20 Years Since....Q3 2002

Time for our quarterly look at what tunes I was enjoying 20 years ago:

Ashanti - Foolish

Ashanti had made her name for herself earlier on in the year as the singer on "Always On Time" by Ja Rule. I therefore listened with interest when she released this, her solo debut.

I was cautious that Christina Milian launched her solo career via the same route previously and her solo hits were a pile of shite. Fortunately Ashanti made a decent record.

Tim Deluxe ft Sam Obernik - It Just Won't Do

When Fatboy Slim did his Brighton Beach gig that seemingly the whole country went to I believe this was the first tune he played.

I wasn't one of those people at that gig, but I do recall a trip to the Lincolnshire coast that summer and this appearing on the Dreem Teem show on Radio 1 whilst I was driving there.

DJ Marky & XRS ft Stamina MC - LK (Carolina Carol Bela)

I remember a Helter Skelter newsletter back in the 90s where they said they were flying DJ Marky, a Brazilian drum & bass DJ over to play his first set in the UK.

A few years later there he was on Top of the Pops. I'd been a bit bitter about drum & bass prior to this because it was growing in popularity whilst hardcore was dead. I had to concede by this point though that I was enjoying modern drum & bass more than I was enjoying modern hardcore.

NERD - Rockstar

Admittedly it took me a while to get into this. I was a fan of "Lapdance" by NERD but wasn't keen on the more rock direction they were taking here initially.

I'm not sure what happened exactly, but it grew on me enough to go and buy the album which I was addicted to for a period of time.

It has to be said it's a million times better than the complete utter shite Pharrell has been doing in more recent times.

Cam Ron ft Juelz Santana - Oh Boy

At the time this record was out I bumped into an old college mate in town. We headed to the record shops and I bought the last copy of Bonkers 8 in the shop which was something he also wanted to buy.

He then bought the last copy in the shop of the Cam Ron album which was something I quite wanted myself. That was until I realised it was on Roc-a-fella records, the label owned by Jay-Z who's a rapper I've always despised. I never did buy the album, not that I really care about the label these days but the moment had passed.

Romeo - Romeo Dunn

I blamed the So Solid Crew for the death of UK garage which was basically dead by this point. We were also seeing the So Solid Crew make solo records.

It's not a garage record at all, it's a rap record and a massive improvement on anything the So Solid Crew did.

Mary J Blige ft Ja Rule - Rainy Dayz

I was really into Ja Rule around this period and was forever listening to his "Pain Is Love" album. That drew my interest to this record and I bought the CD single.

To be honest I never really listen to it after I bought it and it eventually ended up in a charity shop. It's not a bad record, but I do find it pretty mediocre these days.

Scooter - Nassaja

This was the new tune from their greatest hits album "Push the Beat For This Jam". I already owned that album when it was released as a single and it's basically what you'd expect from Scooter.

I remember hearing this being played on a Saturday night out which was an indication this was to be their new single.

NORE - Nothin

Perhaps one of the things that drew me towards buying the NERD album was the productions by The Neptune which was Pharrell and Chad from NERD.

I'll be honest the only other NORE tune I know appears on "The Neptune's Presents the Clones" album.

Eminem - Cleanin Out My Closet

I bought "The Eminem Show" album the day it was released and this was one of my favourite tracks on the album.

One issue I did have is the beats are pretty poor, but the darkness of the record makes up for that.

Beenie Man ft Janet - Feel It Boy

The Neptunes were everywhere around this time, even putting their signature sound on dancehall records. In hindsight maybe this was the pathway for me being into dancehall for a period of time.