Emo

Emo is a genre of music which is short for "emotive hardcore." The genre first formed in the mid-1980s, taking the stylistic formulas of hardcore punk and post-hardcore and combining them with the introspective and sensitive lyricism that emo has become so well known for. In the mid 1990s, emo incorporated indie rock elements. This ultimately made the emo bands of the 90's much less aggressive and 'punk-ish' and more melodramatic, sometimes even acoustic. Once emo became mainstream in the 2000s, it became shaped by pop-punk, (a fusion genre of emo and pop punk exists, and is known as "emo-pop") alternative rock and melodic hardcore. The birthplace of the emo genre is often referred to as Washington, D.C., mainly because the first known emo band, Rites Of Spring, formed there.

Emo
Other names	Emotional hardcore emocore
Stylistic origins	Original Post-hardcore hardcore punk Subsequent Alternative rock indie rock pop punk
Cultural origins	Original Mid-1980s Washington, D.C. Subsequent Early–mid 1990s New York Seattle, Washington California Arizona
Typical instruments	Vocals guitar bass drums
Subgenres
Screamo
Fusion genres
Emo pop emo rap
Regional scenes
Washington, D.C. Midwestern U.S. New Jersey
Other topics
List of emo artists melodic hardcore

Fashion

An emo boy and an emo girl.

As emo entered the mainstream, it became as tied to fashion as to the music genre. The term "emo" is associated with wearing skinny jeans, as well as tight T-shirts (usually short-sleeved) or zip-up hoodies which often bear the names of emo bands. Studded belts, converse sneakers, vans, and black wristbands also became associated with emo fashion. Also, thick, horn-rimmed glasses remained in emo fashion. In the mid-2000s, eyeliner and black fingernails became another common thing in emo fashion. The most famous part of emo fashion is the emo hairstyle. The emo hairstyle is flat, straight, and usually jet black hair with long bangs that often will cover a lot of the face. This fashion has at times been characterized as a fad. Emo fashion also has been often confused with goth fashion and scene fashion.

As emo became known as a subculture, people who both dressed in emo fashion and associated themselves with the emo music genre have been called "emo kids" or "emos".

Music

Examples of bands that emos have been known for listening to are My Chemical Romance, Hawthorne Heights, Silverstein, AFI, Dashboard Confessional, Simple Plan, Brand New, From First to Last, Armor for Sleep, Aiden, Senses Fail, Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday, The Movielife, Death Cab for Cutie, The Used, Alesana, Finch, Panic! at the Disco, and Paramore.

Emo kids also tend to show high interest in lesser known emo bands, such as Ashestoangels, A Thorn For Every Heart, Dear Whoever and (early) Greeley Estates.

Three of the bands mentioned above are multi-platinum acts (My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, and Panic at the Disco) and they are known for making "emo-pop" music early in their careers. They have, however, protested to belonging to the emo genre.

Related pages

• Screamo