Before Instagram, Twitter, and even Facebook, there was MySpace. It thrived during a time before the internet dictated so much of our lives. It was merely an accessory, an additive to our everyday existences outside in the real world. There was a proper blend between personalizing your social media experience and not becoming defined by it.
One of the big appeals of MySpace was the ability to set your profile to a specific song. Users were allowed to share their tastes or even their entire personalities by fitting them into a record you could hear while scrolling. Whether you loved R&B and pop or if you were an alt kid, all of it could be encapsulated by your profile on the website. Consequently, in the name of nostalgia, let’s look back at five songs you definitely had on your profile. Or, at the very least, you’ll find records and artists you remember on others’ pages.
5 Songs You Definitely Found on MySpace Profiles
Cassie, ‘Me & U’
The video for “Me & U” starts with Cassie crooning with earbuds on in her phone, straight out of 2006. This encapsulates the record beautifully, a sexy R&B song with slight digital notes in the synths that bridge the IRL and the URL. Cassie’s voice becomes hypnotic in the foreground of Ryan Leslie’s sleek digitized production. It sounds like hopelessly swooning over someone online, perfect for the MySpace profile.
Gym Class Heroes, ‘Cupid’s Chokehold’
Everyone loves a hopeless romantic, a buzzed lover boy who can be a little goofy, too. That’s what Gym Class Heroes commissioned Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump for on the hook of “Cupid’s Chokehold”. The silly ad-libs into musing about his girlfriend while Travie McCoy fixates over the mundanities he loves in his lady. Imagine being so in love that even ringtones and Alka-Seltzer hold a sweet spot in the heart. Hard not to imagine the alt crowd fall head over heels and put it on all their MySpace profiles.
Pretty Ricky, ‘Grind With Me’
“Grind With Me” was so deliriously horny, it made dudes hump their couches and chairs on camera with a straight face. Pretty Ricky made sex appeal a near-mythical experience; the Pleasure P background vocals behind each rap verse soared like a Greek chorus. Grinding was like an ancient ritual. Maybe that’s why so many people were being lusty on their furniture. Regardless, the song was sexy enough for women to put on MySpace, and the guys could try and shoot their shots accordingly.
Paramore, ‘That’s What You Get’
The 1990s and 2000s alt kids will always have an affinity for Hayley Williams and Paramore. In a sense, the internet was the fullest embodiment of pop punk. Angsty, rebellious spirit, but just contemporary enough so as not to be exclusive. “That’s What You Get” is one of their best songs, a fiery intro guitar riff into an angsty hook. Additionally, it certainly separated the MySpace profiles using “Misery Business“.
Vistoso Bosses & Soulja Boy, ‘Delirious’
Soulja Boy was the premier internet rapper. No other artist maximized the fullest potential of the digital quite like him. He truly captured what it means to go viral, before anyone knew what that meant. Every kid in America tried to do their dance on “Crank That (Soulja Boy)“. Moreover, people migrated online to try and get more of his experience.
However, a lot of those songs could be very loud and explosive. Consequently, it’s hard to imagine hearing his songs without specifically seeking them out or stumbling upon them on the radio. They’re fun, and you want to take them outside. Eventually, through enough scrolling, hearing “Yahhh!” or “Donk” will grow grating. That’s why the sugary “Delirious” with Vistoso Bosses made for such a great MySpace song. Soulja Boy was magnificently cast as the lover boy to the girl duo, a firm but tender voice to their saccharine melodies.
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