Of all the bands and variations of grunge and al-
ternative sounds that came out of the Seattle move-
ment, the first and perhaps most famous was Nir-
vana. In 1992, Nirvana’s single, “Smells Like Teen
Spirit” was played on radio stations across the United
States, and the song’s video aired on MTV. While
clearly noticeable as a rock song, the single caught
audience’s attention by failing to be categorized
by any previously existing genre. What was obvious
was a punk sensibility (grunge can be defined as
punk rock played slowly) and a tone of disaffected
or antisocial lyrics. Further, the video medium al-
lowed the band to make fun of the typical Ameri-
can high school social scene. The result was that
the generation who had grown up on MTV and had
defined themselves with an underground, or non-
mainstream type of music, now had a genre of hard
rock with which they could identify.
Other bands from the Seattle scene, or who at
least helped define the sound, were Soundgarden,
Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, Alice in Chains, and Temple
of the Dog—comprised of members of Sound-
garden and Pearl Jam. The Seattle scene not only
had its own bands but also a movie and a dress code.
The movieSingles (1992) illustrated the Seattle
scene and the professional and social lives of young
adults of a new generation. The dress code for those
who wished to identify with the Seattle music scene
consisted chiefly of heavy lace-up boots, jeans, and
flannel shirts.
Even though in many ways grunge was like punk
rock, it was also influenced by heavy metal. However,
the new, heavy sound was at odds with heavy metal of
the 1980’s. Those 1980’s bands were still around, but
because the new sound was the most novel subgenre
to develop in nearly a decade, heavy metal was
quickly usurped in popularity by grunge. Diehard
fans, however, supported their favorite older acts by
attending shows such bands would play in small
clubs throughout the 1990’s. This was a dramatic
shift from the bands’ abilities to sell out large arenas
in the previous decade.
One possible reason for heavy metal being re-
placed by grunge was that audiences’ priorities were
changing. Perhaps audiences had grown tired of
songs that in large part detailed substance abuse
and physical relationships. On the other hand,
grunge and similar alternative rock forms paid at-
tention to, and protested against, human rights
abuses, environmental concerns, and other socio-
political themes, establishing hard rock with a mes-
sage as a relevant genre for the 1990’s.The Rise of Gangsta Rap Although thought mar-
ginalized because of its predominantly African
American performers, who wrote songs about their
communities’ issues, rap increased its popularity in a
subgenre known as gangsta rap. Defined by its focus
on street life—or means of survival in neighbor-
hoods and communities marked by rampant drug
trade, prostitution, and street gangs—by 1993,
gangsta rap was as popular with suburban youth as it
was with urban youth who had perhaps experienced
the songs’ themes firsthand.
Before the 1990’s, the category of rap seemed to
be a broad category of music that simply meant a
performer, known as an emcee, talking rhythmically
over prerecorded beats, or music samples. With a
growing number of groups who had street life stories
to tell, the genre began, and separated itself from
more mainstream, or party-oriented, or positive-
themed rap, such as that of Will Smith.
Sonically, gangsta rap was darker than most main-
stream rap. While rap that had managed to break
into the pop charts before 1990 was relatively light
and danceable, gangsta rap was dark and brooding,
with heavy bass underscoring the pessimistic lyrics.
The result was an ominous sound that coincided
with a social culture that included customizing older
cars, outfitting them with an array of bass speakers
through which to play gangsta rap loudly.
Key to the development of gangsta rap was Ice
Cube, a former member of the rap group N.W.A.
from Compton, California. In 1990, Ice Cube’s al-
bumAmerikkka’s Most Wantedwas released. With it,
he continued to detail the Compton community’s
antagonistic relationship with the Los Angeles Po-
lice Department. The sentiments, however, reso-
nated in African American communities across the
United States, especially with youth who felt unjustly
profiled and harassed by law-enforcement officers.
Other groups such as Geto Boys, Bone Thugs-N-
Harmony, and solo artists such as Dr. Dre and Snoop
Doggy Dogg contributed to the genre. In 1991, Ice
Cube starred inBoyz ’N the Hood, a movie that exem-
plified the pluralities of inner-city life and the
choices that young men are forced to make in drug-
and crime-ridden areas.
While there were clearly shifts in performance
styles and lyrical content, the other important de-596 Music The Nineties in America