It is a shame that young teens and tweens these days do not get to experience the joy that was and forever will be the music of the early and mid 2000's. Sure, they can look up the songs on Youtube, listen to them and enjoy them, but they weren't there when these songs were first released. I owned the Kidz Bop CD. it didn't even have a number after it because it was the first one ever made. Now Kidz Bop has thirty plus albums and I'm honestly not even sure why they even still exist with the creation of iTunes, YouTube, Pandora, and Spotify. When I was a kid I had the classic early 2000's kid CD player, that almost everyone had. That sucker wasn't portable and it had to be plugged in to an outlet. Now a days 13 year olds have iPhones that allow you to use any type of music streaming service. I would like to take it back to the good old days for a moment and remember some of the songs that were played at middle school dances and helped us get through our awkward years.
1. "Everywhere" Michelle Branch
This song can't help but get you in your feels. You may remember it from American Pie 2 or from belting it on Karaoke Revolution.
2. "Sugar, We're Goin Down" Fall Out Boy
How could you not LOVE this song? It was the perfect amount of punk yet still being considered pop.
3. "Dirty Little Secret" All-American Rejects
This song was in every hit movie at the time like She's the Man, Bring It On: All or Nothing, and John Tucker Must Die. You couldn't escape this song, but honestly nobody wanted too.
4. "1985" Bowling For Soup
You know every single word to this song and remember scream singing it with your friends when it came on the radio. You didn't know half the references in the song, but that didn't stop you from singing about it.
5. "Toxic" Britney Spears
This song is iconic and one of Brittany's most well known songs.
6. "Beautiful Girls" Sean Kingston
I have a serious question, does anyone know what happened to Sean Kingston? Is he okay? Should we be worried? Well whatever became of him we thank him for this song.
7. "Fergalicious" Fergi
Fergi killed it in this music video! The educational spelling lessons were also a plus. Say it with me "D to the E, to the L I C I O U S"
8. "Promiscuous" Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland
One of the best songs to sing as a duet with a friend. The only hard part is deciding who will be Nelly and who will be Timbaland.
9. "Bye Bye Bye" 'N Sync
This was the start of our love affair with JT and of course the classic dance moves that came with the song.
10. "Hey Ya!" OutKast
It's such a great song to dance to and a great excuse to "shake it like a Polaroid picture".
11. "Hollaback Girl" Gwen Stefani
This song brings out the inner cheerleader in all of us.
12. "I Want It That Way" Backstreet Boys
This song can't help but make you want to dance emotionally in front of a plane.
13. "Sk8er Boi" Avril Lavigne
It is a classic love story of a snotty girl and a punk-rocker guy. "Can I make it any more obvious" about what's going to happen here?
14. "...Baby One More Time" Britney Spears
I know I already have a Britney song on this list, but this girl was music in the early and mid 2000's.
15. "Gold Digger" Kanye West ft. Jamie Foxx
The beginning of an era started when Kanye West and Jamie Foxx paired up to create the masterpiece that is this song.
16. "SOS" Rihanna
Before "Work", "Too Good", and "This Is What You Came For" Rih Rih was stealing our hearts with her long brown hair and amazing voice.
17. "Shake It" Metro Station
Miley Cyrus isn't the only talented person in the Cyrus family. Trace Cyrus created a middle school dance anthem with this song.
18. "Hot in Herre" Nelly
You don't even have to wait for the lyrics to start when this song comes on, you know it's about to get real as soon as the music starts playing.
19. "Lose Yourself" Eminem
I am kinda biased when it comes to this song because I love Eminem. Still you can't deny the chills you feel when this song starts playing.
20. "Crazy in Love" Beyoncé ft. Jay Z
Before Beyoncé and Jay Z were a couple they came together to create this fan favorite.
21. "Lollipop" Lil Wayne ft. Static
The song that put Weezy on the map (and the start of my love of him) with his unique auto-tuned vocal effects and risqué lyrics.
22. "Potential Breakup Song" Aly & AJ
This song was actually released on Radio Disney, but had edited lyrics so it would be approved by Disney.
23. "So Yesterday" Hillary Duff
We were all excited to see the return of Hillary Duff after she stole our hearts on the show Lizzie McGuire.
24. "Mr. Brightside" The Killers
This was the song that everyone sang at the top of their lungs and still do when it comes on the radio.
25. "Why Can't I?" Liz Phair
This song came and hit us all right in the feels. It's such a classic!
26. "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)"
Even though he is like 12 in the music video and is throwing a house party, it is still an extremely catchy song.
27. "A Thousand Miles" Vanessa Carlton
This girl knows how to play a freaking piano like nobodies business.
28. "Switch" Will Smith
Get up and dance because when this song came on, no one wasn't on their feet.
29. "My Love" Justin Timberlake
JT proved to us he was just as good as a solo artist as he was in a boy band, possibly even better.
30. 5. "Stacy's Mom" Fountains of Wayne
This list wouldn't be complete without possibly the most notorious song on this list. What else can be said about this work of art?
These were the glory days of music in my book. Don't get me wrong, music these days is still pretty great. However, nothing can compare to this goldmine in music history that we call the early and mid 2000's.
