Do you think there was a pre-90s and post-90s, the pre-90s going from mid-1989 to mid-1991 and the post '90s going from about early 2000 to mid-2001? I think that's probably a good way of classifying it, as the '00s seemed to hit more suddenly after 9/11 without having a formative period.

'80s holdover: July 1989 - August 1991
Tha Reel '90s: September 1991 - November 1998 (although primarily 1991-1996)
Post-'90s: December 1998 - September 10, 2001

'80s holdover: July 1989 - August 1991
Tha Reel '90s: September 1991 - November 1998 (although primarily 1991-1996)
Post-'90s: December 1998 - September 10, 2001


There was enough "real '90s" from mid-1989 though, IMO, to classify it as more the pre-90s, or maybe the post-80s/pre-90s. It wasn't quite the '80s or the '90s, and it had its own weird dance music and neon-colored rap like M.C. Hammer and Vanilla Ice.

It really depends if you see Snap! and MC Hammer as more '80s or '90s.  I think they're sort of both.

It really depends if you see Snap! and MC Hammer as more '80s or '90s.  I think they're sort of both.


They're really a bridge between the underground hip-hop of the '80s and the mainstream hip-hop of the '90s, they made hip-hop acceptable to white suburban audiences. Cyndi Lauper did the same thing with the punk style at about 1983, though The Clash's London Calling, a more cleaned-up punk, started to do that for the music itself.

I think every decade has it's "pre" and it's "post" eras. Like the late 70's were showing us what was to come in the 80's - such as rap, video games, some new wave music was showing up, even Prince charted a song in 1979! And after the 80's ended, we still felt a good portion of those leftovers up until about 1991 or 1992 (depending on one's point of view)

^Well of course, it's not like everyone swapped their mullets for dreads on January 1, 1990!  ;D

Yeah.  They're cheesy, but not gangsta.

There are the rap eras IMO:

Formative Era: early 1970s - 1978
Caveman Days: 1979-1985
Golden Age: 1986-1992/'93
Gangsta: 1993-1996
Bad Boy Era: 1997-2000
Glam Era: 2001-2006+


I think until about 2002, rap was more driven by the urban market than anything else, which always has astonishing record sales. Now, suburban upper middle-class white kids have as much to do with glam rap/crunk rap's popularity as the inner city. It's a great soundtrack to self-absorption and vacuous excess. Most suburban "rap" fans nowadays only listen to Kanye West and 50 Cent, they wouldn't approach Tupac Shakur.

I think until about 2002, rap was more driven by the urban market than anything else, which always has astonishing record sales. Now, suburban upper middle-class white kids have as much to do with glam rap/crunk rap's popularity as the inner city. It's a great soundtrack to self-absorption and vacuous excess. Most suburban "rap" fans nowadays only listen to Kanye West and 50 Cent, they wouldn't approach Tupac Shakur.


I'd have to disagree on the Tupac part.  Tupac is a freaking god to wiggers.

I'd have to disagree on the Tupac part.  Tupac is a freaking god to wiggers.


To wiggers, yes, but not preppies.

I think until about 2002, rap was more driven by the urban market than anything else, which always has astonishing record sales. Now, suburban upper middle-class white kids have as much to do with glam rap/crunk rap's popularity as the inner city. It's a great soundtrack to self-absorption and vacuous excess. Most suburban "rap" fans nowadays only listen to Kanye West and 50 Cent, they wouldn't approach Tupac Shakur.



It's amazing how a genre will just take off once it wins over those upper middle-class white kids isint it? ;D

I think the target audience for rap nowadays is upper middle-class white kids in BosNePhilWash and other big urban centers like San Francisco, Seattle, the Texas cities, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan.

I think the target audience for rap nowadays is upper middle-class white kids in BosNePhilWash and other big urban centers like San Francisco, Seattle, the Texas cities, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan.



Mostly because those are the guys that have the money to go out and buy a new rap record as soon as it comes out. Inner city kids dont necessarily have the money to run out and buy a new record as soon as it comes out.

^Well of course, it's not like everyone swapped their mullets for dreads on January 1, 1990!  ;D


Yeah - so basically that answers the question of the whole thread - lol  ;)
There will always be a pre and a post to a decade.

The real 90's for me started late summer 1991 when Kurt and Nirvana started making waves. Really they ushered in the decade. I remember distinctly, 15 years old driving home from the beach late august with my older brothers and sisters, lamenting the fact school started in two weeks. some grainy college station played Nirvana........"What was that???" It was the 90's.

the 90's can really be broken up into 3 sections. 1991-1994 was the music pop culture revolution of the 90's. Seinfeld, Nirvana/Pearl Jam Grunge, Simpsons, 90's fashion etc.

1994-1996. Nothing much happened here, the 90's were in limbo. Though we have the beginnings of a technological revolution. Still most people don't know what the hell and internet is. Cell Phones are the size of bananas

1997-2001 - another music/pop culture/technological revolution that lasted probably until 9/11 when we lost our innocence again and the 00's era of fear, panic, economic hardship, war, and terrorism.

how I yearn for the 90's