The Year Was takes you on a journey through time. In each show, Annett travels back in time to explore a different year. What did music sound like around the world, across different genres and scenes of pop culture? What else was happening at that time? And how does that resonate today?

Annett Scheffel is a journalist, culture writer, moderator and radio host based in Los Angeles and Berlin. She thinks, writes, and talks about music, film, feminism, and contemporary culture – preferably at the complex interfaces between identity, society, and politics.

This time Annett is giving in to her recent yearning for some ’90s vibes. We’re going back to 1996 – and, oh my god, this year had so much swagger.

Hip Hop’s influence on pop culture was at its peak. The East Coast vs. West Coast rivalry got people’s blood boiling and sent record sales through the roof. But it ended badly when Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in September, sending shockwaves through the music world. The previous summer, anything still seemed possible. The Fugees ruled the world. A little group called the Spice Girls released “Wannabe,” spreading girlpower across the globe. Ginuwine’s “Pony” felt like the future of production with its dubstep-level bass. Half a million ravers took to the streets for Berlin’s Love Parade. The Prodigy’s “Firestarter” set Europe ablaze. Meanwhile, the whole world was silly-dancing to the “Macarena,” watching ‘Friends’ and trying to keep their Tamagotchis alive. And the background noise to everything was the humming tone of the AOL dial-in that took you to this new thing called the internet.

1996 was a year of unbreakable optimism, and world began to tilt towards the new millennium.