By David Jordan Jr
1996 was a year of many events and timeless occurrences that partly shaped the world which exists today. 20 years later, certain things that happened in sports, entertainment, pop culture, politics and fashion are still as relevant today as they were in 1996. Musically, certain years birth albums that are groundbreaking, some years give albums that are record breaking and some years give life changing albums; 1996 was a year that produced albums which fell under all of these different umbrellas. New artist, new sounds, new producers and living legends gave the world music that is essentially timeless. The consistency of the sound of music from 1996 has allowed for the music from that year to be played everywhere this day; in cars, cell phones, retail stores and clubs/bars all over the world. One of the reasons the music was able to resonate with so many people at that time was the fact that new music wasn’t as accessible in 1996 as it is in 2016. There were no internet mixtapes or instant downloads of new singles; you had to wait on release dates for albums and singles. You had to spend a lot of money on cassette tapes and compact discs (cds) which showed how much the love for the music was pure. 
Factor in the prominence and importance of video play on BET and MTV, music was everywhere for everybody, thus allowing for life soundtracks, summer themes and love ballads to leave imprints on the lives of those that lived that time and also on the lives of those that discovered this timeless music in the years after 1996. We have compiled a list of some these classic albums from 1996 which are necessary to any music collection; genuine classics.
