity worship is just unhealthy).

Another question comes to mind then. What exactly do you guys think will be the next trend in music, TV, and films? Even video games?

I think independent music will rise up in the next decade (we're already seeing it now with Enter Shikari and the diminishing control of the industry by the major labels) with an attitude and sound reminiscent of early nineties alternative. I think TV will have far more intelligent sitcoms as reality continues to die its slow death, and cartoons starting to get slightly better (not up to par with the 90's, but the Mighty B and Chowder are at least a step up from Jimmy Neutron and Kids Next Door). I have no clue about movies or games, but I think FPS's will die down a bit, since thats pretty much what every other big 2000's game is (**cough** Halo **cough**).


I agree with you on Independant music. The major labels now are significantly weaker compared to their height in 1999/2000. Its a good thing because independant artists have an opportunity to be heard more than they ever did as major label's ability to dictate tastes continues to diminish. The same thing will happen to the hip hop industry and give life to new creativity that has been desperately needed in that genre. But hopefully it won't be sucky, that is if Flobots "Handlebars" song is an indication of where things are going, considering they are an alternative hip hop group that seems to be getting popular lately.  I think the sound of rock probably will mirror the early 90s alternative sound considering how 90s nostalgia is starting to catch on and will be in full bloom by then. I agree that we should wach the outcome of this election closely because it is pivotal to the path pop culture will take. I for one, like many, can't wait until the Bush era is finally over.

I hope, and believe that sitcoms will come back to their 90s form considering how stale reality has gotten. I mean considering the purpose of watching tv is to be entertained, who wants to sit down for an hour and watch...well reality. The formula of "Rock of Love", "Appretice", "Idol", Flavor of Love 1,2" or however many damn sequels they decide to make, has gotten fairly beyond stale.

I also believe that if we are going through a recession right now, its quickly killing off the "2000s materialistic/ Laguna Beach/Hills/Paris and Lindsay era" as we speak.


Hey, the stock market is over 13,000 and commodities are through the roof, even with all the bad news out there.  Scary.  Just waiting to put some shorts on. 

One thing scarier than the high markets in a bad environment, is the music industry.  The success of "shake-your-booty" glam rap in this day and age.  Good singles can't even make it on the radio because of the garbage they play.

You all have pretty good points. I agree that if a democrat wins this year we will be seeing a major shift much sooner than we would normally, since that's usually what triggers a change in attitude. I also agree on the recession being very potent in driving away the tabloid obsession of this decade (at least one positive came out of it, I mean, celebrity worship is just unhealthy).

Another question comes to mind then. What exactly do you guys think will be the next trend in music, TV, and films? Even video games?

I think independent music will rise up in the next decade (we're already seeing it now with Enter Shikari and the diminishing control of the industry by the major labels) with an attitude and sound reminiscent of early nineties alternative. I think TV will have far more intelligent sitcoms as reality continues to die its slow death, and cartoons starting to get slightly better (not up to par with the 90's, but the Mighty B and Chowder are at least a step up from Jimmy Neutron and Kids Next Door). I have no clue about movies or games, but I think FPS's will die down a bit, since thats pretty much what every other big 2000's game is (**cough** Halo **cough**).


Get ready for a long post.

I would agree that a more independent form of music would emerge due to the weakening power of the major labels.  One genre that has been growing in popularity is actually Progressive Rock.  Progressive rock bands like Muse and Radiohead have huge cult followings online, so I think there is definitely a chance that Progressive Rock may continue to grow in popularity, though I doubt Progressive bands like Dream Theater (with their 20 minute songs) will ever become mainstream.  Indie Rock has been consistently growing in popularity for several years now (Arcade Fire's new album debuted at #2 despite getting zero radio airplay), so I think that will continue.

The growing popularity of a more serious form of Hip Hop, such as Common and Lupe Fiasco, will continue and Gangsta Rap may make a comeback depending on how well Dr. Dre's next (and last, supposedly) album does.  I think current Rap music will suffer from the same thing the hair bands suffered from in the early 90s: a recession helping to kill the genre.  People can't relate to music about excessive materialism when they aren't doing so well financially.  On another musical note, Adult Contemporary made a comeback in 2006 with stuff like The Fray and even though that kind of disappeared in 2007 (though still existent), I think that we haven't seen the last of the genre.

As far as tv, reality tv can go either way at this point.  Its been dying in popularity on your major networks (ABC, CBS, etc.) since 2005-ish, but for some reason it has continued to dominate on the cable and satelite tv channels, with reality shows taking over Discovery Channel and even popping up on TV Land and History Channel.  For all we know, that saturation may get even worse.  I think the fact that drama series saw a major resurgence over the past couple years (stuff like Lost and Desperate Housewives) is a very good sign.  Though they're not always my cup of tea, I'll take that over reality tv.

Movies will continue to be full of sequels, movies based on comic books/books/video games/etc., and remakes.  80s sequels and remakes have been especially popular both this year and last year (Transformers, Indiana Jones, Die Hard, TMNT, etc.), but I see this as part of 80s nostalgia and fading away by 2010.  Movies seem to be less pop culture centric than other media and tend to be fairly similar from decade to decade.  Sure, there are certain trends that occur (such as the 80s teen movie trend and 00s comic book movie trend), but movies tend to be fairly uniform from decade to decade, at least in my opinion.

Cartoons will not improve.  There will be some good ones, but the overall scene will still be crap.  Nick and Disney went down the drain years ago and Cartoon Network is too busy ruining its legacy by airing live action shows on CARTOON (key word here) Network.

Video games will be very interesting.  The success of the Nintendo Wii may mean a fading away of FPS games and other "hardcore" genres and a rise in casual mini game collections like Wii Sports and Wii Play.  To be honest, I hope that isn't the future as I think mini game collections are mostly just novelty with little depth to them.  I think the most likely scenario is a split in the market, with the Wii catering to one demographic and the PS3 and Xbox 360 both catering to a completley different demographic.  This split demographic scenario is very preferable.  I don't have a positive opinion on the Wii and hope it doesn't decide the future of gaming.  I don't have a positive opinion on the Wii.  Its hard for me to have a positive opinion on a game system that is trying to bring in groups of people who have never played video games in their life (old people have actually been a big focus for Nintendo) when I've been playing games since I was a kid.

By the way, anyone else think 2009 may be similar to 1999?  I know a lot of people think of 1999 has being the "end of the 90s" and as being the begining of the shift towards the 2000s.  I personally disagree, but this seems to be a popular viewpoint.  Of course, some of the stuff that defined 1999 had been around beforehand (like Backstreet Boys in 1998), but it didn't really explode in popularity until 1999.  Anyone else think 2009 will be the start of the transition from 00s to 2010s?  

^Good point. Regardless of even the outcome of the presidential election I believe 2009 will be the year that starts the 2010s.  1989 technically started the 90s in most peoples eyes, and definitely had a different feel than 1988. Big hair metal music was dying off by 1989, and it was even that year that bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney released their debut albums.  In 1989 Reagan was out of office and Bush 1 was in, and I believe his presidency marked a transition into the 90s. In popular music the whole big "80s synth" sound started to become more refined and polished, which would continue until about 1993 or so, when the last traces of bright 80s synth pop dissapeared. 

Dr. Dre's next album is definitely the elephant in the room in terms of Rap music's future. Dre singlehandedly jump started the gangsta rap G-funk movement in the 90s with the Chronic, and even though 2001 wasn't as groundbreaking, it was still a huge album and made an impact, despite the fact that when it was released (1999) Gansgta rap was steeply declining in popularity. The key thing is timing. If snap rap/crunk continues its decline when Dre releases his album (this June I think) it could put the West back on the map and knock out a lot of the Southern Rap that's still lingering. Another rapper worth watching is Bishop Lamont, who is supposed to release his next album sometime soon. Supposedly Lamont is Dre's next protoge (think Snoop, D.O.C. Eminem) and if Dre's next album reignites gangsta rap, Lamont could be the next huge hip hop breakout star.

I can't quite figure out rock as easily, but your right about progressive making a resurgence. Coheed and Cambria seem to be getting relatively big lately and it will be interesting to see if this is a sign of where things are heading or not. I hope more serious Independant rock makes a comeback so as to wipe the last remnants of Emo off the face of the earth.

I personally am happy, like many probably that the "classic 2000s" are coming to an end. Some decades have significance and depth (60s, early 90s) and other decades celebrate worthless excess and materialism (late 70s, 80s) and with the 00s we unfortunately got one of those.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention the name of Dre's next album is Detox.

^Good point. Regardless of even the outcome of the presidential election I believe 2009 will be the year that starts the 2010s.  1989 technically started the 90s in most peoples eyes, and definitely had a different feel than 1988. Big hair metal music was dying off by 1989, and it was even that year that bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney released their debut albums.  In 1989 Reagan was out of office and Bush 1 was in, and I believe his presidency marked a transition into the 90s. In popular music the whole big "80s synth" sound started to become more refined and polished, which would continue until about 1993 or so, when the last traces of bright 80s synth pop dissapeared. 

Dr. Dre's next album is definitely the elephant in the room in terms of Rap music's future. Dre singlehandedly jump started the gangsta rap G-funk movement in the 90s with the Chronic, and even though 2001 wasn't as groundbreaking, it was still a huge album and made an impact, despite the fact that when it was released (1999) Gansgta rap was steeply declining in popularity. The key thing is timing. If snap rap/crunk continues its decline when Dre releases his album (this June I think) it could put the West back on the map and knock out a lot of the Southern Rap that's still lingering. Another rapper worth watching is Bishop Lamont, who is supposed to release his next album sometime soon. Supposedly Lamont is Dre's next protoge (think Snoop, D.O.C. Eminem) and if Dre's next album reignites gangsta rap, Lamont could be the next huge hip hop breakout star.

I can't quite figure out rock as easily, but your right about progressive making a resurgence. Coheed and Cambria seem to be getting relatively big lately and it will be interesting to see if this is a sign of where things are heading or not. I hope more serious Independant rock makes a comeback so as to wipe the last remnants of Emo off the face of the earth.

I personally am happy, like many probably that the "classic 2000s" are coming to an end. Some decades have significance and depth (60s, early 90s) and other decades celebrate worthless excess and materialism (late 70s, 80s) and with the 00s we unfortunately got one of those.


1989 did have the start of the some of the elements of the early 90s, you're correct.  The later part of the decade usually has the seeds of the next decade in it, such as the late 90s having aspects of 00s pop culture (1997 was when Rap started to become more materialistic, for example).  The next decade's pop culture doesn't just appear out of nowhere.  It sets itself up first (in the later part of the decade) and builds up until, eventually, it becomes the dominant form of pop culture (sometime in the following decade).

As far as your statement about being happy the 00s are coming to an end...I am somewhat mixed.  While I dislike many aspects of this decade, I don't think its necessarily the terrible decade that some people here think it is.  There are definitely some aspects of the 00s that I actually liked quite a bit.  Regardless, the 00s will eventually be viewed positively in the years to come.  Every decade gets nostalgia sooner or later, no matter how negatively they were viewed at the time.  Even the 30s and 40s, despite the Great Depression and World War II, got some nostalgia (the whole "Greatest Generation working together to fight against the ultimate evil and winning" patriotic thing).

People will always complain about what is current.  Thats one thing I've noticed when I go back and look at magazines and other retro media from older times.  There will always be people complaining about how the present isn't as good as the past...then ten years later, they complain that the present isn't as good as ten years ago (even though they were complaining ten years ago as well).  I notice 2004 is viewed with more positivity now, but I remember plenty of complaints at the time.  Within five years, we'll hear complaints about how bad 2013 sucks and how 2008 was at least somewhat better.  People just have this natural instinct to view the past as better than the present.

^ Another excellent point I forgot about. People do usually look at things in a more positive light once its well in the past. I remember 2004 and despite how some may now be starting to warm to it, I think it still sucked lol. But I see your point. I think the tendancy for nostalgia amoung certain people is usually pertaining more so to older generations who weren't in touch with pop culture elements of the new decade but then look back years later and realize its not all bad.

However I doubt most of Generation X missed the 80s once they were over, except of course the older members, who couldn't get into the 90s for some reason and didn't like grunge or gangsta rap. I also don't believe too many members of Generation Y will miss the 00s, until their at least 10 years behind because their likely excited about the new decade and era thats unfolding.