first off i'd just like to say i HATE all of these different music labels that r floatin around..its confusin as fuck and music is music and should b considered as so...now to my question someone please tell exactly what the hell:

punk funk - Depends. It could be a style that mixes the raw, energetic intensity of Punk with the soul, groove and stank of Funk, like er....Radio 4, Gang of Four, The Rapture, The Higsons, Talking Heads, APB, Josef K, etc. mainly bands from the Post-Punk era or Post-Punk revival. Or Rick James' definition of Punk Funk is mixing the groove of Funk with the brash and aggresive style of Hard Rock.

emo - Alternative/Hard Rock that's very melodic and dreary. Emo singers tend to be very emotional (sometimes just whiny little bitches) and express their pain through their songs. I personally don't see anything wrong with Emo, but a lot of peole don't favor this genre too much unless you're a Hard Rock fan. Some groups include Cursive, Dashboard Confessional, Sparta, Thurday, Dismemberment Plan(but that'd be like calling Prince simply R&B)Taking Back Sunday, Simple Plan, and (my favorite emo band ever), At The Drive In. Trust me, there's much to love about emo as there is much to hate. And contrary to popular belief, Emo was not derived from the Goth/Post-Punk era. It might seem so with those groups, but don't compare guys like The Cure to guys like The Used.

ska - The original sound of Jamica. In the late 50's and early 60's it was Jamaica's answer to American R&B and Dance music. It had the same musical pattern as Reggae, but it was faster and jumpier. Some of the artists from that era were The Skatalites, Toots and the Maytals, Judge Dread, Millie Small, Dandy Livingstone, etc. But by the late 60's, Ska slowed down and then the music was called Rocksteady. And shortly after a lot of folks got into Rastafarianism and the music that became a reflection of that was called Reggae.

Now, Ska had gone thru a couple of revivals afterwards. In the late 70's The Punk explosion in England had come and gone. So something new had to be created. And that's when Ska came back. The Specials were the first band to mix ska and Punk and even give it something of a label, "2-Tone". 2-Tone was also the record label that showcased many of the Ska revival acts including Madness, The Beat, and The Selecter. Then people got tired of Ska eventually got into New Romanticism (or was it New Pop?). Anyways, this is my persoanl favorite era of ska because it all ties into the New Wave genre, and you know how I am with my New Wave.

Check out my profile pic. That figure is basically the symbol of the UK Ska movement. And so after 2-Tone, Ska was just an underground thing, played by the likes of FishBone, The Toasters, etc. But then it came back in the 90's in the U.S. with bands like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, No Doubt, Sublime, Reel Big Fish, The Slackers, Rancid, The Suicide Machines, etc. But a lot of those bands virtually abandoned the Jamaican influence and added more of an Indie/Hardcore Punk style to it. It still goes on today, but it's only a cult thing since Ska is, in essence, dance music.

electronica - Any form of dance music that involves Electronic instruments or equippment, such as House, Techno, Acid Jazz, Trance, Drum & Bass, etc. That's basically the all-encompassing word for all those genres.

arena rock - Any band that can rock hard enough in a big arena would qualify for this genre. It's not necessarily a genre more than it is a type of Rock. U2, Quen, Elton John, Def Leppard and all them other Heavy/Hair Metal bands would fall into this category.

retro active - I'm not sure, but I'm guessing the music from the Alternative/College/New Wave era (that's what I find on my retroactive station on my digital cable). Or it could be any format of old school music.

contemporary - Anything popular at the moment. Or if you mean Adult Contemporary, then that's basically light/soft Pop/Rock.

is.. thank u in advanced. and have a nice day.