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Queen Latifah, Daddy Yankee and handful of other legendary artists have made U.S. history.
On Wednesday, April 12, the Library of Congress announced 25 iconic songs will be added to the National Recording Registry this year. Tracks from Queen Latifah, Daddy Yankee, Madonna, Mariah Carey and more are expected to be inducted. The addition of Latifah's title track from her debut album All Hail The Queen makes the New Jersey rapper the first-ever female MC to be included in the National Recording Registry. Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina" will be the first Reggaeton song ever to be inducted.
"For that kid who grew up in Santurce, a song "Gasolina" that was born in a Puerto Rican neighborhood, and is recognized by the "Library of Congress" as one of the songs that transformed culture, changed musical history in the world and the US., it's something I never dreamed of," Yankee wrote in an Instagram post. "And the most beautiful thing, it was in Spanish. When you do things with love, passion, determination and discipline and add the support of all my beautiful people for more than three decades, everything you dream of can be possible."
Meanwhile, Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" is the first song of hers to be added to the historic registry. She told the Library of Congress about her intentions to make the ultimate love song for Christmas.
“I tried to tap into my childhood self, my little girl self, and say, ‘What are all the things I wanted when I was a kid?’” Carey said. “I wanted it to be a love song because that’s kind of what people relate to, but also a Christmas song that made you feel happy.”
As if the epic playlist couldn't be more historic, the National Recording Registry will also welcome the Super Mario Bros. soundtrack created by the original composer Koji Kondo. The addition of Kondo's 1985 original "Ground Theme" for Mario comes amid the debut of Super Mario Bros movie. Check out the full list of songs being added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry below
National Recording Registry, 2023 Selections
“The Very First Mariachi Recordings” — Cuarteto Coculense (1908-1909)- “St. Louis Blues” — Handy’s Memphis Blues Band (1922)
- “Sugar Foot Stomp” — Fletcher Henderson (1926)
- Dorothy Thompson: Commentary and Analysis of the European Situation for NBC Radio (Aug. 23-Sept. 6, 1939)
- “Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around” — The Fairfield Four (1947)
- “Sherry” — The Four Seasons (1962)
- “What the World Needs Now is Love” — Jackie DeShannon (1965)
- “Wang Dang Doodle” — Koko Taylor (1966)
- “Ode to Billie Joe” — Bobbie Gentry (1967)
- “Déjà Vu” — Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (1970)
- “Imagine” — John Lennon (1971)
- “Stairway to Heaven” — Led Zeppelin (1971)
- “Take Me Home, Country Roads” — John Denver (1971)
- “Margaritaville” — Jimmy Buffett (1977)
- “Flashdance…What a Feeling” — Irene Cara (1983)
- “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” — Eurythmics (1983)
- “Synchronicity” — The Police (1983)
- “Like a Virgin” — Madonna (1984)
- “Black Codes (From the Underground)” — Wynton Marsalis (1985)
- Super Mario Bros. theme — Koji Kondo, composer (1985)
- “All Hail the Queen” — Queen Latifah (1989)
- “All I Want for Christmas is You” — Mariah Carey (1994)
- “Pale Blue Dot” — Carl Sagan (1994)
- “Gasolina” — Daddy Yankee (2004)
- “Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra” — Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, composer (2012)