If you’ve been in the scene long enough, you’ve likely heard someone ranting about how things were better in the 90s, and truth be told, they’re probably right. Two ravers meet through the Radiate app and decide to go to Dirtybird Campout together, whose names are Chad and Becky. Chad attempts to break the ice in their Uber and says, “Fisher plays some amazing Techno.” Becky scoffs at his comment and replies, “Fisher is Tech House, not Techno bro.” The date was over before they even got to the event, and both went their separate ways upon arrival. If this date took place in the 90s, chances are things would’ve gone much better for the two.
A lot of music in the 90s shared elements of multiple genres and its still that way today. The biggest difference in the scene between then and now is that today most fans are highly sensitive about how you label their favorite artists. Anything dance-oriented was simply referred to as House or Techno, at least for the most part. In the 90s, there was no Techno snob ready to come at your throat for saying Richie Hawtin plays House music, and nowadays, God forbid you to tell a Basshead that Bassnectar makes Dubstep. Not that the scene isn’t fun anymore, but the big debate on what genre is best has become a popular one. Fans of Electronic Dance Music seemed to be more respectful of each other’s taste in music in the 90s. Maybe it was because after you called the number a friend of a friend gave you, got the secret instructions from the recording, and then drove all over tarnation with the window down in the rain listening for the bass beats in the middle of an industrial wasteland in the black of night, you were just appreciative there was music, regardless of genre, by the time you got there!
Knowing the difference between genres isn’t a bad thing, but I feel like we’ve gotten a little carried away with the specifications of genres. It also seems that the elitism of genres is only becoming more popular as more sub-genres emerge. So while we may not be able to physically revisit the 90s, we can relive it through some of the awesome tunes from that time. The times may change, but the music lives on forever.
*Featured Image Via MagneticMag*
