Replying specifically to your comment about nu metal being seen as cringe in its time and after. I think this is correct, but it's worth asking what factors are at work here. What was nu metal, and why might people have hated it?
Class. The audience of Woodstock 99 apparently skewed middle class (the tickets were expensive, but I don't have demographic data); but broadly speaking bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit were "white trash," sometimes lumped in with acts like Eminem, Kid Rock, and (shudder) Insane Clown Posse. Moving into the '00s, a greater divide formed between social classes in popular music – the Pitchfork hipsters mocked and reviled the ICPs of the world (but celebrated trashy black music). This in contrast to the popularity of grunge in the early 90s, a genre which was aesthetically working class but which enjoyed popularity with middle class kids.
Race. Attitudes towards cultural appropriation in the '90s were obviously different; but even in 1999 it was understood that "white people shouldn't rap." Actually, it was probably harder to be a white rapper in '99 – nowadays there are acts like G-Eazy who apparently enjoy success despite their race. But in the '90s the major figures in peoples' minds as far as white rappers were... well, there was Vanilla Ice. Eminem ultimately side-stepped this in various ways – by being technically gifted and by using humour. The nu metal vocalists (Durst, Davis, Taylor) were neither lyrically talented nor (intentionally) funny.
Subject matter (i.e. male emotions, sexual abuse). This aspect is the most interesting to me, by far. Korn's frontman sang about his various childhood traumas, including sexual abuse. This was mocked at the time by other nu metal artists, but this is narcissism of small differences. Some examples of subject matter, by band: Limp Bizkit, breakups, murder, suicide; Slipknot, childhood trauma, rage; Korn, sexual abuse, childhood trauma, bullying; Linkin Park, breakups, sexual abuse, childhood trauma... I could go on. Moving into the '00s, nu metal gave way to pop punk (decidedly more ironic and emotionally guarded) and mainstream hip-hop (even the comparatively cerebral Kanye West never rapped about his uncle touching his private parts), with only emo music going anywhere near the kind of "icky" subjects discussed by Korn et al – and even then, it's comparatively tame and aesthetic. Why exactly we saw an outpouring of lyrics like these in the late '90s is a question worth contemplating.
It's worth noting as well that in the past ~5 years nu metal has enjoyed renewed popularity among the youths – Gen Z seems to have brought much of it back. I work at an art college, and see plenty of Linkin Park, Deftones, and Slipknot t-shirts – but not Korn or Limp Bizkit, so make of that what you will. And yes, they really do actually listen to those bands – I've asked them.
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Replying specifically to your comment about nu metal being seen as cringe in its time and after. I think this is correct, but it's worth asking what factors are at work here. What was nu metal, and why might people have hated it?
Class. The audience of Woodstock 99 apparently skewed middle class (the tickets were expensive, but I don't have demographic data); but broadly speaking bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit were "white trash," sometimes lumped in with acts like Eminem, Kid Rock, and (shudder) Insane Clown Posse. Moving into the '00s, a greater divide formed between social classes in popular music – the Pitchfork hipsters mocked and reviled the ICPs of the world (but celebrated trashy black music). This in contrast to the popularity of grunge in the early 90s, a genre which was aesthetically working class but which enjoyed popularity with middle class kids.
Race. Attitudes towards cultural appropriation in the '90s were obviously different; but even in 1999 it was understood that "white people shouldn't rap." Actually, it was probably harder to be a white rapper in '99 – nowadays there are acts like G-Eazy who apparently enjoy success despite their race. But in the '90s the major figures in peoples' minds as far as white rappers were... well, there was Vanilla Ice. Eminem ultimately side-stepped this in various ways – by being technically gifted and by using humour. The nu metal vocalists (Durst, Davis, Taylor) were neither lyrically talented nor (intentionally) funny.
Subject matter (i.e. male emotions, sexual abuse). This aspect is the most interesting to me, by far. Korn's frontman sang about his various childhood traumas, including sexual abuse. This was mocked at the time by other nu metal artists, but this is narcissism of small differences. Some examples of subject matter, by band: Limp Bizkit, breakups, murder, suicide; Slipknot, childhood trauma, rage; Korn, sexual abuse, childhood trauma, bullying; Linkin Park, breakups, sexual abuse, childhood trauma... I could go on. Moving into the '00s, nu metal gave way to pop punk (decidedly more ironic and emotionally guarded) and mainstream hip-hop (even the comparatively cerebral Kanye West never rapped about his uncle touching his private parts), with only emo music going anywhere near the kind of "icky" subjects discussed by Korn et al – and even then, it's comparatively tame and aesthetic. Why exactly we saw an outpouring of lyrics like these in the late '90s is a question worth contemplating.
It's worth noting as well that in the past ~5 years nu metal has enjoyed renewed popularity among the youths – Gen Z seems to have brought much of it back. I work at an art college, and see plenty of Linkin Park, Deftones, and Slipknot t-shirts – but not Korn or Limp Bizkit, so make of that what you will. And yes, they really do actually listen to those bands – I've asked them.
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