I originally brought up how would music change, as a part of pop culture being effected by no 9/11 (and assuming no other terrorist attack occurs). Since it turned into a circle jerk debate about if Bush would have been re-elected or not, I was hoping to strike up some conversation about this subject in a new thread.
So for a no-9/11 world I see the following for music:
There was a brief trend for more politicized hip hop, as a reaction to the early bling/club phase. I think the "do not question anything about America, or your a terrorist loving traitor!" helped nip it in the butt. I still don't think it would have killed the wankster/club rap that dominates now, but we might have seen a mainstream split in the music, instead of more lyrical based Hip Hop being driven almost completely underground. Hell Immortal Technique was going to be signed by Sony, just some guy there wanted him to change his lyrics and be more "poppy"; without the "question America and die" vibe going around, he might be face on MTV. Aside from the more obviously political stuff , Atmosphere was getting more mainstream play, they and the rest of the Rhymesayers crew might have enjoyed more success or Blackalicious and other artists of this stripe.
As for rock, I think nu-metal's hey day was still going reach its end sometime in the early 00s. I know some fans who felt they couldn't relate to the subject matter of "suburban loser" any longer, with all what was going on-whether they wanted to join the army or fight the man, it was a similar vibe (this kind of including myself, but I was always more of a Punk and Harcore fan when it came to rock, so I felt most Nu-Metal was crap to begin with, but I digress). Still, given Emo was even more self-obsessed kind of downer crap, shows it was more then this that killed Nu Metal. Personally I believe it had more to do with the often Rock-Hip Hop mix of the style suffering a backlash, as Hip Hop dumbed down and became the music of choice for those who beat the crap out of the alternative rocker kids; so it would have died anyway sometime in the 00s.
No 9/11 might have also kept the Hipster scene from possibly forming, or at least in its current shape. Since 9/11 shrank the pool of bohem-criticize America kids, they might not have grouped together so many hippies, indie rockers, geek-chic, punks, etc to birth the hipster. These groups probably would have stayed separate, evolving in a less "join together or die" manner, with a more diverse political opinion amongst themselves. Apathy would have kept them seeing involvement in either left or right on the mainstream political spectrum as a waste of time and effort.
Just some food for thought.
I do wonder how country would have developed, or synth, techno, and such. Anyone have any ideas?
So for a no-9/11 world I see the following for music:
There was a brief trend for more politicized hip hop, as a reaction to the early bling/club phase. I think the "do not question anything about America, or your a terrorist loving traitor!" helped nip it in the butt. I still don't think it would have killed the wankster/club rap that dominates now, but we might have seen a mainstream split in the music, instead of more lyrical based Hip Hop being driven almost completely underground. Hell Immortal Technique was going to be signed by Sony, just some guy there wanted him to change his lyrics and be more "poppy"; without the "question America and die" vibe going around, he might be face on MTV. Aside from the more obviously political stuff , Atmosphere was getting more mainstream play, they and the rest of the Rhymesayers crew might have enjoyed more success or Blackalicious and other artists of this stripe.
As for rock, I think nu-metal's hey day was still going reach its end sometime in the early 00s. I know some fans who felt they couldn't relate to the subject matter of "suburban loser" any longer, with all what was going on-whether they wanted to join the army or fight the man, it was a similar vibe (this kind of including myself, but I was always more of a Punk and Harcore fan when it came to rock, so I felt most Nu-Metal was crap to begin with, but I digress). Still, given Emo was even more self-obsessed kind of downer crap, shows it was more then this that killed Nu Metal. Personally I believe it had more to do with the often Rock-Hip Hop mix of the style suffering a backlash, as Hip Hop dumbed down and became the music of choice for those who beat the crap out of the alternative rocker kids; so it would have died anyway sometime in the 00s.
No 9/11 might have also kept the Hipster scene from possibly forming, or at least in its current shape. Since 9/11 shrank the pool of bohem-criticize America kids, they might not have grouped together so many hippies, indie rockers, geek-chic, punks, etc to birth the hipster. These groups probably would have stayed separate, evolving in a less "join together or die" manner, with a more diverse political opinion amongst themselves. Apathy would have kept them seeing involvement in either left or right on the mainstream political spectrum as a waste of time and effort.
Just some food for thought.
I do wonder how country would have developed, or synth, techno, and such. Anyone have any ideas?
As above, American Idiot was done prior to 9/11. I think they word you're looking for is "preachy" (and this coming from Green Day's Number One Ultimate Mega-Hyper-Ultra-Fan 
