Who Ruled ’90s Music?

Ask somebody to name the queen of ’90s music and prepare for an argument.

That’s basically what happened when What’s In Your Earbuds? turned its attention to the women who defined the decade. Alanis Morissette, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Celine Dion and Shania Twain were obvious contenders.

Then our live audience started throwing more names into the ring.

Lauryn Hill. Erykah Badu. TLC. Fiona Apple. Jewel. Queen Latifah. Spice Girls. Toni Braxton. Missy Elliott.

Suddenly, picking one queen became damn near impossible.

Alanis Takes The Early Lead

One name kept appearing in the comments: Alanis Morissette.

Enough people backed her that Alanis emerged as our unofficial number-one seed. Jagged Little Pill wasn’t simply a successful album. Her music became part of the soundtrack of the decade.

Then we looked at the numbers.

Mariah Carey had 14 number-one hits during the ’90s. Fourteen.

Santino’s reaction said everything: “I was there in the nineties, but 14?”

And suddenly our Alanis coronation became considerably more complicated.

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The ’90s Changed The Conversation

The deeper we went, the more interesting the discussion became.

Maybe the story isn’t simply about which woman sold the most records. The ’90s gave women space to dominate across an incredible variety of genres.

Shania Twain became a country powerhouse. Lauryn Hill, Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott and other women reshaped hip-hop. Alanis and Fiona Apple occupied completely different musical territory. TLC and the Spice Girls demonstrated the enormous influence groups of women could have on popular culture.

As Santino pointed out during the conversation, previous decades often gave women a much narrower lane. During the ’90s, women increasingly took center stage.

Music Is Also Memory

That’s what makes choosing one winner nearly impossible.

Music isn’t only sales, streams or chart positions. Certain songs become attached to where we lived, who we knew and who we were becoming.

The artist who defined the ’90s for you might therefore be completely different from ours.

And that’s exactly why we’re asking.

Who was your queen of ’90s music?

Give us one name. No ties. And yes, you’re absolutely allowed to argue your case.

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