Emo music had its heyday in the early 2000s, but has been making a comeback in recent months. Photography baiajaku / Getty Images© People in their 20s and 30s are increasingly nostalgic for the music they listened to in their teens. This fondness for the 2000s is contributing to the resurgence of emo music, a derivative of punk, all of which is proving fortuitous for iconic emo bands, as well as for younger artists who see this musical style as a cathartic expression of youthful malaise.
Driven by Gen Z and nostalgia, emo music is back in vogue
by ETX
Blink-182, Green Day, Sum 41, Simple Plan. The names of these bands may seem to have been forgotten for decades, but they're back in the spotlight, spurred on by the resurgence of emo music. This musical style reached its peak in the early 2000s, when My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco and Paramore reigned supreme in the major music charts. The genre's catchy melodies and emotionally conscious lyrics made it a commercial success with young people. But its popularity began to wane in the 2010s as iconic bands split up or changed musical direction.
Emo was thought to be dead, or at least confined to the underground scene. But that was without counting on the nostalgic tendencies of the younger generation. In a world beset by multiple crises, many young adults are taking refuge in the soundtrack of their adolescence to soothe the suffering of the present. In particular, they are turning to emo musicians whose heightened sensitivity helped them through the ups and downs of adolescence.
The Chartmetric website looked into this phenomenon by analyzing the age of followers of three emo bands -- My Chemical Romance, The Used and Taking Back Sunday -- on Instagram. It found that most of their fans are aged between 25 and 34 (49.5% for The Used and 50% for Taking Back Sunday). But surprisingly, a large proportion of their audience is between 13 and 24. In the case of My Chemical Romance, this age group even represents 57.3% of the band's followers on Instagram. This is all the more surprising given that this audience was very, very young when these bands were at the height of their fame.
From pop to rap
Social media has a lot to do with this rise of young emo fans. The #emo hashtag has 37.5 billion views on TikTok, and #emomusic counts 739.7 million views. Given that the platform is one of the main sources of musical discovery for the under-30s, it's safe to assume that a large number of young people have become familiar with emo music through this medium.
However, the revival of this genre also owes a great deal to some highly contemporary artists. Taylor Swift recently teamed up with emo band Fall Out Boy and former Paramore member Hayley Williams to re-record her third studio album, "Speak Now." On X (formerly Twitter), the American superstar praised these emo singers, who she says influenced her the most as a lyricist when she was writing this album in 2010. The emo style can also be heard on Olivia Rodrigo's latest album, "Guts." Particularly in the track "All-American B*tch," a pop-punk anthem in which the pop star evokes the difficulties of being a young woman in today's society. "I know my age, and I act like it. Got what you can't resist. I'm a perfect all-American b*tch," she sings over a rock melody.
Emo culture isn't just joining forces with pop to give itself a new lease of life. It's increasingly linking up with hip-hop and rap artists. These two worlds first met in the 2010s with the "Soundcloud" generation, led by rappers like Lil Peep, XXXTentacion and Juice WLRD. Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, $uicideBoy$, Bones and Zubin are also part of this wave of emo-rappers, who exorcise their demons in hip-hop and rock-influenced tracks.
Reference
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