Nostalgic Music We Hate to Love

La La Land Alice Fortt

Demi Lovato was EVERYWHERE on Disney Channel back in the day, and her tune ‘La La Land’ would pop up in the adverts between Sonny with a Chance and Hannah Montana all the time. I was obsessed with it at the time, and still kind of love it now, despite its obvious cringeyness. This was definitely Lovato in her fledgling songwriter stage; the lyrics are.... bad, to put it bluntly. ‘’I’m not a supermodel/ I still eat MacDonald’s/ That’s just me’’? It’s not exactly poetry, and REEKS of the whole ‘I’m not like other girls’ trend. However, Lovato’s delivery in ‘La La Land’ is fantastic, despite the cringey lyrics; her singing is snappy, yet she really shows off her vocals in the chorus, belting out its leading lyrics. I wouldn’t necessarily say that ‘La La Land’ has stood the test of time (Lovato has certainly released better music in recent years), but the song does still get stuck in my head from time to time, and every frame of that music video is etched into my memory. You can’t deny that it’s a catchy tune!

Playing With Fire Katie Evans

Picture the scene, you’re in primary school circa 2010 and you’ve just downloaded the latest N-Dubz song to your iPod. Honestly, after the band’s infamous collaboration with Tinchy Stryder for ‘Number 1’ a year prior you’re expecting big things - and oh boy do they deliver. ‘Playing With Fire’ couldn’t be a catchier tune, with the classic N-Dubz ‘nana, naeee’ sound at the beginning of the tracks to the notable blend of Dappy’s harsh lyricism and Tulisa’s softer notes. If you knew me in 2020 you would have known I couldn’t stop listening to this song, to the point my parents had to introduce me to new music. The hip hop scene in the early 2000s was a vast place, yet N-Dubz somehow found their spot and grounded themselves in it for a good few years, then they suddenly seemed to drop off the map with Dappy releasing some of his own questionable songs. Let’s be honest, I still listen to ‘Playing With Fire’ every so often as it oozes that nostalgia, throwing me back to easier days where music was one of my main concerns. It’s a tune; always has been, always will be.