A good way I like describing the late 2000s is as eventful yet forgettable at the same time. So much change happened technologically and so many events occurred: Election of first black president, H1N1 Pandemic, The Great Recession, the first IPhone, etc. And yet when looking back I don't feel the same amount of nostalgia as I do looking back at the early 2000s. It was more forgettable and depressing. I guess I blame the poor pop culture and music at the time for making the era feel that way. And if there were better shows and movies on perhaps it would have been more of a memorable and fun era but the pop culture was so bad.

I feel very nostalgic about 2008 but not so much for 2009. That year was not bad but it was kind of dark and depressing. I had some things going on in my personal life, but at least I was living in Japan so that helped. One thing I remember was Michael Jackson's death. I literally don't remember a lot of the songs from 2009. The playlist was on my old iPod and it won't turn on anymore.

It was at least forgettable. I'd say its events were more significant than plentiful though - we've never really recovered from a cheating and failing economy, which has been worsened by the pandemic.

The late 2000s are underrated in my opinion.

2007 has many core-00s elements, though things were already beginning to shift around then. I would say it's actually one of the more memorable 00s years in terms of pop culture.

2008 gets overshadowed by both the election and the economic crisis. I remember liking a lot of pop culture from that year, but the economic crash overshadows it in many people's minds. It also suffers from the fact that many core-00s elements were on their way out this year, but the 10s hadn't yet started.

2009 gets lumped in with the early 2010s in the popular imagination. A lot of stuff in that year feels more at home in 2011 than it would in 2007.

Musically, we started to see the first rebellion against mainstream 2000s culture: rebirth of pure pop (Lady Gaga), electronica influences, rappers experimenting with more rock/skater influences (Lil Wayne, Kanye)

Fashion-wise, very similar to now

What do you mean by forgettable, exactly? That you don't like it, or that nothing from that era is popular anymore in 2021? Is pop culture from 2005-2009 very different from today? Because over the last year I have actually been noticing heavy nostalgia for media from that era. Almost more so than the early 2000s.

We're still using iPhones and Androids like it's 2008. Our flatscreens haven't changed much since, either. Youtube, Facebook and Twitter are still the biggest social media sites.

A lot of pop music (particularly electropop) from Lady Gaga, La Roux and even Ke$ha still makes the rounds on the radio. R&B singers like Beyonce, Rihanna and even Chris Brown have had hits in the past year. Every time I go onto Hiphop forums, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Kanye West, Lupe, T.I., Jeezy, Rick Ross and Gucci Mane are still the subject of discussion in between newer artists like Kendrick and Travis Scott. The radio still plays their music from time to time. Drake's So Far Gone EP is actually really popular on the airwaves as well despite being 12 years old. Trap rap sounds mostly the same as it did back then.

Some TV shows from that period are already slated for revivals in 2021 like The Boondocks, Ben 10 and Total Drama Island. The TV golden age was well underway, so we had Breaking Bad, Lost, The Office, Arrested Development, Prison Break, Dexter, 30 Rock, Modern Family to name a few.

Films like Borat, Idiocracy, The Dark Night, I am Legend, Coraline and the various Pixar films are still subject of conversation by youtubers. And books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid have been memed to hell and back.

And then there's video games like San Andreas, Modern Warfare, Team Fortress 2, Halo 3, Uncharted, Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, Portal, Ace Attorney, Professor Layton, Wii Sports, Mario Strikers Charged, Minecraft, Monster Hunter and Assassins' Creed which either constantly get referenced or still have large communities. I keep getting videos of the aforementioned Nintendo games in my Youtube recommended despite not having searched for them.


It doesn't feel like pop culture has changed that much from the late '00s. Even some of the fashion is returning.

What do you mean by forgettable, exactly? That you don't like it, or that nothing from that era is popular anymore in 2021? Is pop culture from 2005-2009 very different from today? Because over the last year I have actually been noticing heavy nostalgia for media from that era. Almost more so than the early 2000s.

We're still using iPhones and Androids like it's 2008. Our flatscreens haven't changed much since, either. Youtube, Facebook and Twitter are still the biggest social media sites.

A lot of pop music (particularly electropop) from Lady Gaga, La Roux and even Ke$ha still makes the rounds on the radio. R&B singers like Beyonce, Rihanna and even Chris Brown have had hits in the past year. Every time I go onto Hiphop forums, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Kanye West, Lupe, T.I., Jeezy, Rick Ross and Gucci Mane are still the subject of discussion in between newer artists like Kendrick and Travis Scott. The radio still plays their music from time to time. Drake's So Far Gone EP is actually really popular on the airwaves as well despite being 12 years old. Trap rap sounds mostly the same as it did back then.

Some TV shows from that period are already slated for revivals in 2021 like The Boondocks, Ben 10 and Total Drama Island. The TV golden age was well underway, so we had Breaking Bad, Lost, The Office, Arrested Development, Prison Break, Dexter, 30 Rock, Modern Family to name a few.

Films like Borat, Idiocracy, The Dark Night, I am Legend, Coraline and the various Pixar films are still subject of conversation by youtubers. And books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid have been memed to hell and back.

And then there's video games like San Andreas, Modern Warfare, Team Fortress 2, Halo 3, Uncharted, Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, Portal, Ace Attorney, Professor Layton, Wii Sports, Mario Strikers Charged, Minecraft, Monster Hunter and Assassins' Creed which either constantly get referenced or still have large communities. I keep getting videos of the aforementioned Nintendo games in my Youtube recommended despite not having searched for them.


It doesn't feel like pop culture has changed that much from the late '00s. Even some of the fashion is returning.

I mean I don't look back at the late '00s in the same way I look back at the mid '00s for example. It doesn't have that same innocent vibe. It is forgetful because it is too much like today because so much new technology came out in the late '00s.