In this competition, I don’t give a crap about the “best” or “greatest.” I want to know the MOST LOATHED popular musical artist of the 1990s.
That means in each matchup, you are going to vote for the musical act you HATE THE MOST!
Let me repeat that: Don’t vote for your favorite; YOU WILL CAST YOUR VOTE FOR THE ARTIST YOU HATE MORE. We will be voting for artists with our vitriol, and eventually will be left with the one musical act that cumulatively received the most amount of our pure, unadulterated hatred.
The pool of 64 candidates comes from the top-selling artists and/or artists that had highly-reviewed albums and/or released multiple songs that somehow permeated the culture. Voting for this round will continue until 4pm Monday, March 23.
So vote, which do you hate more:
REGION 1
Missy Elliot vs. Coolio
Will Smith vs. TLC
Puff Daddy vs. Boyz II Men
En Vogue vs. Jay-Z
REGION 2
Alice in Chains vs. Rage Against the Machine
Stone Temple Pilots vs. Sublime
Alanis Morrisette vs. Oasis
Soundgarden vs. Meatloaf
REGION 3
Michael Jackson vs. Bob Dylan
Janet Jackson vs. Madonna
LL Cool J vs. Guns n Roses
Metallica vs. Bruce Springsteen
REGION 4
NSync vs. Ricky Martin
Backstreet Boys vs. 98 Degrees
Mariah Carey vs. Christina Aguillera
Hanson vs. Spice Girls
So there’s no mistake, the ones left are my most hated. I had to pass a couple of times when I just wasn’t familiar enough with the music to make a call. Hope that doesn’t screw up the tallying.
Region 4 had some tough calls. I wanted to vote for them all.
I was at an all-night restaurant in Seattle in the early/mid-90s with a very young/grungy clientele (and staff). A song started on the jukebox and the cook came out of the kitchen and pulled the plug. Then he went to the PA system and said “no more Nine Inch Nails.”
REGION 2
Alice in Chains
Stone Temple Pilots
Alanis Morrisette
Soundgarden
REGION 3
Bob Dylan
Madonna
Guns n Roses
Bruce Springsteen
REGION 4
Ricky Martin
98 Degrees
Mariah Carey
Spice Girls
ETA: If I was the only one voting in this competition, Soundgarden would be the most hated band of the 90s. Love Chris Cornell, hate Soundgarden with the heat of a million black hole suns.