Lately, I've been coming coming across a boatload of songs that I haven't heard since I was in middle school, and it's been making me uncomfortable for a few reasons: (1) I completely forgot that some of these songs existed, (2) there are people I know that aren't too much younger than me that have never heard some of these songs and (3) I didn't pay attention to the lyrics of some of these songs as a kid--they're super dirty. We '90s kids are pretty big on nostalgia and all that, so here are some songs you probably forgot about, and probably won't be able to get out of your head for a day or two.

1. Lil Bow Wow--"Bow Wow (That's My Name)"

Recently I asked a sixteen year-old if they knew who Bow Wow was, and they responded, "Yeah he's the cute guy from Madea's Big Happy Family!" While that isn't a wrong answer, I know Bow Wow first and foremost as a rapper. In 2000, he released this single with Snoop Dogg that won a Billboard Music Award for Best Rap Song. In today's world, he's known as that one guy from that Tyler Perry movie. We miss you, Shad.

2. Gwen Stefani--"Hollaback Girl"

This song gets resurrected from time to time in casual conversation and in that one Vine by Thomas Sanders, but it's one that has been buried in the depths of my memories for nearly a decade now. I have never heard the radio edit; my sister always played the album version in her car. Even so, it wasn't until I recently looked up the lyrics that I realized how liberally Gwen uses the word "s#!@". In any case, this is actually a super catchy song that I will shamelessly admit to playing over and over again on my Spotify account.

3. 50 Cent--"In Da Club"

Mr. Cent, I would have so much more respect for you if it weren't for that Yankees hat (Go Dodgers!). Baseball agendas aside, 50 Cent's 2003 hit single is responsible for the popularization of the phrase "Go shawty, it's your birthday. We gonna party like it's your birthday." Fortunately, no one says that anymore because we are a species meant to evolve. This song won MTV's Music Video Award for Best Rap Video. In 2005, Beyoncé sampled the song for her track, "Sexy Lil Thug" and made it immeasurably better. Because that's what Beyoncé does.

4. Mariah Carey--"We Belong Together"

This song earned a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (that's a very specific category, but still), and was nominated for the 2005 Grammy Award for Song of the Year, but lost out to "Daughters" by John Mayer. Needless to say, this song was a pretty big deal back in 2005. That being said, why haven't I heard this song any year after that? Mariah Carey is still a big name in the music industry, and yet I completely forgot that this song existed up until the moment I googled "Top 100 songs of the 2000s." Then again, I don't remember any of her other music either, aside from that one Christmas song.

5. Usher--"Burn"

I'm gonna keep it real with you guys, the only reason I remember this song is because I will occasionally have flashbacks of my cousin dancing to this song in the living room of my family's house in Nicaragua. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure this song would have never again been relevant to my daily life. This single was meant to be the lead single for his 2004 album Confessions, but it was beat out in popularity by the single "Yeah!" featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, and that song continues to overshadow the rest of Usher's career to this very day.

6. The Pussycat Dolls--"Don't Cha"

Quite frankly, this is the only song I know by the Pussycat Dolls. In my mind, they're a one-hit wonder, and even that's a bit of a stretch. This hit from 2005 was a favorite for a lot of people when I was in fourth and fifth grade, including my older sister. After about a year or two, the popularity of this song flickered and faded from existence, as did any knowledge I had of the Pussycat Dolls. The song resurfaced two years later as a shower-head gag in the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, which was the final resting place of this "iconic" song.

7. Kelly Clarkson--"Since U Been Gone"

Ah, the 2000s. One thing I will not miss about you is your notoriety for using the letter "u" in place of the word "you." I was originally going to write about the song "Breakaway" but then I found a gif from this music video and remembered that I used to listen to this song on Radio Disney as a kid. Besides, they're from the same album. I am in no way bashing Kelly Clarkson, by the way. I loved her music when I was a kid, and from what I understand, she's gone on to do more stuff besides music, including a few acting gigs. Go you, Kelly!

8. Jesse McCartney--"Beautiful Soul"

Beautiful Soul was the first album I ever owned. When I first started listening to Jesse McCartney, no one I knew had ever heard the name before. It wasn't until a few years later that I realized that he was popular outside of the circles I rode in, but by that time, the "Beautiful Soul" craze had come and gone. Jesse's music has gotten a bit more risqué since then, aimed toward the audience that grew up, and those innocent "I want you and your Beautiful Soul" days have consequently been left in the dust.

9. Terror Squad--"Lean Back"

I distinctly remember the last time I heard this song was at my babysitter's house in 2005. She would watch MTV a lot, and I would just sit there, slightly entertained and slightly confused at what was going on with these songs. This was always one music video that got my attention. It wasn't necessarily good, it just got my attention. The chorus was catchy, and that's pretty much the only thing I remember about it. I didn't even know the words to the chorus.

10. Daddy Yankee--"Gasolina"

This song, along with "Rompe" by the same artist, was a staple for every single middle school dance I went to. Gasolina came out in 2004, and to this day, I still don't know any of the lyrics aside from the chorus. But who cares? As long as pre-teens are dancing on top of each other in a school gymnasium to a song that is vaguely about combustible fuel, it should all be fine, am I right? Thankfully, I never had to hear either of those songs again after middle school, particularly because Daddy Yankee decided maybe he should produce more than two popular singles and earned my respect back with his later music.

11. Los Ketchup--"The Ketchup Song (Asereje)"

I still can't say those without tripping myself up. Those aren't even words.

This song was so stupid. From its nonsensical chorus to its dance that everyone in my second grade class tried to learn, this song gained a huge amount of popularity overseas of Spain, which is where it originated. It used to annoy the crap out of me, and now I find it catchy, which is even more annoying. I think the thing that annoys me most about this song is that it has absolutely nothing to do with ketchup.

Anyway, I hope brought you to some point of existentialism by reminding of some of these classic songs. It was a bit of a jarring experience to dig through these archives, so I hope you get as much out of it as I did!