Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
I’m sure there are people who study such things, but this time warped life that I live is wild and needs some examination. For instance, I can still vividly remember what my life was like back in the 2000s, but I see videos now and I’m curious as to why so many videos are blurry, why the clothes were so blurry and what exactly was a Smilez and Southstar? Is that what my life was really like?
(Just kidding, Smilez and Southstar had a certified hit with “Tell Me.” Fight your moms, fam.)
Anywho, so much of what makes me who I am today happened way back yonder. It’s not that I can’t move on from the time, but I am definitely one of those people who thinks everything that happened in my youth is better than what is happening now, even if a solid 90 percent of that is untrue. Shoot, I still remember paying $75 a month for a cell phone service JUST to tell people not to call me before 9pm. Whew, Chile…the ghetto.
One way I keep getting reminded of this time long, long ago is that so much of the music that I still listen to today with regularity will turn 25 in this year of our lord two thousand and twenty-five. And so I’d like to share this list of albums hitting a quarter of a century that take me back to the good ol’ days if you don’t mind. Thank you.
1. D’Angelo “Voodoo”
While the video for “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” was easily one of the top 10 marketing campaigns of all time, the album itself is still a pure masterpiece of funk, rock and, well, unbridled Blackness. It’s good from front to back and twice on Sundays. From “Chickengrease” to “The Line” to… oh what’s the point, you can’t start this album and skip around, you have to listen all the way through. The point is that an album that I thought would change the world in 2000 is now 25 years old and I’m not sure this album, by itself, changed the world but it definitely has been a security blanket for me since.
2. Erykah Badu “Mama’s Gun”
I don’t have to say it but I’m going to say it anyway, when Erykah Badu dropped “Mama’s Gun” in 2000 it was perfect. In 2025, “Mama’s Gun” is still perfect. There is not one single solitary unperfect thing about this album, from “Penitentiary Philosophy” to “Green Eyes,” which, for my money, is one of the most relatable-content songs of all time. Forever ever. It’s possible that you see what I did there.
3. Jill Scott “Who is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds,Vol.1”
Baby, when I say an album hit like a bomb???? Jill Scott’s debut album was EVERYWHERE. You could not escape “A Long Walk” on the streets of Atlanta bumping from the cars of alleged drug dealers and poets alike. There was just something extra special about her voice and the music that made it inescapable. I’m still rocking “It’s Love” like it came out yesterday because I’m from DC (now) and that go-go tribute made my whole year. In 2000. Whew.
4. Outkast “Stankonia”
I’m not sure there is anything left to say about Outkast that hasn’t already been said, written about, awarded or flatout appreciated. But as a person who was on the Outkast train from the first day possible…a southern kid who felt seen… I’ve enjoyed and grown because of the music of Outkast. They gave me a license to enjoy and appreciate sounds that I didn’t realize were mine from the beginning. “Stankonia” leveled that up in myriad ways, “B.O.B.” being the most prominent. But “So Fresh, So Clean,” to “Ms. Jackson,” I mean, all of the big songs from “Stankonia” aren’t just in my rotation today, but the world’s.
5. Ghostface Killah “Supreme Clientele”
Full disclosure, I was never the biggest Wu Tang Clan fan. That has since changed and I’ve apologized to the hip-hop Gods profusely, but I was ALWAYS a fan of Ghostface Killah. His voice was just different. Who could have foreseen in the late 90s that Ghostface would have been the one to truly carry the mantle for the Clan in 2000 but that’s exactly what he did when “Supreme Clientele” dropped and even the most ardent Wu Tang hater had to appreciate the body of work. “Cherchez LaGhost” was IN EVERY CLUB at midnight. The album made 2000 feel fresh and in 2025, it still takes me back there.
In fact, all of these albums take me back to there if you know what I mean. So if you too were turning up and not in diapers back in the early 2000s, do yourself a favor and throw one of these classics on today. These artists’ royalty streams will thank you, and so will your soul.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).