Isn’t there just something magical about stepping back into the 90s and 00s? It’s like drinking a big ol’ cup of nostalgia—except instead of tea, it’s filled with Capri Sun, pop-punk anthems, and the haunting sound of your Tamagotchi beeping at 2 a.m.
Kids today have everything with just the press of a button! Back then, if you wanted music, you had to work for it! Nowadays, we’re just yelling at Alexa to play the next Cranberries track like she’s a misbehaving teenager. Back in my day, I was Alexa—rewinding tapes by hand, fighting with CD players, and trying not to scratch the ONE, Steps - Steptacular album I saved up months for!
In its defense, the good owl’ cassette tape was arguably the most temperamental, yet cherished, music format of the 90s. Crafting the perfect mixtape wasn’t just a hobby; it was an art form, (should have been a leaving cert curriculum) filled with joy and frustration. Unlike today’s digital playlists with shuffle and repeat options, cassette enthusiasts had to rely on the familiar clunk of the rewind button, hoping they’d landed on their favorite song rather than an unintended snippet of the Angelis. And, of course, who could forget the delicate skill (and surprising athleticism) of rewinding a tangled tape with a trusty pencil? It’s a talent worthy of an Olympic medal!
Moving towards the 00s CDs made us feel like we were running our own record labels. We were in our element! Suddenly, everyone was a DJ, handing us tracks like a sketchy dealer whispering, “It might take 14 hours to download, but it'll be worth it… unless it’s actually a virus.” We’d spend hours carefully curating the perfect playlist of Jay-Z, Eminem and 50 Cent, burning CDs like we were music producers! A definitive peak DIY culture, mixing technology and personal taste into a weirdly beautiful phenomenon, one that left us with stacks of scratched CDs and no idea which one had “In Da Club” on it.
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