In a recent interview with The Guardian, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day discussed the unexpected resurgence of emo and punk music from the 90s and 00s. Armstrong expressed surprise at how quickly the genre has made a comeback. He said:
“Emo was dead – then just five years later, we’re having emo club nights. Like, aren’t you supposed to wait another five years for this? My Chemical Romance just broke up! I think streaming, and the way things go viral now are fueling it. There’s this band, the Walters, that broke up four years ago, and suddenly they have this song that’s everywhere.”
Billie talked about the impact of social media on music and revealed the new way of consuming music. He said:
“Same thing with Deftones – all of a sudden, their music is showing up on all these TikTok videos. There’s this new algorithmic way of discovering new stuff. It’s really prevalent in rock music, and it shows how people are paying less attention to the radio (and other traditional platforms).”
Hayley Williams Believes Emo’s Definition Has Changed
Billie Armstrong is not the only rock star to speak out about the state of emo music lately. Hayley Williams of Paramore also had some interesting things to say about the evolution of ’emo music’ earlier this year. In an Ew interview, Williams touched on the use of the term ’emo.’ Initially, ’emo’ was not a welcomed expression, and Paramore was firm about not being categorized strictly under that or any other genre. But now it’s different. Williams explained:
“It’s wild because emo meant something different to us when we were really young. When we came on to the scene, it was very much a bad word. It had negative connotations because even before us, that word was not really a welcomed expression or term to people in punk music.”
Williams noted that perception has changed over the years and that emo is now seen as something cool. She continued:
“We were always very adamant that we don’t want to be put in a box, emo or otherwise. What’s interesting now is people treat it like it’s a cool thing. It’s crazy now because there’s not really much use for genres. We were always very adamant that we don’t want to be put in a box, emo or otherwise. What’s interesting now is people treat it like it’s a cool thing.”
Hayley Williams ended her words by claiming that the definition of ’emo’ has changed into an aesthetic that you can ‘tap in’ to and dress like.
