If you’re a kid from the 90s, you might remember it as a time of incredible musical diversity.

As bands faced increasing pressure to do something different to stay “relevant,” genres began to diversify. Where the heaviest music in the 80s consisted mainly of classic rock’n’roll and punk, now grunge, alternative rock, industrial and metal came to the fore.

The trend towards ‘dark and gloomy’ that started in the 1980s with goth rock bands like Depeche Mode, Joy Division and Sisters Of Mercy, now took a more dramatic turn with the rise of more ‘extreme’ industrial metal, with artists. like the arrival of Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails on the scene.

However, while in the 80s rock, punk and metal had largely been a subculture built on independent labels that had the support of die-hard fans, in the 90s, the heaviest music was produced and consumed in a much larger scale.

Rock and heavy metal had become big business and were no longer simply dismissed as “music for unruly teenagers.” Rock and metal got a new, sophisticated, and updated makeover as record labels picked them up and polished them up to become something more ‘consumable’.

At the same time, pop and experimental music was also booming, with electro still on the scene since the 80s, and underground raves were big business.

At this point, rap and hip-hop started to become more popular and became the distinctive genre we know today, with artists like Snoop Dogg and Jay Z becoming iconic celebrity figures.

Reggae and R&B also continued to be popular in this era, and the genres quickly merged to expand into fascinating new musical worlds; From electro-swing to ska, there was something for everyone.

Soul took off especially in the 90s with soul superstar Whitney Houston, who quickly became one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, moving more than 200 million records worldwide.

So what music continues to inspire us today? Let’s refresh our memories by reviewing some of the artists who have aged the best in the last 30 years.

Tracy chapman

Tracy Chapman is instantly recognizable as one of the most talented political singers of our time.

Black singer-songwriter and LGBTQIA + rights activist Chapman has a simple, yet deeply expressive, classical quality to her voice and lyrics, and is exceptionally talented at creating memorable yet meaningful blues music that ties into her political activism.

Talkin ‘About A Revolution, in particular, has become a modern anthem for black activism and LGBTQIA +, and she continues to be closely aligned with those political causes, while also volunteering for Amnesty International and AIDS / Lifecycle.

The public knows very little about Chapman’s private life, and she has always been something of a recluse.

Her relationship with Alice Walker, author of the novel Black LGBTQIA + The Color Purple, was kept secret for most of her career, and Chapman preferred to draw attention to her cause rather than herself.

Tracy Chapman’s music was undoubtedly influential, but not always by his own choosing. In 2018, Chapman sued Nikki Minaj for copyright infringement of Baby Can I Hold You on her song Sorry, eventually receiving $ 450,000.

Björk

A woman who truly puts ‘art’ into ‘artist’, Icelandic singer, songwriter and visual performer Björk has consistently broken down creative and cultural barriers in her music.

Unlike some of the heavier ’90s bands, Björk’s gift of music was thought-provoking without being depressing, and she had the wisdom of centuries as she looked through the eyes of a child.

His music throughout the 90s and beyond was memorable, quirky, and original, playing on dichotomies of technology versus nature and war versus peace, to create complex music that was full of depth and experimental sounds.

Björk was instrumental in using a variety of sounds from cultures around the world, with influences from her own Icelandic culture, as well as elements from Westernized music and tribal drumming styles.

While femininity was on the mend in the 1990s, with the rise of overtly feminist ‘Riot Grrl’ bands, Björk’s music was perhaps ahead of its time in that it rejected stereotypes of what it was like to be masculine or feminine.

Songs like ‘Venus As A Boy’ changed the narrative around traditional masculinity by rejecting conventional ideals of ‘strength’ or ‘toughness’ to emphasize the qualities of tenderness and selfless love in men.

His approach to religion is equally thoughtful, and many of his songs, including Human Behavior and Earth Intruders, highlight his philosophical thoughts on human society. While some initially seem critical of the impact of humans on earth, Björk’s complex vision of life captures both sides of the coin.

In The Modern Things, he describes how “all modern things … have always existed, they have just been waiting on a mountain.” Perhaps a suggestion that human nature is as natural as nature itself.

Nirvana

It’s hard to even think back to the 90s without immediately thinking about Nirvana and its tragic leader, Kurt Cobain.

Nirvana’s music was a complex and contradictory mix of depressing nihilism and passionate social activism, and this summed up the social attitudes of the younger generation of the time.

The typical Nirvana theme was often dark, with various songs about drug addiction, sexual violence, misogyny, racism, and homophobia, but at no point were these songs performed for shock value.

The band’s songs closely reflect Cobain’s social attitudes and belief in creating a better world that came to light when his diaries were published after his death in 1994. Perhaps this makes Nirvana even more relevant in the world. It was current of #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter.

Nirvana created a sound, and it was a wild, raw and guttural sound that came to define the grunge music genre. Combining the “refinement” of commercial music with the unfiltered passion of punk, grunge appealed to a youth who had been disenfranchised and repressed.

Many ‘bolder’ rock bands tried to recreate the sound of ‘Nirvana’, including Weezer, Oasis, and Foo Fighters, the latter of which were even committed enough to play at volumes that literally shook the earth, but few did. they had done. he has been truly innovative in the issues his music tackled.

Nirvana was not afraid to tackle difficult subjects, pour out its heart on stage, and stay true to its music and its morals.