# 1994 Twelve records, ten of our rankings, one year. Jungle, trip-hop, Memphis, kwaito, dub techno and Britpop all arriving at once, none of them aware of the others. - **Picks:** 12 - **Drawn from:** 10 rankings - **Year:** 1994 - **Curator:** The Waxonia Desk - **Updated:** 2026-08-29 - **Curator's page:** https://waxonia.com/artist/the-desk/ - **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/ ## What gets in, and what does not Released in 1994, and load-bearing: a scene has to date itself from this record. A great record that happened to come out that year and changed nothing after it does not qualify, however much we like it. Every record here is already in one of our rankings — a theme re-cuts what the site has vouched for, and vouches for nothing new. Drawn from: [Britpop](https://waxonia.com/genre/britpop/), [Drum and Bass](https://waxonia.com/genre/drum-and-bass/), [Dub Techno](https://waxonia.com/genre/dub-techno/), [G-Funk](https://waxonia.com/genre/g-funk/), [Golden Age Hip-Hop](https://waxonia.com/genre/golden-age-hip-hop/), [IDM](https://waxonia.com/genre/idm/), [Juke and Footwork](https://waxonia.com/genre/juke-and-footwork/), [Kwaito](https://waxonia.com/genre/kwaito/), [Memphis Rap](https://waxonia.com/genre/memphis-rap/), [Trip-Hop](https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/). ## The records Selected, not ranked — the order carries no claim about which is best. ### [Goldie](https://waxonia.com/artist/goldie/) — [Inner City Life](https://waxonia.com/track/goldie--inner-city-life/) *1994 · FFRR / Metalheadz* The record that proved a breakbeat could carry a song rather than just a dancefloor, and the reason drum and bass got taken seriously by people who had ignored it. Everything the genre did for the next decade is a response to this. Also on: [Drum and Bass](https://waxonia.com/genre/drum-and-bass/), [The Waxonia Desk — A Way In](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-a-way-in/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Goldie%20Inner%20City%20Life) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=i-P98B2skts) ### [Shy FX & UK Apache](https://waxonia.com/artist/shy-fx-and-uk-apache/) — [Original Nuttah](https://waxonia.com/track/shy-fx-and-uk-apache--original-nuttah/) *1994 · SOUR* The other direction jungle took in the same twelve months, and the more influential one on the street. Thirty years later it is still the record a British MC has to know, which is the only test of load-bearing that matters. Also on: [Drum and Bass](https://waxonia.com/genre/drum-and-bass/), [Bass Weight](https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-bass-weight/), [The Waxonia Desk — 160](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-160/), [The Waxonia Desk — Ghosts](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-ghosts/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Shy%20FX%20%26%20UK%20Apache%20Original%20Nuttah) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=sxbekgL4w7w) ### [Portishead](https://waxonia.com/artist/portishead/) — [Glory Box](https://waxonia.com/track/portishead--glory-box/) *1994 · Go! Beat* Trip-hop had existed for a couple of years and had no centre until Dummy. This is the track that fixed what the genre sounded like — the Isaac Hayes loop, the slowed drums, a voice singing over both as if it were a torch song. Also on: [Trip-Hop](https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Portishead%20Glory%20Box) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4qQyUi4zfDs) ### [Nas](https://waxonia.com/artist/nas/) — [N.Y. State of Mind](https://waxonia.com/track/nas--n-y-state-of-mind/) *1994 · Columbia* Illmatic reset what a rap album was allowed to be, and this is the track people quote when they explain why. Every East Coast record for five years afterwards is measured against it, usually by its own maker. Also on: [Golden Age Hip-Hop](https://waxonia.com/genre/golden-age-hip-hop/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Nas%20N.Y.%20State%20of%20Mind) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=hI8A14Qcv68) ### [The Notorious B.I.G.](https://waxonia.com/artist/the-notorious-b-i-g/) — [Juicy](https://waxonia.com/track/the-notorious-b-i-g--juicy/) *1994 · Bad Boy* Released within months of the entry above, arguing the opposite case: that a hard record could be a pop record without giving anything up. Both were right, and hip-hop spent the rest of the decade splitting the difference. Also on: [Golden Age Hip-Hop](https://waxonia.com/genre/golden-age-hip-hop/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Notorious%20B.I.G.%20Juicy) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=_JZom_gVfuw) ### [Warren G & Nate Dogg](https://waxonia.com/artist/warren-g-and-nate-dogg/) — [Regulate](https://waxonia.com/track/warren-g-and-nate-dogg--regulate/) *1994 · Death Row* G-funk's crossover moment, and the template for the sung-hook rap single that has never gone away since. It is on this list because of what came after it rather than what it took from before. Also on: [G-Funk](https://waxonia.com/genre/g-funk/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Warren%20G%20%26%20Nate%20Dogg%20Regulate) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=1plPyJdXKIY) ### [Basic Channel](https://waxonia.com/artist/basic-channel/) — [Quadrant Dub](https://waxonia.com/track/basic-channel--quadrant-dub/) *1994 · Basic Channel* Two Berliners running techno through dub's mixing desk and inventing a genre almost as a side effect. Nothing about it sounds like a founding document, which is usually how founding documents sound at the time. Also on: [Dub Techno](https://waxonia.com/genre/dub-techno/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Basic%20Channel%20Quadrant%20Dub) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=APH42GVgUTM) ### [Autechre](https://waxonia.com/artist/autechre/) — [Flutter](https://waxonia.com/track/autechre--flutter/) *1994 · Warp* Written so that no two bars share a tempo, specifically to be legal under the Criminal Justice Bill's definition of repetitive beats. A protest record whose protest is encoded in the rhythm programming, and it opened a door the genre went through. Also on: [IDM](https://waxonia.com/genre/idm/), [Warp](https://waxonia.com/theme/warp/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Autechre%20Flutter) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=mdhtm6qjmhU) ### [DJ Deeon](https://waxonia.com/artist/dj-deeon/) — [Freak Like Me](https://waxonia.com/track/dj-deeon--freak-like-me/) *1994 · Dance Mania* Chicago ghetto house at the point where it starts to become the thing that becomes footwork. It is here because a whole subsequent genre is recognisably downstream of records like this one, made on almost nothing. Also on: [Juke and Footwork](https://waxonia.com/genre/juke-and-footwork/), [Miami](https://waxonia.com/theme/miami/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/DJ%20Deeon%20Freak%20Like%20Me) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PIpWP5gcPCw) ### [DJ Paul](https://waxonia.com/artist/dj-paul/) — [North Memphis Area](https://waxonia.com/track/dj-paul--north-memphis-area/) *1994* A tape sold out of a car boot that turns out to contain most of what trap would sound like fifteen years later — the tempo, the hi-hats, the atmosphere. The clearest case on this list of a record nobody heard being load-bearing anyway. Also on: [Memphis Rap](https://waxonia.com/genre/memphis-rap/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/DJ%20Paul%20North%20Memphis%20Area) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=cpzmsHB0INE) ### [M'du Masilela](https://waxonia.com/artist/mdu-masilela/) — [Tsiki Tsiki](https://waxonia.com/track/mdu-masilela--tsiki-tsiki/) *1994* Made in the year South Africa first voted, by slowing house music down to a walking pace and making it local. A genre and a country changing at the same moment, and one of the few records on this list where the two are obviously connected. Also on: [Kwaito](https://waxonia.com/genre/kwaito/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/M'du%20Masilela%20Tsiki%20Tsiki) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=zrhZHLbmw_o) ### [Oasis](https://waxonia.com/artist/oasis/) — [Live Forever](https://waxonia.com/track/oasis--live-forever/) *1994 · Creation* The least fashionable inclusion here and the hardest to argue away. It turned a scene of art-school records into something a stadium would sing, which is a change of kind rather than of scale, and Britpop dates from it. Also on: [Britpop](https://waxonia.com/genre/britpop/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Oasis%20Live%20Forever) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=TDe1DqxwJoc) ## Who made this The people who write the rankings on this site. We keep the lists honest, we argue about the order, and we get asked the same question more than any other: where should someone actually start. These are our answers. Elsewhere: https://waxonia.com/ --- Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.