What is emo music/culture?

Answer 1

emo stands for emotional- bascially its rock music with emotion- in my opinion most of it is gay but thats just me.

Answer 2

To whoever said emo meant "emotional": DEAD WRONG! BITE YOUR TONGUE!

"Emo" does NOT mean "emotional!" It is NOT guys with girly voices singing songs about failed relationships, nor is it side-bangs and tight pants, nor is it bad similes and metaphors such as "My arms are like pinecones", nor is it anything with the words "knife", "bleeding", "heart", "razorblade", "leaves", "falling", or "autumn". Emo is certainly NOT Dashboard Confessional, My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Fallout Boy, or anything else that MTV, Hot Topic, and the major record labels have led you to believe. With your ridiculous definitions, Britney Spears, George Gershwin, Beethoven, Metallica, etc., all are/were "emo" bands/artists.

The real story:
In the early '90s, there was a movement in the hardcore genre led by bands such as Rites Of Spring, which came to be known as "emotive hardcore". Harder-core-than-thou kids, who swore by Dischord Records a la Minor Threat, actually coined the term "emo" as a put-down for kids who listened to this music. That's right, "emo" was originally NOT something kids called themselves. The field exploded from there--Level-Plane Records has always been the most famous emo label, with acts such as Saetia, I Would Set Myself On Fire For You, I Hate Myself, Hot Cross, Yaphet Kotto, A Day In Black And White, Funeral Diner, I Hate Myself, and a host of others coming in the next decade, as well as Texas Is The Reason, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Fugazi. Most of these bands have since broken up, but there is the occasional hold-out (Again, the majority of Level-Plane Records' roster has been a procession of emo acts). Like a majority of DIY/post-hardcore bands, these REAL emo bands found their way onto vinyl and not much else.

Since the late '90s, bands have been emerging in the vein of Dashboard Confessional, Taking Back Sunday, MCR, and their clones. Some journalist somewhere said, "Well, no one knows what 'emo' is, so I'll just call these bands that--sounds much better than 'bubblegum pop rock'." From there, the spiral continued downward toward the amalgamation of bands MTV has led you to believe is "emo".

Somehow, people have decided that "emo" means "emotional". This is grade-A bullshit, since 99.9 percent of music is made to elicit emotion. If "emo" REALLY meant "emotional", then ALL music would be labeled emo.

In short: Rites Of Spring, Sunny Day Real Estate, Saetia, and I Hate Myself are emo. MCR, Taking Back Sunday, Dashboard Confessional, Fallout Boy, and their clones all fall under the horrible pop-rock genre.

Answer 3

Listen to or watch the music video for MC Lars's song "Signing Emo". It's funny cause it's true.

Answer 4

emo is (usually) short for emotional. the music is just like punk-rock, only with a little more emotion to their lyrics.

Answer 5

It is the culture of crap and you should avoid being involved at all cost!

Answer 6

here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo_%28music%29