10 Years Ago

by Tyler

I grew up in a middle-sized town in Oregon. Keizer, Oregon to be exact, just north of Salem. Being a predominately white city, we had the phenomenon where it was popular in high school to act and dress like a thug/rapper (I thought this was a high school phenomenon but every time I see some high school buddies I quickly realize that some of them are just weird and still act the same way). That was the cultural context I found myself in high school.

I say all this so I don’t look like a fool when you watch the video.

I remember driving to the opposite side of town to see my girlfriend rolling to the song in the video. I remember how thuggish it made me feel. This was my favorite song back in the year 2000, 10 years ago. Enjoy:

(I apologize if the message of the song seems offensive to you, let’s just say I’ve grown up a lot in the last 10 years. My parents are forever grateful for that)

If you can’t see the video, come here to watch it.

Would you believe me if I told you I had close to half the song memorized…yikes.

What was your favorite song 10 years ago?

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http://www.kingdomstrategist.com Kevin Ring

There is no shame in loving this song. It is amazing.

My brother and I lived and breathed this song when it came out in 1994, often repurposing the lyrics to insult each other during fooseball games.

I can’t say that we ever dressed thuggish though.
http://twitter.com/dustinuga dustin

Mount up! Love it.

This was my jam back in the day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWl9tjO7KtA
(11 years is close to 10 years )
http://thoughtsaboutnothing.com Kyle Reed

I think everyone goes through that rap phase of life.
Amazing that song was released in 2000, seems older then that.
http://www.manofdepravity.com Tyler

It came out in 1994 actually. But I didn’t listen to rap until 1998 or so.
Levi

Ah, 2000 was a big shift for me musically. I went from finding most of my new music from the radio to getting it from friends’ suggestions during my first year in college. There are definitely a few different favorites from that year – get up kids, AFI, New Found Glory, Midtown, the Ataris…
Here’s a fun favorite:
Saves the Day – Shoulder to the Wheel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPqgXquPN8Q
Mike

Dude, that was my last year of high school, I can rap the entire song…and have it in my iTunes library. No shame at all.
http://thoughtsaboutnothing.com Kyle Reed

Okay that makes way more sense now.
http://www.justlivingthelife.com Jay Caruso

Hey Tyler was this you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx6216M9LSw
http://www.twitter.com/EazyHU Eric

Dude, this is a classic! On instinct, my head started bobbing as soon as it started playing. The crazy thing is that I had absolutely no clue what this song was talking about back then…but I knew ALL the words! Same goes for any early Bone Thugs N’ Harmony.
Miranda

Haha, I think it’s hilarious that you were rockin Warren G in 2000…
http://www.manofdepravity.com Tyler

LOL, not far off probably. I was young.
http://www.manofdepravity.com Tyler

Ah yes Bone Thugs n’ harmony. Takes me right back to middle school.
http://davidgoodwin.com David

Ah yes, the rap phase.

Of course, when I was going through that, rap meant MC Hammer, Tone Loc, Young MC, etc. Public Enemy’s 911 is a Joke was always good – since 911 WAS a joke down here (our equivalent is 000, people called 911 due to US shows, etc and get a recorded message telling they are stupid and to call 000 instead…I think that’s since been taken down in our era of PC everything)

Though (lyrics aside), I think Nate Dogg is a great singer and this has a very infectious melody – I’ve always loved it.

BTH too – 1st of Tha Month, Crossroads.

I’m going to bobbing my head for the rest of the day now.
http://www.anidolheart.com Grant Jenkins

Reading this post makes me feel kind of old. This came out the year AFTER I graduated from high school and while I worked at the Musicland store at the mall. Warren G was huge and a bunch of my friends just called me “G” (still do.) At Musicland we carried Warren G hats, which simply had a “g” on the front. I owned about 10 of them.

I’m not ashamed to say that I actually have most of the lyrics to this entire album still memorized to this day. Me and my boys used to go cruising every weekend and blast this stuff. Oh the memories.

Thanks for the blast from the past! Love your blog, bro!
http://davestewart.wordpress.com Dave Stewart

Ah 2000, the last year of innocence, before 9-11 turned us sour and nasty.

I remember it as a great year, when my kids were at an awesome age (8 and 11), and we did fun things together like visit New York City together (going to the top of the World Trade Center). We celebrated the Millennium by doing the Last Run / First Run together at Waterfront Park in Portland under the fireworks.

I pretty much had written off most of pop music during the 90s and heck during most of the 80s as well. I remember buying U2′s All that You Can’t Leave Behind and listening to their “Beautiful Day”. I remember shuddering at Britney Spears and “Oops.. I did it again” as cynicism reigned through most of pop.

The kids had started to listen to more pop music (“Hansen” as I recall), which would increase my interest in it as well through the decade. Now I can name all members of the Black Eyed Peas, sorry to say, though I wouldn’t have been able to recognize them 10 years ago.