We’ve all heard the word “Emo” at least once in our lives, both as an insult and as a compliment. Emo is a music genre and a subculture that emerged in the 1980s, but everyone mistakes pop punk as emo. So, let’s talk about the origins of both subcultures.
The Origin of Emo
Emo emerged in Washington D.C of the 1980s. During the end of the hardcore punk era, a new subculture emerged, emo. Originally, it was called emotional hardcore/emocore, but then evolved to just emo. Emo music was spread throughout the US. For example, Sunny Day Real Estate, Rites of Spring, and Embrace are emo bands.
The Origin of Pop Punk
Pop-punk became a thing in the late 1970’s in the UK. Pop punk is a fusion genre between pop and punk. The music is classified as pop-punk because it contains a catchy pop tune with loud or angsty lyrics. This music was most prevalent during the 1990’s with bands like) Blink-182, The Offspring, and Green Day.
If They’re Different, Why Are They Mistaken?
It all started between the early 2000’s. Emos were getting into the pop punk genre, listening to My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. When both genres started to clash, people started to call newer pop punk bands “emo”. Thus, the confusion between pop punk and emo. In other words, I blame Weezer and their album Pinkerton. (How dare you blame Weezer, Mr. Ng says "It's not my fault you do not know good music.")
