10 essential '90s jock jams

by Aaron Zorgel

May 13, 2013

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With our beloved Toronto Maple Leafs heading into a game seven showdown with the nefarious Boston Bruins in the first round of the NHL playoffs this evening, it feels appropriate to cue up a playlist of big tunes that’ll get everyone adequately pumped up. The Leafs made the playoffs four years in a row between 1992 and 1996. Call us superstitious, but it just feels right for us to call on the quintessential jock jams of the ’90s for our pre-game hype-up soundtrack.

But wait — what qualifies as a jock jam, exactly? Does a regular jam go through a jock metamorphosis once it gets played at a sporting event? Or is a jock jam full-on jock at the moment of conception? Does it have to have been featured on Tommy Boy Records’ infamous Jock Jams compilations? These are all valid questions. When I think of jock-jams, I think of sitting in my friend’s bedroom, playing NHL ’94 with the sound off, and listening to a custom-curated cassette tape, featuring the Space Jam theme song, that “I Like To Move It” song, probably most of the Mighty Ducks: D2 soundtrack, and other high-octane dance mix/hip-hop hybrids. So for our purposes, this list is going to consist of anything that attempts to pair a cheesy ’90s dance beat with hip-hop, or anything else that seems to tickle that nostalgic funny-bone.

Here are ten essential ’90s jock jams, as defined by my own very specific personal adolescent experiences playing countless hours of NHL ’94. Go Leafs, go!

2 Unlimited – “Get Ready for This” (1991)

This is probably the “Stairway To Heaven” of jock jams. Twenty two years later, I’m still not ready for this.

Tag Team – “Whoomp! (There It Is)” (1993)

This one’s best experienced via the scene in Mighty Ducks: D2 when the Ducks get their asses handed to them in street hockey, courtesy of Kenan Thompson’s knucklepuck.

Technotronic – “Pump Up the Jam” (1989)

This one was actually released in 1989, but it bleeds ’90s.

C&C Music Factory – “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” (1990)

“Everybody dance, NOW.”

K7 – “Come Baby Come” (1993)

I guarantee, I had no idea what the “Play me like Nintendo” lyric meant when I was actually playing Nintendo.

69 Boyz – “Tootsee Roll” (1994)

Again, I can’t believe how sexual all of these jock jams are.

Reel 2 Real – “I Like To Move It” feat. The Mad Stuntman (1993)

Me too, Mad Stuntman. I like to move it too.

Freak Nasty – “Da’ Dip” (1996)

What does this have to do with sports?!

Outhere Brothers – “Boom Boom Boom” (1995)

This is the second best “Boom” song, sandwiched in between the Vengaboys and Saliva.

Quad City DJs – “Space Jam” (1997)

Come on and slam, if you wanna jam. Straight up poetry.

Or, you can save yourself some time, and listen to them all at once!

The Jock Jam Megamix

Tags: Music, Featured, Lists, News, 2 Unlimited, 69 Boyz, Jock Jams

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