I might not even be of legal drinking age, but I already find myself nostalgic about my youth, wary about growing old. I miss Freeze Pops and Capri Suns after riding around on my neighbor's Razor scooter (my parents never let me get one). I miss being scared shitless by Are You Afraid of the Dark? and loving every minute of it. I miss SuperSoakers and Creepy Crawlers and SNICK. Music, however, is a medium that allows one to momentary return to a certain place and time—Third Eye Blind, Semisonic, No Doubt, Blind Melon, and Chumbawamba just a handful of the artists with that evocative capacity.
Essentially taking the lead from DJ DoYou of "Stuntin' Like Mufasa" fame, rapper A-1 has capitalized on my generation's collective nostalgia and made a somewhat gimmicky, somewhat kickass mixtape that combines A-1's Wale-esque raps with popular 90s TV themes. Reading Rainbow, All That, Pokemon—hell, even Doug makes an appearance. Perhaps my favorite moment, however, comes as A-1 fakes being sick in order to stay home from school in classic Ferris Bueller fashion. One of his first orders of business? Watch The Price is Right, the mainstay of every sick child's programming schedule. I think everyone remembers watching Bob Barker and those 80-year-old-and-up targeted ads (see: Hoveround, Colonial Penn, and Wilford Brimley) with a glass of orange juice and some Campbell's Chicken Noodle (or, if you're as lucky as me, mom's homemade matzo ball soup and matzo brei).
So, without further ado, I invite you to sit back, turn on these tunes, and relive your youth for a few minutes. And for the full experience, consider downloading the full mixtape, After School Special, over at DatPiff. Enjoy.
The Price is Right [alt]
Doug (Funnie Bitch) [alt]
Reading Rainbow [alt]
All That! [alt]
