Ricky Collins

The emo genre of music derived from a punk-oriented take on singer-songwriter music, which adopted a more alternative style of clothing. This included heavy eye makeup and dressing in all black.
This is not to be confused with the Gothic music genre and the scene subculture, which derived from a mixture of emo rock and hyper-pop.
Emo is thought to have been born in the early 2000’s, with the rise of MySpace, with over exposed photos taken from high angles, as well as heavy black eye makeup to over pronounce that contrast.
Despite this, its roots may go all the way back to the 1980’s Punk scene, since the genre is reminiscent of punk rock music and has strong singer songwriter lyricism, which is why the title “Emo,” short for emotional, was given and coined by that sub-genre.
Emo had its first big wave of new bands and music in the 90’s, with bands like Sunny Day, Real Estate and American Football rising in popularity. But it wasn’t until the early 2000’s that those bands and many more were pushed to the mainstream media.
Bands such as Panic! At the Disco and My Chemical Romance also came out of the early 2000’s emo era with great success.
However, there’s a lot of bands that have been wrongly labeled as emo due to their darker tone, such as Deftones.
This also happened with bands like The All American Rejects and Blink-182, which would lean more towards Pop Punk.
This confusion can be credited to the term emo losing a lot of its meaning. It is now being used to describe someone who is sad or has an alternative appearance, rather than anything to do with the music.
Some of the bands on the front line of today’s emo genre would include Fall Out Boy, Pierce the Veil, Never Shout Never and Hawthorne Heights.
The emo culture survived in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s through Tumblr, using the popular app to show a different side to its “normie” users. A lot of people in the scene were considered “posers” due to their appreciation of the fashion, and lack of appreciation, or lack of knowledge, for the music aspect of the subculture.
This portion of the internet took it upon themselves to outcast others who weren’t there for the music and scene kids were born. After being accused of being there only for the scene, they took that term and coined it to describe themselves.
Emo wouldn’t have had as big of an impact as it did without platforms such as MySpace, Tumblr and Youtube. People like Bryan Stars were idolized, as well as Johnnie Guilbert, from Bryan Stars’ collaborative Youtube channel “My Digital Escape.”
Social media platforms allow random people to gain a platform just from posting one photo or video of themselves.
However, some of the kids who have come out of the other side of this haven’t had the best stories about this period of their lives, some going as far to use their stories as cautionary tales about the possible mental health effects of being on the internet at a young age.
Despite the popularity of this subculture falling along with Tumblr’s heyday ending, the music hasn’t yet died out. Bands like Pierce the Veil are still making new music and many other emo bands are still touring.
As of recent years, many people are deciding to take a more classic approach to this style, with heavy side bangs, covering their face and black box dye staining their parent’s bathroom sink.
Emo has made a slight resurgence with the rise of popularity in early 2000’s fashion and continues to receive attention from music lovers and trend followers alike.