The Soundtracks Of Our Lives. Hmmm.

A couple months back, we thought it would be dope to go back and think about most formative music years—from high school through college—and identify the albums that walked by our side throughout each year. What albums spawn the most memories for specific years and why? What albums did we individually rock so much that we broke the tapes or they mentally play in the background when we think about various "scenes", if you will, from that year. I mean, when I think about my Pops barbequing in my childhood winters, I can hear Miles Davis or James Brown more than I can smell the aroma or visualize the charred ribs. When it gets to that point, music becomes a soundtrack.

For instance, there aren't many memories of 1993 (or early '94, for that matter) that I can recall without some song off Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) subconsciously playing in the background like a score to a movie. We thought it'd be a nostalgic trip down memory lane and identify our personal soundtracks for 1993-2002, which were, for us, those crazy, developing, experimental and fresh high school and college years when music means more than ever and you accrue the most vivid of memories.

Along this trip we collectively realized something: because we're a likeminded group of kats, our soundtracks weren't exactly a study of diversity and breadth. When we were young dudes, we went hard on some East Coast hip-hop. That's who we were and, to a much lesser extent, who we still are. But, we thought we might be leaving yall out of the loop on what was a cathartic, enjoyable experience. So we decided to also think about those years through our peers' lens, as well. What was bangin' on urban radio? What video could you count on appearing on Rap City or Video Soul or, later, 106 & Park or any of the MTV shows? What music would year bumpin' out a bunch of jeeps on busy streets? What songs and albums were the topics of conversation at the high school lunch tables or dorm hall common areas? All that…what were The Soundtracks Of Our Lives?

For each year, we identified three albums—typically an R&B album, a hip-hop joint and individual Musicologist soundtrack pick for each year. It's interesting to see how our personal tastes' and our peers preferences evolved, devolved, morphed and progressed throughout the years.

So turn up your computer volume, take some time and digest all this nostalgia…oh…warning: you might read about thongs at some point.