90s Music Canon

EPISODE 179

Matt Daniels, editor of the publication The Pudding, wanted to find out what songs from his youth would last into the future. So he designed a study that would test if Gen-Z had a grip on 90s culture. Hundreds of thousands of participants provided over 3 million data points. Daniels parsed through the data for insights. Sadly, the majority of his most beloved songs have not survived even one generation. Though most had been forgotten, he found that just a few songs had staying power across generations — what he defined as the emerging 90s music canon. Find out what songs make it and which have fallen to the wayside. 

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The Pudding’s study on Defining the 90s Canon

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SONGS DISCUSSED

Spice Girls - Wannabe 

Mariah Carey - Fantasy!

Lou Bega - Mambo #5

Los Del Rio - Macarena

Boys II Men - Motown Philly

Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You

Savage Garden - I Want You

The Barenaked Ladies - One Week

Jewel - You Were Meant For Me

Jennifer Lopez - If You Had My Love

Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On

Britney Spears - Baby One More Time

Smash Mouth - All Star

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

House of Pain - Jump Around 

Sir Mix A lot - Baby Got Back

Snap! - Power

Bruno Mars - Finesse

Charlie Puth - Baby If You Leave Me Now