【コラム】年代別・音楽カルチャーと“アウトロー”の相互作用史

Column en 00s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s Outlaw

29 Aug 2025

“Music comes from the margins of society”

Text: mmr｜Theme: Long-read column that connects subculture research and the temperature of the field

“Music comes from the margins of society.”This phrase is old, but it doesn’t miss the point.The sense of urgency, anti-normativity, and communal passion that comes from marginality is often visualized as an “outlaw,” and crystallizes in the form of sound, use of space, fashion, and body techniques.In this article, we trace the major genres/scenes from the 1950s onwards by age, and look at the intersection of “music and outlaws” through the lens of sociology and cultural studies (Hebdidge, Cohen, Beaudrieu, Becker, etc.).

1950s: Bebop ~ Rockabilly – Aesthetics of the periphery and manners of “non-conformity”

The late modernization of jazz (bebop to hard bop) was associated with late-night clubs, drugs, and the black bohemian lifestyle, forming an image of an intellectual outlaw that deviated from postwar norms centered on “work and discipline.”

Rock and roll/rockabilly is a cross-border fusion of white working-class youth culture and black music.Leather jackets, pompadours, and hot rods became “anti-authority” costumes, and the icons of greasers and bikers were established.

Mechanism: Mixing of music that crosses racial and class boundaries + nighttime entertainment = inducing “moral panics” (Folk devils and moral panics: Stanley Cohen).Regulations by the police, schools, and religious groups actually strengthen the unity of the scene.

1960s: Mods vs. Rockers, Hippies, and Garage: Style Struggles and Counterculture

British mods include tailored suits, scooters, and a taste for soul/R&B.Rockers are leather jackets and cafe racers.Group clashes at seaside resorts have become a symbol of the delinquency of young people.

Psychedelic/hippie protests, resistance to conscription, drug consciousness expansion, and commune living.Music festivals (Monterey, Woodstock) become testing grounds for autonomous spaces.

Garage/protopunk is a DIY spirit and anti-commercialism.School gymnasiums and warehouses have been turned into live music venues.

Mechanism: A battle over fashion differentiation—what Hebdidge called “style appropriation.”The media exaggerates violence and amplifies moral panic.

1970s: Punk, reggae, disco: fight and flight born of urban crisis

Punk (NY/UK) builds anti-establishment slogans and minimal capital infrastructure (indie labels, zines, squat venues) against a backdrop of unemployment, devastation, and racial friction.Pit, spikes, and DIY safety pins are visual symbols of “illegal threading.”

Reggae/dub is associated with sound system culture and is responsible for the self-defense and pride of immigrant communities.Tensions with police are frequent, and the lyrics speak of resistance to systemic racism.

Disco is a haven for the LGBTQ+/Black/Latinx community, gaining the right to dance on the border between legal and illegal, even though it has its dark sides such as nightclub security and admission discrimination.

Mechanism: Hollowing out of cities and strengthening of management of public spaces → People on the periphery evacuate underground at night.Sound pressure and physical contact form solidarity.

1980s: Hardcore, skinhead reformation, and the birth of hip-hop – speed, tribalization, and the weaponization of narrative

Hardcore punk is about speed, short lengths, and floor autonomy (circle pits, stage dives) created by instantaneous “agreement.”On the other hand, there are conflicts with violence and xenophobia.

Skinhead/Oi! is a connection between working-class pride and music, but there is a political bifurcation to the left and right.Anti-racist movements (such as SHARP) are also running in parallel.

Hip-hop has the “four pillars” of block parties, graffiti, breaking, and DJ/MC.Many neighborhoods are surrounded by gang violence, and rap functions as a legal “weapon” to express the city’s reality and self-narration.

Metal has been given the image of being “demonized” and aroused controversy over self-regulation such as the PMRC.Depending on the subgenre, it can also create social conflicts over violent incidents and discriminatory statements.

Mechanism: “Tribalization” (mafezori) of subcultures.Small norms are powerful, and from the outside it looks like an “outlaw.”

1990s: Rave/Acid House, Grunge, Gangsta Rap - Negotiating the boundaries between legal and illegal

Rave/acid house is at loggerheads with the authorities over illegal parties in warehouses and outdoors, as well as drug issues.The dawn of mobile phones and Internet bulletin boards accelerated the “mobile party.”

Although grunge/alternative music advocated an anti-commercial stance, it quickly became mainstream, exposing the classic pattern of anti-authority symbols being recycled for consumption.

Gangsta rap’s explicit portrayal of police violence, social inequality, and street norms made it a target for the media.The debate over the imitability of real violence and expression has become a social issue.

Mechanism: A cat-and-mouse game between laws and regulations (related to noise, gatherings, entertainment businesses) and creative avoidance (secret locations, free parties).

2000s: P2P era, DIY re-expansion and “cyber outlaws”

File sharing/mixtape culture is in direct conflict with the copyright regime.With the spread of underground net labels and home studios, the line between “illegal and legal” has become blurred.

EMO/Screamo and Nu Metal’s self-revelation and expressions of anger create tension with home and school norms.

Mechanism: Lower prices of hardware and democratization of software → decentralization of production and distribution.Platform rules will become the new “public safety.”

2010s: Trap, SoundCloud Rap, and Leftfield Club: Fragile Economy and Self-Branding

Trap aestheticizes representations connected to the realities of economic periphery (drug economy, surveillance society) through the deep bass and repetition of the 808.

SoundCloud rap aestheticizes drug addiction and mental fragility, and combines self-destructive impulses with pop sensibilities.

Leftfield/Queer Clubs are rebuilding safe night spaces and establishing internal “rules” to counter discrimination (no harassment, no photography, etc.).

Mechanism: SNS makes reputation capital visible.Gaining visibility provokes the abuse of “outlaw symbols,” while community norms are autonomously reinforced.

2020s: Irregular spaces after the pandemic: Micro-rave and local communities

During the lockdown period, guerilla-style outdoor DJ/streaming occurred all over the world.Attempts have been made to “reoccupy public spaces” such as parks, rooftops, and streets, and negotiations with police and residents have entered a new stage.

The hybridization of social movements and music events (fundraising parties, mutual aid community kitchens, etc.) is progressing, and the focus is on care and consensus-building rather than the “illegal/legal” dichotomy.

Correlation by region

United States: The cultural capital of the black community (gospel, blues, hip-hop) is at the core of outlaw representation.Gun control, drug policy, and police practice directly hit the lyrics and the scene.

Britain/Europe: Collective nature intertwined with class, immigration, and football culture.Rave culture tends to clash with urban planning and private land systems.

Japan: From the early acceptance of rockabilly/punk to the “underground box” of hardcore and the dawn of clubs, conflicts with administrative regulations (late-night business/entertainment-related) are commonplace.The importation and localization of sounds and the self-management of venues have developed.

7 circuits that create “outlaw status”

Conversion of space: Warehouse/ruins/street → club/venue (problems with illegal construction, noise, and occupation).

Economic periphery: Friction between informal distribution (booting, mixing, hand-selling) and the copyright regime.

Physical Techniques: Movements that appear violent/obscene to the outside, such as moshing, breaking, and wind-ups.

Style differentiation: Clothes, hair, and tattoos are read as “symbols of hostility” (Hebdidge).

Radicalization of the narrative: The realism/exaggeration of the lyrics is misinterpreted by the media as a crime warning.

Media Apparatus: Reporting creates a “popular devil” (Cohen’s Moral Panic).

Reflection with the system: The cycle of crackdown → underground → strengthening of solidarity → commercial recovery → deviation again.

The light and shadow of the outlaw: ethics and danger

Positive aspects: Opportunities for expression, solidarity, and self-efficacy for people excluded from existing systems.Reimagining public space.

Negative aspects: Reproduction of violence, discrimination, and gender inequality, drug and health damage, and actual harm to the neighborhood.

Today’s issues: Creating a safe space (safe space policy), consensus building, dialogue with the local community, archiving and inheritance.

Reference

Who draws the boundaries?

The relationship between music and outlaws is not a glorification of crime.Rather, it is a visualization of the power dynamics of ``who, what, and how to call deviance’’ and at the same time a story of the creativity of the periphery. From rockabilly in the 1950s to micro-rave in the 2020s, music has teased the edges of norms, loosening social rigidities and experimenting with new public sensibilities.Although their outlaw nature is dangerous, the beats that spark from that spark often shape the next mainstream movement - all the time.