When I was in middle school our local community center held dances once every few months. These were exciting days for a handful of reasons– the onset of puberty was in full overdrive, hormones raging, and there was an electricity in the air about meeting and dancing with girls at these mixers. And it was especially exciting because these community dances were open to anyone in the area, with kids from multiple schools being able to attend as long as you lived in a nearby zip code. What that meant was that there was always a mystery as to who would be there, sometimes girls you only saw a few months at these mixers, and it had this incredible build up throughout the week where me and my buddies would fantasize about any crushes we’d be able to dance with when the sun set on a Friday night. That was in theory of course– in practice, the nerves would inevitably get to half the group and the girls and the boys would be separated on opposite ends of the dance floor when we first arrived, evaluating each other from afar as we worked up the courage to go to the center of the dance floor and awkwardly shuffle our feet next to a girl willing to let us get close.
“Back That Azz Up” by JUVENILE was a hallmark of those dances, a guaranteed banger that got everyone to the middle of the floor. It’s a song that brings me back to those simpler times, when pooka shell necklaces and JNCO jeans were the uniform of choice, and dancing with a girl was something you obsessed over for weeks after the moment was gone with all your buddies. Quinlan Center in Cupertino, CA represent– you’ll always be the home of JUVENILE for me.
Standout Songs: “Back That Azz Up”, “Flossin’ Season”, “Gone Ride With Me”
