I'm not sure if this thread is necessary but I will make it anyway  ;D.

Sometimes I enjoy looking up dates certain songs were released. Now and again, there is a discrepancy between release dates listed on Wikipedia and my own unique memories. There are several songs in which Wikipedia lists a particular release date, but I vividly remember hearing the song a year prior. This used to make me feel psychotic because I have distinct memories associated with the time I first heard these songs.

For example, the release date for "Boom Boom Pow" is listed as "March 31, 2009." When I first saw this I thought, "that's impossible!" I know for a fact that I heard the song in 2008. I vividly remember downloading it to a blank CD and playing it over and over again. I also remember the lyrics saying "I'm so two thousand and eight, you so two thousand and late!" and not the current, "I'm so three thousand and eight, you so two thousand and late." I just know for a fact this song was out already in 2008.

So wikipedia (and other sites actually) made me feel I may have been making up false memories, but they are so vivid, I know that that's false. I'm not psychotic and believing or reliving things that didn't happen. I also know that the mind, sometimes makes up memories to fill in the blanks when you don't completely remember past experiences but this isn't the case either.

I also remember this older thread where NerdyGamer & Slim were going back and forth over the release date of Robin Thicke's "Lost Without U."

The date on Wikipedia says "January 30, 2007" and Slim was adamant about this being the correct date the song came out. However, Gamer said he heard it in 2006. I remember hearing first hearing it in 2006 as well not 2007. Slim implied that it was impossible to have heard it in 2006 but I know for a FACT that I did lol. Again, Wikipedia making me feel like I'm making up stories about past experiences. This had happened on so many different songs, I just know that I heard the songs way before those dates on wiki.

However, this is when I found out I wasn't making things up. Wiki lists the release date for Yung Joc's "It's Going Down" as "March 2006." I know for a 100% fact, I heard this song in 2005. We used to sing this song at school and made up our own version of the song that included specific details about the school. I did not attend this school in 2006. Only 2005 and before. So when Wikipedia listed the release date as 2006, I knew that I heard it before then . My memories are too detailed to be making them up. So I tried using other sources but the majority of current sources list 2006 as well. So I opted to find an actual article from 2006 because it's closer to the actual time the song was released. And YES I found info that confirms my memories.

From XXL magazine; April 21, 2006:

“It’s Goin Down.” The song smashed Southern streets late last year and caught the attention of Block Enterprises CEO Russell “Block” Spencer, who helped launch the careers of Young Jeezy and BNDH. Block immediately arranged to see Yung Joc perform at a local talent showcase, and signed the charismatic rapper two days later."

http://www.xxlmag.com/rap-music/show-prove/2006/04/show-prove-yung-joc/?trackback=tsmclip

That means the song did in fact come out in 2005. This article was written in 2006 and says the song became a smash "last year" in the Southern Untied States. 

Like people are using wikipedia dates to prove me wrong and "debunk" my personal memories of when I first heard a song. I know for a fact that all of the song listed in this thread, I heard the year before the listed release dates.

So what I'm saying is, if you vividly remember hearing a song before the official release date, trust your gut! Those dates listed on wiki are just the official release dates, it doesn't mean that's the very first time the public has heard the song. Songs leak on the internet and whatnot. I made this long thread because people had me thinking I was crazy or losing my mind for challenging these release dates lmao. 

Hmm...I kinda have mixed feelings about Wikipedia. Sometimes their information is not accurate.  ::) They really should do their research and do something about that.

I guess that sometimes they might list the release date of the single version whereas you may have heard the album track earlier than that date.  Although in the case of Boom Boom Pow the CD (The E.N.D.) has a copyright date of 2009 so maybe Boom Boom Pow came out before the album?

Yeah, Wikipedia will do that to you. This is why I don't do research as far as this type of topic because it just feels good to be my own source. People can correct me but I still have my own memories that can be backed up, I wasn't even heavily on the internet in the 2000s. I know what I heard.

Wikipedia should never be taken as gospel. Absolutely anybody can post there, and it doesn't have to be accurate. Until somebody notices that it's not accurate and fixes it. If they do. So it's forever changing. I don't know when the practice started of quoting Wikipedia as an ultimate authority. It should never be.

The best way to use Wikipedia is as a general guide. If you know nothing at all about a topic, you can go to Wikipedia to get an idea what it is. Then immediately move to a more authoritative source or website, now that you have an idea where to go.

As for the release dates of songs, even in my day, the golden age of AM AND FM radio, stations would frequently have the song or album long before the release date. For example, I first heard no less a well known song than John Lennon's "Imagine" in August, 1971 when it was completely unknown and brand new, though the official US release date, per Wikipedia, was September 9, 1971. And the single came out even later than that. Radio stations had the album already. No single was decided upon. Radio started playing the title track "Imagine" right off the bat, and it was ultimately released as a single due to the interest.

I guess that sometimes they might list the release date of the single version whereas you may have heard the album track earlier than that date.  Although in the case of Boom Boom Pow the CD (The E.N.D.) has a copyright date of 2009 so maybe Boom Boom Pow came out before the album?

Well, that makes sense. They are probably listing the release dates for the single. And yes, I remember Boom Boom Pow came out before the album.


Yeah, Wikipedia will do that to you. This is why I don't do research as far as this type of topic because it just feels good to be my own source. People can correct me but I still have my own memories that can be backed up, I wasn't even heavily on the internet in the 2000s. I know what I heard.

Exactly!

Wikipedia should never be taken as gospel. Absolutely anybody can post there, and it doesn't have to be accurate. Until somebody notices that it's not accurate and fixes it. If they do. So it's forever changing. I don't know when the practice started of quoting Wikipedia as an ultimate authority. It should never be.

The best way to use Wikipedia is as a general guide. If you know nothing at all about a topic, you can go to Wikipedia to get an idea what it is. Then immediately move to a more authoritative source or website, now that you have an idea where to go.

As for the release dates of songs, even in my day, the golden age of AM AND FM radio, stations would frequently have the song or album long before the release date. For example, I first heard no less a well known song than John Lennon's "Imagine" in August, 1971 when it was completely unknown and brand new, though the official US release date, per Wikipedia, was September 9, 1971. And the single came out even later than that. Radio stations had the album already. No single was decided upon. Radio started playing the title track "Imagine" right off the bat, and it was ultimately released as a single due to the interest.

You're absolutely right.

There's a difference between the single, the album, and the song released to radio. I'm sure you know that. There's also a lot of fan bases, fans, and stans, that inflate their favorite artist (s)'s album sales.  :(  :o  :o