I Just Graduated, so Naturally, I Have to Make a Throwback Playlist

2005, the year I began Kindergarten. The first and final year of nap-times in class. Two of the biggest songs of 2005 are "Gold Digger" by Kanye West and "Pon De Replay" by Rihanna. Both of these songs were huge in my life. Rihanna’s Music of The Sun CD was the first CD I ever bought. Even if I bought it from my sister with $20 I begged my mother for. My siblings and I would throw dance parties in our living room to these songs, and we all knew every word. (To the clean versions, of course!)

2006, my first grade year, when I broke two of my teacher’s pencils just to prove I was strong enough to break them and then got sent to the principal. Two of the songs I loved in 2006 are "Dirty Little Secret" by All-American Rejects (yes, even at 6, when I didn’t know what it meant) and "Black Horse" and the "Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall.

2007, the year of "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol and "No One" by Alicia Keys. A beautiful year when I wore all black to school one day and was asked by a fellow second grader if I was “emo,” to which I offered not a word. I kept silent, as I usually did in school, and left them to wonder.

2008, I did my first karaoke singalong in the backroom of a Mexican restaurant with my whole class to "Pocketful of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield. Another huge song came from American Idol semi-finalist, David Archuleta. That song would be "Crush," which was such a bop, and is still such a cute song. One other honorable mention is pop sensation Miley Cyrus’s 7 Things, which made any little girl feel like an absolute baddie.

2009 was the beginning of my country music phase. Having grown up in Georgia, it was all around me all the time, but both of my parents were metal heads, so I never really got into it until Jason Aldean released "Wide Open." I instantly fell in love with the much slower pace and mellow sound of songs like "The Truth" by Jason Aldean as well as the emotional songs like "Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride. The latter song is the first song to make me feel strong emotions and start my love of music that made a difference.

2010 was a huge year for pop music and the end of a truly musical century. The first 2010 song I think of is "DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love" by Usher and Pitbull. This was a legendary collab for 10-year-old me. Another is "Not Afraid" by Eminem, a favorite of one of my siblings.

2011 brought us the legendary "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO, which had everyone dancing and singing along like the music video. This is also the year I fell out of country music. The last real country song I listened to was "Take A Back Road" by Rodney Atkins.

2012 was a tough year for me, so I started to drift more into punk and rock music on my own. My first favorite band that I found on my own was All Time Low through their 2012 album, Don’t Panic. I fell in love with the song "The Irony of Choking on a Lifesaver." I was still into the heavy pop songs, too, like Neon Trees’s "Everybody Talks."

2013 lead me back toward more mainstream-ish music, like Childish Gambino’s "The Worst Guys," and I even counted how many times “All she needed was some,” was said in the song. (It’s 65, by the way) Even with that being my favorite song, I was still waiting up late for albums like Notes from the Underground by Hollywood Undead.

2014 was mostly indie with songs like "Get Over It" by Late Night Reading and Korn’s "Hypocrite." Korn was always close to my heart, because my dad had always loved that band. I also had a huge love for You Me at Six and their song from 2014, "Win Some, Lose Some."

2015 hit me with one of my favorite bands, The Maine, who came out with a song called "(Un)Lost." The Early November also came for everyone’s feels with their album Imbue.

2016 brought me to Hands Like Houses and their song "I Am." Then, later that year, we finally got Pierce The Veil’s Misadventures album.

2017 came and went, brought two of the best albums of all time, Daylily by Movements, and Chase Atlantic’s self-titled debut album.

2018 brought Waterparks’ Entertainment and J. Cole’s KOD. The end of 2018 is when I really started to calm back down with my music and just listen to everything again.

2019, even if this year has hardly started, has brought some amazing songs, and I anticipate so many more amazing songs from so many bands. I think I’ll include one song that is out already this year and one that was leaked in a livestream but comes out soon. The former is "Her" by Chase Atlantic and the unreleased song is "Turbulent" by Waterparks.