Emotive hardcore

Emo
The emo band Dashboard Confessional
Other names	Emotional hardcore emocore
Stylistic origins	Original Post-hardcore hardcore punk Subsequent Alternative rock indie rock pop punk
Cultural origins	Original Mid-1980s Washington, D.C. Subsequent Early–mid 1990s New York Seattle, Washington California Arizona
Typical instruments	Vocals guitar bass drums
Subgenres
Emo pop screamo
Fusion genres
Emo hip hop
Regional scenes
Washington, D.C. Midwestern U.S. New Jersey Long Island, New York
Other topics
List of emo artists timeline of alternative rock

Emo /ˈiːmoʊ/ is a genre of rock music characterized by an emphasis on emotional expression, sometimes through confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of post-hardcore from the mid-1980s hardcore punk movement in Washington, D.C., where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered by bands such as Rites of Spring and Embrace. In the early 1990s, emo was adopted and reinvented by alternative/indie rock and pop punk bands such as Jawbreaker, Sunny Day Real Estate, Weezer and Jimmy Eat World. By the mid-1990s, emo bands such as Braid, the Promise Ring and the Get Up Kids emerged from the burgeoning Midwest emo scene, and several independent record labels began to specialize in the genre. Meanwhile, screamo, a more aggressive style of emo using screamed vocals, also emerged, pioneered by the San Diego bands Heroin and Antioch Arrow.