Sometimes you need a pick-me-up, and 90s bad-girl runway songs are often the perfect remedy. Here are a few songs from the decade that always give us a reason to strut.
“Whatta Man” by Salt-N-Pepa (ft. En Vogue)
Salt-N-Pepa describe their ideal man with the help of vocal group En Vogue in this song. Of course, they do it over the most infectious beat. In the genre of girl power music, it’s not uncommon for men to get a bit of a beating. In this song, however, that’s definitely not the case.
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“I know that ain’t nobody perfect, I give props to those who deserve it / And believe me y’all, he’s worth it / So, here’s to the future, ’cause we got through the past / I finally found somebody that can make me laugh.”
“The Boy Is Mine” by Brandy & Monica
This song by Brandy & Monica takes Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney’s duet “The Girl Is Mine” and gives it a whole new spin.
In 2024, Ariana Grande actually did her own song called “The Boy Is Mine”. She talked about how her song hails the track that was popular in 1998.
“I kind of was like, ‘This is a very bad idea, I think, but there is a large group of my fans that really, they do love a bad girl anthem,’” she told Billboard of the song. “And this is kind of an elevated version of that.”
“Genie In A Bottle” by Christina Aguilera
There’s something about this song that is sensual in a commanding sort of way. As Aguilera told 1000 UK #1 Hits of this song, “It is a bit suggestive, but in a positive way. It’s all about a girl who’s a little sassy and likes to play hard to get, but equally wants sincerity in a relationship.”
“Vogue” by Madonna
I mean, yeah, this song pretty much screams runway. Pop sensation Madonna wrote this one about the dance move called “voguing” that she witnessed while in New York City.
“I’ve been very inspired [living in New York City]. I mean the song ‘Vogue’ was inspired by walking into a nightclub — it may have been the Paradise Garage, I’m not sure — and seeing the extravaganza crew, basically, voguing, and I was like, ‘Whoa, what the hell is that?’ And it was just the most amazing thing,” she explained to iHeart Radio.
Photo by: Ross Marino/Icon and Image/Getty Images
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