Dream Interviews

90s Edition

By Shanna Sivakumar

The Wake has always used these last two pages for a Q&A with a musical artist, but for an issue meant to take you back in time to a period as iconic as the 90s, I realized no artist could really encapsulate the sheer punk and diversity of the 90s. At least, not any that would be willing to do a free interview for a university magazine (albeit a wonderful one!). So I decided to take matters into my own hands and give you all a list of people from the 1990s I wish I could interview. Some of these people are dead, some are still alive, and all of them are people I know I could never actually interview.

Sinéad O'Connor

If I could interview anyone, it’d be Irish musician and protest singer Sinéad O’Connor. My first time hearing about her was almost 30 years after her 1992 Saturday Night Live episode, where she ripped up a photograph of Pope John Paul II in protest of sexual abuse under the Catholic Church. She was publicly booed by audiences, mocked by other celebrities, and almost sued but stood ten toes down in the face of it all. She truly was a force to be reckoned with, someone who refused to stray from her values and morals for fame. I feel like I wouldn’t be able to look her in the eyes, let alone ask her a question, because I’d collapse on the spot in awe. But I would have loved to ask her how to rock a buzzed head the way she did.

Britney Spears

“…Baby One More Time” was released in 1999, right before the new millennium. And what a way to end the century. If we really think about it, Britney Spears was probably the first gag of the 2000s, as she should be! To be a popstar of her caliber in the 90s and 2000s was never easy, and we continue to see that as documentaries, articles, and court documents continue to reveal how terrible the spotlight truly can be. That being said, if I had the chance to speak to thee Britney, we’d keep the questions to her music and her status as a pop icon. So to Britney, I have one question: can an It Girl be made, or only born?

Robin Williams

To go from “Dead Poets Society” in 1989 to “Aladdin” in 1992 and then “Mrs. Doubtfire” in 1993 is something very few can do. But Robin Williams did. He was a man made of so much talent, and I would have loved to at least meet him. We don’t even need an interview, like a handshake would’ve been enough. I wasn’t born to see the direct impact his role in “Dead Poets Society” had on the youth, but I bet it was insane.

Tupac Shakur

Perhaps one of, if not, the most quintessential musicians of the 90s, 2Pac is a household name with a legacy that stretches far past his untimely death. And like most big artists of the past, he was riddled with crime and lawsuits between each phenomenal music release. But his music was always so revolutionary in its lyricism, as 2Pac drew ideas of liberation from the Black Panther Party and prose from Shakespearean text. As a result, “All Eyez on Me” remains a staple in hip hop. And for the folks who are prone to conspiracy theories, maybe you think he’s still alive. But if you end up being correct, please, someone, ask him if he can get back in the studio. So I leave you with one question, reader… which coastal love ballad is better: “California Love” by 2Pac, Roger, and Dr. Dre, or “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys?'

Eminem

Similar to Britney Spears, Eminem’s debut record, “The Slim Shady LP,” was also released in 1999. We know Eminem and all the versions of himself that he’s shared, from Slim Shady to Marshall Mathers to the “8 Mile” version of Marshall Mathers. One personality isn’t enough for the man, and as a gemini, I get it. A question I would ask him: how does it feel to be grouped together with Jack Harlow and Logic as the three musketeers of modern day white rap?

Uma Thurman

I have never been so disappointed as I was to learn that Uma Karuna Thurman was a white woman. With that, I only have one question for her: Can I sue your father for emotional distress for fooling me when I was eleven years old thinking “Kill Bill” had an Indian lady in it? If yes, for how much?

Monica Lewinsky

We all know why. What I’d ask her: On a scale of 1 to 10, where would you rate the severity of the journalistic misogyny directed towards you? (1 meaning you were treated like Justin Timberlake after the 2004 Super Bowl and 10 meaning you were treated like Janet Jackson after that same Super Bowl.)

My Grandfather

Not to switch gears so drastically, but not only am I running out of famous people I’d interview from the 90s, I actually really do believe my grandfather deserves to be on this list. I never got to