Its a bold move from Rolling Stone: Even with the recent resurgence of nostalgia for the decade, by now the ‘90s have been done to death. But, arguably, the ‘90s are also fertile ground for track-mining, the sheer breadth of genres and musical stars and styles it created proving unprecedented. And while this playlist collates an impressive compendium of tracks, it tends to read less like a celebration and more as an attempt to prove the curators collective savvy. This works in places, with such gems as Heliums “XXX” and Liz Phairs “Fuck and Run” making welcome appearances, but at times this approach is jarring: with all the Whitney tracks to choose from, does Faith Evans-collab “Heartbreak Hotel” really belong here? There are also a handful of glaring omissions, largely on the hip-hop front: where is Skee-Los “I Wish”? Salt-n-Pepas “Push It”? Naughty By Natures “Hip Hop Hooray”? Beats Internationals “Dub Be Good To Me”? House of Pains “Jump Around”? Dead Prezs “Its Bigger Than Hip-Hop”, Jurassic 5s “Concrete Schoolyard”? This mix might better be termed Introduction to the ‘90s, and if that were the case, its a solid offering: props, in particular to the inclusion of Geto Boys “Mind Playing Tricks On Me”.
