Crunching data sounds super boring. Fortunately, Polygraph — the people who brought us the chart showing who has the biggest vocabulary in hip hop (Wu-Tang Clan, collectively) — do it so you don’t have to, and this time they’ve figured out which tracks have the most staying power decades after their original release.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, the most played track from the whole of the 90s (by a long chalk) is Nirvana‘s Smells Like Teen Spirit, but less obvious gems have also surfaced in the data. No Diggity by BLACKstreet did indeed top the Billboard Charts on release in 1996, making no.9 on the UK chart, but it has also enjoyed a steady flow of plays over time, even allowing it to re-chart at 38 in the UK last year, 17 years after its debut, making it the fifth most played track of the 90s.
The maths fans have also waded into the Biggie vs Tupac feud, with the Notorious one proving to genuinely, statistically be more notorious, and showing that thankfully Eminem has managed to pip The Killers to the title of most played track since the 50s, with Lose Yourself grabbing 5 million more plays than Mr. Brightside.