The Curious Return of 2000s Music

At some point in the last year I looked around and realized… 2000s music was EVERYWHERE. Nelly Furtado. Timbaland. Eminem. 50 Cent. MGMT. In Bama Rush videos. At sports games. In the background of TikToks of teens plaintively yearning to be 2000s teens. In weird animation videos meant for seven-year-old boys. Why THIS music, and why RIGHT NOW? Musicologist Nate Sloan— co-host of one of my favorite podcasts, Switched on Pop— has all the answers, or at least most of them.

Show Notes:

• THE ONE, THE ONLY, SKIBIDI TOILET:

• A frankly hilarious Guardian article on the moral panic over Skibidi Toilet

• Switched on Pop’s “Listening 2 Britney” series is a must (I am also a huge fan of this ep on Seal’s Kissed By a Rose, FEATURING SPECIAL GUEST SEAL!!!)

• The original music video for Hey Ya!, and Obadiah Parker’s cover

• Mentally, I’m at the Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (and Slate’s oral history on how and why it was made)

• One of my absolute favorite music podcasts: 60 Songs That Explain the 90s (I have so many favorite episodes but “Return of the Mack” is a great place to start)

• Nate recommends Laufey as an upcoming artist— check out her Tiny Desk Concert

• Just a very popular TikTok compilation of Timbaland’s 2000s hits

• “2000s music just hits different”

• “2000s hip hop > >”

• If you want a whole bunch more in this vein — I’ll be posting them in my IG Stories starting Wednesday morning (check in Saved Stories for ‘2000s Toks’ if they’re not showing up in my normal stories)

• Follow the show on Instagram!

We’re currently looking for your questions for future episodes about:

• Very Contemporary Architecture Trends (like ‘modern farmhouse’) and/or wtf is going on with Chip & Joanna Gaines these days, why is their new show so banal

• Whatever Bradley Cooper’s deal is

• Anything you need advice on!

• You can submit them (and ideas for future eps) here (and here’s the subscriber-only priority form)

For today’s discussion: What 2000s song are you hearing everywhere….and how did it get there? IS IT A BOP? What 2000s song do you wish was everywhere?

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