what is emo?

emo is a type of music, which is derived from early 80's hardcore.  I 
don t know the whole story, but emo combines hardcore with more melodic 
and experimental music.  Fugazi is the easiest example of a band i can 
name that is considered to be "emo"  also bands like promise ring and 
texas is the reason play this vein of music.

Emo is generally said to have started with DC bands like Embrace (Ian 
MacKaye's band after Minor Threat and before Fugazi) and Rites of 
Spring (Guy Picciotto's band also before Fugazi), but is in no way 
limited to them, around '85. The sound was basically a slower more 
emotional (hence the name "emo") post- version of hardcore. The vocals 
are usually sung in  "whiny" (for lack of a better word) sort of way.

Emotional in this context generally connotes "vulnerability" and/or 
"troubledness", which is different from the emotionality of the 
screaming and thrashing generally associated with hardcore. This open 
emphasis on "vulnerability" and/or "troubledness" represented a major 
break in the hardcore/punk scene at that time, for it prided itself on 
tough- and hardness, as it generally does today.