The 1990’s – The Melting Pot Of Music

The 1990’s introduced the world to the widest variety of music any single decade had ever experienced. An explosion of music sub genres hit the music scene and introduced a variety of new sounds.

Albeit the 1980’s introduced the masses to the notion of Hip Hop, Rap, and R&B music, the 1990’s is where the genres found solid footing. Artists like Brandy, Lauren Hill, Mariah Carey, and Brian McKnight ripped up the charts with new rhythms, lyrics, and vocals, and R&B groups like TLC, Destiny’s Child, and Boys II Men, were experiencing great success.

Teen Pop ala Britney Spears, the Spice Girls, Take That, Backstreet Boys, and N*Sync, thrived through the 90’s, expanding on a foundation of pop laid by Madonna and Michael Jackson. The Teen Pop Princesses and The Boy Bands introduced dance choreography as an enormous part of music performance.

Dance was a large part of the 90’s – replacing 80’s moves like the sprinkler and the shopping cart with break dancing and Hammer time. American Dance Club music boomed in the 90’s with groups like C&C Music Factory and Dee-Lite, and crossover Latin music leaked onto the dance floors across the United States from artists like Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, and the ever popular Los Del Rio’s “Macarena.”

But don’t forget the Rock! The 1990’s saw the expansion of Rock into many subgenres. Hardcore punk and Heavy Metal inspired Grunge and Post-Grunge bands like Nirvana, Sound Garden, Stone Temple Pilots, Creed, Third Eye Blind, and Collective Soul. On the alternative side, the UK was releasing Brit-Rock bands like Oasis, Radiohead, and The Verve, while the US Indie Rock scene was introduced to bands like Sonic Youth and Modest Mouse. The face of music was ever changing, creating crossover bands like the Pop-Rock-Punk Greenday, Offspring, and Blink 182, and a new wave of Ska music from bands like No Doubt and Sublime.

New genres were appearing across the map, but Classic Rock and Heavy Metal were far from being muscled out. Successful rock bands from the 80’s – Guns ‘n Roses, Def Leppard, Aerosmith – were still going strong, and Heavy Metal/Alternative Metal churned out very successful artists throughout the 90’s like Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, and Tool.

Even Country music saw a boost in popularity as artists like Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill pushed their hits into the mainstream market. 

The 1990’s were a decade of variety with classic and new music styles hitting the charts from an array of bands and artists.