By Camila Crews
Music is the soundtrack of my life. For every year there is a specific song that brings me back to a certain period in my life. Here are a few songs that stick out:
You Gonna Go My Way?/ Lenny Kravitz (1993) This song brings me back to the summer before fifth grade when I was introduced to MTV. I remember sitting on my living room couch trying to cool down from the summer heat and watching this man with 70s-inspired clothes and shoulder length dreads move naturally with a guitar and head bang like a rocker.
One More Chance/ Notorious BIG (1995) This was my introduction to a club banger. I can remember the video, Biggie looking like the Don Juan that he was, macking a woman in the club, and who can forget his infamous phrase, “young black and ugly?” Before that, I never heard an emcee diss themselves on a record. At that time, Puffy was behind the scenes. He was in the video in a hot tub surrounded by women and his first baby’s mama, Misa Hylton-Brim. Guest stars were laced all within this video. A platinum haired Mary J. Blige was there along with Mario Winans, the East Coast equivalent to Nate Dogg and Busta Rhymes.
I Miss You (Come Back Home (1995)) Monifah teamed up with the overweight lover Heavy D. I don’t feel like that many people knew about this song when it was out, but I liked it. It brings me back to eighth grade – the time when I used to skip school and my friends and I would watch music videos. This year was a great one for music. This was the year R.Kelly’s song “You Remind Me of Something,” came out. For those of you who don’t remember the song went a little something like this: “You remind me of my jeep/I want to ride it/something like my car” you get the idea. That’s also the same year that “Hey Lover,” LL Cool J’s hit with Boyz II Men, came out.
Killing Me Softly/The Fugees (1995) Sorry to keep dwelling on this year, but it was a great year for hip-hop. This was a remake of Roberta Flack’s original hit, but with Lauryn Hill singing, it made for a good cover hit. It was a great song, but eventually I did get tired of it because radio had it in such heavy rotation.
No, No, No/Destiny’s Child (1996) This is before the world knew just how bootylicious Beyonce really was. She, along with the four other members hailing from Houston, Texas, worked with producer Wyclef Jean to create this hit. Although the girls didn’t obtain crossover success until their second album, “The Writing’s on the Wall,” this song was successful with urban audiences.
That Thing/ Lauryn Hill (1997) My sophomore year at Classical High School in little Rhody was also the year Lauryn Hill broke away from her group, The Fugees, and ventured off into solo stardom. She goes on to win five Grammy awards that year, blowing away the competition.
Back Dat Azz Up/ Juvenile (1998). My junior year in high school at the junior prom, the girls hiked their dresses up to their knees and started backing it up to the guys in their tuxedos. I was never a fan of southern music, but this song was infectious and you just had to dance to it.
Best of Me – Remix/Mya featuring Jay-Z (2000) Driving down a long street lined with brownstones, that I now know is Massachusetts Avenue, I was breathing in freedom for the first time. This was my freshman year at NU. I remember the traffic jam on St. Botolph Street and finally making my way onto Hemenway Street and pulling up to my residence hall, Loftman. After settling into my space, my new friends and I went to a party at BU, thrown by Alpha Kappa Alpha and it only cost $1!
Oh, those were the days. When we walked in the room of our first college party, this is the song that was playing.
Work It /Missy Elliott (2002) Is it worth it? I think it is. I went to Florida A’M University in Tallahassee, Fla. to visit my cousin. It was homecoming week and I wanted to see how the historically black university celebrated their homecoming, since it’s non-existent at Northeastern. At every event they had and at every club I went to, this song was sure to be played at least two times. At various events they had that week, including a freestyle battle sponsored by BET and a free concert sponsored by Vibe Magazine this tune was blast over loudspeakers.
Although many critics claim that music is in a sad state now and in the last decade, there is plenty of good music out there; it depends on how you interpret it. There are some songs that are meant for a party atmosphere, “Yeah” by Usher, then there are songs that provoke thought “Through the Wire,” Kanye West and those that let you in to an artists personal life “December 4” by Jay-Z. It all depends what you want to get out of it.
-Camila Crews can be reached at [email protected]
