In Celebration Of Y2K’s 15th Anniversary: 10 Songs That Reflect The Digital Evolution
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the once-feared 2000 era, which is better known as Y2K! Many believed it to be the end of the world, as computers and all other forms of electronics were predicted to crash. Obviously, we’ve managed to survive the much-hyped technology bug — but at least it brought us some good music!
The turn of the new millennium found artists inserting technology-based influences into their music, from computerized sound effects to lyrics that highlighted the trends of the moment — beepers, cell phones and AOL emails to name a few. Even after the Y2K craze surpassed, artists continued to mix in the digital revolution in their music (but they are now substituting two-way pagers with an iPhone 6).
So with all that said, relive your nostalgia with our sonic time machine playlist below (in chronological order)!
1. “Digital Get Down” — *NYSNC (1999)
We are kicking things off with the song that inspired this playlist in the first place — *NSYNC’s “Digital Get Down.” A deep cut off their sophomore album, No Strings Attached, the computerized romp is clearly about cybersex that showed the band’s post-pubescent mind frame! I mean, they were singing (with heavy Auto-tune, mind you) about “getting nasty nasty” and “freaky deaky!”
2. “Fanmail” — TLC (1999)
Next up is TLC’s “Fanmail,” the title track of their underrated third studio LP. The album opener embodies the Y2K era, as it includes chilled vocals, computerized electronic blips and a talking female android named Vic-E. The moody disconnect of “Fanmail” (despite being for their fans) that pours through in the lyrics — “I got an email today/ I kinda thought that you forgot about me/ So I wanna hit you back to say/ Just like you, I get lonely too” — reflects the uncertainty that people were feeling during the turn of the new millennium.
