Although we may not have known it, music has always been a huge presence in our lives, especially through our elementary years. By middle school we were tired of hearing them, by high school we were too cool to listen to them, but college seems to be the place where old school classics come back to life. Although we may not have realized it at the time, but we listened to some quality bands back in the days of recess and Rocket Power.
1. Blink 182
These are perhaps the creators of some of the
most beloved throwbacks of all time; this band was a must hear. Whether your parents tried to shield you from
all the curse words, or just gave up and let it happen, this band managed to
find a way to play in every soccer mom’s car.
2. Britney Spears
I don’t care what gender you
are, there is no way that you didn’t listen to Britney Spears every once in a
while. This girl is the epitome of
childhood music that we could listen to over and over again.
3. Backstreet Boys
Although N’Sync is definitely a
competitor for the old school boy band award, Backstreet Boys were just so much
catchier. I can guarantee that every kid
can picture at least one moment in their childhood when days where "Larger Than Life" was blaring in the background.
4. Spice Girls
Although "Wannabe" may have been a
one-hit-wonder, it was definitely a hit. This song sums up every childhood dance party there ever was (and a few college parties as well).
5. Green Day
Although this band is still doing
pretty well with their new stuff, they definitely peaked back in our elementary
days. The kids may have loved this band,
but the parents were more than happy to play this in their car over anything
performed by Justin Timberlake.
6. Aaron Carter
I don’t know if you can actually categorize one performer as a boy band,
but this kid would be the exception. His
songs were incredibly catchy, he claimed to have “beat Shaq," and he even made
an appearance on Lizzie McGuire.
7. Outkast
Some of the classics, classics we still
listen to today, came about in the early '00s by this band. You know you have a classic on your hands
when it was written in 2000 and performed on the main stage at Coachella in
2014.
8. Destiny’s Child
We were all Beyoncé fans before
we even knew it. Even though most of us
don’t even remember the names of the other members, we do remember the lyrics
to "Say My Name" and "Jumpin’, Jumpin’."
9. Nelly: I don’t really know what an 8-year-old is doing listening to Nelly, but he did have some classics. As long as you don’t think too hard about the lyrics, you could expect to hear some Nelly at any early '00s gathering.
10. Eminem
I am not one to question anyone’s method
of parenting, but there may be a reason we were so angry and hard to deal with growing
up. For many of us, Eminem was our first
attempt at rap, and his early songs were definitely some of his best.
Although there are plenty of other classics out there, you could expect to hear these artists at any location in the early 2000s. Whether it was a school field day or an 8-year-old’s birthday party, you knew exactly what music to expect. I think the most important thing to take away from this is the fact that you owe your parents an apology for forcing them to drive you around while listening to this stuff on repeat.
