1995 Rebooted

These days, some songs just feel familiar. The melody, the structure, the way a rap breaks in, or how emotion flows through a vocal line — it’s not just nostalgia. Structurally and emotionally, something from back then is clearly resurfacing.

I Had to Stop and Listen – ShaLala

Say My Name is a relatively unknown girl group. I hadn’t seen their faces or heard their name, but when I stumbled upon their debut song ‘ShaLala,’ I stopped at the first verse. Bubblegum pop melody, retro-style rap, and a classic chorus structure — it all sounded like early 2000s K-pop.

The producer turned out to be P.K., who had worked with YG artists like Jinusean, Se7en, and Big Bang. Once I saw the credit, it all made sense. This wasn’t some unintentional resemblance — it was a deliberate revival of that specific emotional and musical vocabulary.

In the U.S., the Same Thing Is Happening – Muni Long and Victoria Monét

You can hear a similar movement in U.S. R&B. Muni Long’s 'Made for Me' was a clear declaration: “I want to bring R&B back to when it was at its best,” she said. The track was produced by Jermaine Dupri — no clearer message needed.

Victoria Monét’s 'On My Mama' is even more direct. Brass arrangements, backup dancers, choreography on top of a car — the Black community responded with, “This is straight out of the BET era.” It wasn’t just a stylistic throwback; it was a full-on emotional reconstruction.

What’s Even More Striking Is Gen Z

JayDon — once the voice of Simba in the Disney live-action Lion King — now releases music of his own. His video for 'I’ll Be Good' recalls Ne-Yo and early Chris Brown. Street dance, vocal-centered scenes, and that same expressive flow. He’s now signed to Mega, a label founded by Usher and L.A. Reid. Seeing L.A. Reid’s name again — the man behind so much of 90s R&B — feels like a signal in itself.

Another group, 2BYG, debuted under Def Jam. With a melodic song steeped in vintage vibes, a four-member format, and choreography layered into the performance, they naturally call back to that era. In fan communities, people are saying, “This is New Edition all over again,” and for me, they bring to mind Soul for Real or Immature.

This Didn’t Just Happen on Its Own

After the Puff Daddy era, the vocal-dance group format disappeared from the U.S. mainstream. Style took the lead, and emotion took a back seat. So it means something that teams are now returning to emotionally driven formats, with group synergy and harmonic storytelling.

In the meantime, that structure was kept alive elsewhere — notably in K-pop.
And through BTS, the world saw just how powerful youth, sincerity, and a good song can be. That wave didn’t pass quietly; its echo is still visible in how today’s young artists shape their sound.

In the End, Melody Is What Came Back

The 2010s were full of experimentation and aesthetic. Melody, often, was left behind. But what pulls us in again today is that familiar flow — singable, emotional, human.

#throwback #1990s #2000s