u/C--T--F

Just a small thing but supposedly his nickname Bam never came from Brandon but from his Grandpa who first gave him the nickname of Bam Bam from the Flintstones character and then his family/peers naturally shortened it to Bam so IMO if he legally got named Elvis I don't see why he couldn't of still gotten the informal name of Bam

And by bullying, I'm not referring to the crew fucking with eachother or the staged stuff with Bam's family members (aka his aunts and uncles on his dad's side of the family) that was presented as the crew messing with strangers. I m talking about how they would treat outsiders for their own amusement.

Like for example, in Dunn and Vito's Rock Tour, with Dunn and Vito along with Dico doing skits, (Incident here) Kevin Phillips of the band Fight Paris (who is currently the mayor of Port Royal, South Carolina) came across a very drunk topless woman who he did not think was attractive and thus started doimg the schoolyard bullying thing of pretending he was super attracted to her and him making fun of her breasts to her face and he forcibly removed all her clothes and when the woman realized he was making fun of her she called the cops and got him arrested then and there for sexual harassment. and dunn and the rest of the crew were frustrated, not at him out of moral reasons but because they were worried it would effect the tour and angry at the woman aka thinking the fight paris member did nothing wrong and she was asking for it... I love Dunn but WTF with Dunn and the rest of the CKY Crew

IRL, Xero changed it's name to Hybrid Theory and named it's first album HT partially because of their combination of Heavy Metal and Rap and Electronic Elements, in this AU, Rock and Rap in combination already exists by the early 2000's - the "Hybrid" element for LP comes from combining Emo with Rap, and not just standard Macho Bravado Rap in the era which AU Mike doesn't feel it's sincere enough, but instead Mike delivering his Bars with the same nasal emotional tone and pacing of Emo singing. In 2001 when Mike starts Xero, he quickly sees the rise of Emo as a genre and although he grew up obviously not listening to Emo as it didn't really exist during his childhood, something about it speaks to him. He also really wants to Rap on these Emo like tracks, but realizes the deep voice stoic rapper style he grew up on would not fit on a Emo/Post-Hardcore instrumental, until one day he wonders: "What if I deliever my bars like a Emo artist? Would it fit on the track then?" And after he does this as an experiment, he realizes he's found his solution. IRL, due to what he listened to as a kid, Mike raps with an 80's Rap flow and wordplay and lyrical complexity and emotional tone, per Mike Shinoda's own words: at the age of 9 years old he hears the album "Raising Hell" by Run D.M.C. and it is what makes him want to rap. In this AU, Mike Shinoda at 9 years old for the first time listens to "Death Certificate" by Ice Cube and in that moment realizes he wants to Rap, his rapping from that point on forward has the 90's Rap Flow and wordplay and lyrical complexity delivered in the Emo Artistic style.

In March 2004, Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon and Joe Hahn and Dave Phoenix, currently in search for a new lead singer after the departure of Mark Wakefield, receieve back a demo back from a guy named Chester Bennington who absolutely blows them away. Thus, they fly him in. When they start recording with him, they soon realize he's singing a lot like the guys he listened to growing up aka NIN and Marilyn Manson and Rammstein and KMFDM... Mike in this AU really loves Manson and NIN growing up but can tell Chester is much more than just replicating them, so the other LP members really work with him to get him to sing with his own unique voice. As they are recording from 2004 to 2005, Emo is exploding, and in combination with his childhood musical imprinting and his naturally high pitched voice and natural nasal singing and various ways his throat and body are built, he naturally finds his voice which is Emo.

On October 24th 2005, Hybrid Theory releases. As a Emo/Post-Hardcore/"Emo Rap" album, the Emo and Post Hardcore of it is not surprising for the time period. What is deeply surprising is two things:

1. The "Emo Rap". When this album drops, Mike Shinoda is not replicating another MC who exists at this point. A Rapper delievering bars with the voice of a Emo Singer is absolutely insane and mindblowing to audiences at the time. Combined with it's underlying 90's style Rap complexity, it is absolutely intoxicating. In this AU, "Emo Rap" as a discussed Genre is not only discussed far before than IRL but also changes in terms of what "Emo Rap" means. Rap, which was huge at this time, draws in tons of Rap Fans interested in this crazy Album with "Emo Rap" in it is like, Emo which is huge at this time thus draws in tons of Emo fans not only because of it obviously being Emo/Post-Hardcore but also because of curiosity over the "Emo Rap" they've heard about.

2. The Singing of Chester Bennington. A listener is right away able to tell Chester is very much a Emo Singer, but there's something else about his voice. The powerful nature of it, it's deep emotional vulnerability/woundedness, it's cathartic nature. This is what Emo singing is already fundamentally built off, but the way Chester it, aka the soul behind the voice, right away makes listeners go: "Holy fucking shit." For the Youth, even tons of them not at all into Emo during this time, they have never heard anything like this before. They are absolutely mesmerized.

LPTV isn't started in 2003 like IRL but instead in 2005 on Youtube and Myspace right around when HT comes out. All the LP members start their own public Myspace pages. The Online Community around LP very quickly becomes something never seen before in that era of the net.

When Hybrid Theory releases, you don't just see the Music Video's from this album playing on MTV. They absolutely flood MySpace and early YouTube and internet culture at that time. If you are younger at this time, no matter if you turn on the TV, or the Radio, or go Online, they are everywhere.

In 2008, they release Meteroa. Being Emo/Post-Hardcore/"Emo Rap"/Slightly more digital elements, it absolutely detonated upon release like HT did. Critics tell LP to "let go of Emo" due to the Genre indeed at that time already being out the door, although at the time the fanbase sure doesn't hold that same opinion.

From 2005 to 2011, you see around 55% of their Fans are Female and 45% are Male (pretty much an inverse of their IRL listener breakdowns by Gender from 2000 to 2006 which was supposedly around 55% Male and 45% Female). Older people overall call it overdramatic and whiny and just don't get it. Chester quickly becomes a defining Emo Sex Symbol and Heartthrob for Millennials, both for the reasons before and also due to his polite and humble and empathetic nature.

In 2012, they release Minutes to Midnight. For this project and beyond, they very much move beyond Emo, to much anger and such from some fans.

Years later, Hybrid Theory and Meteroa are considered by many as the perfect Emo albums. This AU Linkin Park is not as mainstream as IRL Linkin Park but it's grip is on young people on the Internet (mostly those who are into Emo and other related subcultures during this time period although with plenty of bleed out outside of these communities)

In this AU, how influential would they be? What impact would they and their music have? How would they be remembered today as compared to IRL Linkin Park?