It’s the year 2050, we’re living in “Future Nostalgia” (thanks, Dula Peep), and I have kids (LESGOOO). Here’s the playlist of 30 songs that my kids will receive as their inheritance.

Post approved and edited by BuzzFeed Community Team

Because if your future hovercar breaks down and this song comes on, you will suddenly feel like everything in life is manageable.

Mandatory anthem for pretending you’re the main character while staring dramatically out of any window (spaceship windows included).

This song single-handedly carried summer playlists for like three years and nobody questioned it.

Essential training material for when someone annoys you but you still want to look cool about it.

A reminder that confidence is 50% attitude and 50% saying “YOU DA ONE” with your whole chest.

Cultural heritage. If you don’t scream the lyrics by the second chorus, I have failed as a parent.

Proof that telling someone to leave can be classy, catchy, and extremely satisfying.

If you can sing this without messing up the nonsense syllables, you have achieved enlightenment.

For dramatic living-room performances where the couch is the stage and the dog is the audience.

An unexpectedly elite pop song that proves the universe occasionally works in mysterious ways.

Because every playlist needs at least one song that sounds like a party happening in three different countries at once.

The song literally explains pop music by using pop music. Educational content.

History lesson: there was a time when shuffle dancing was the personality of an entire planet.

Required listening so you understand why the internet collectively lost its mind over “lock it, lock it.”

If this song comes on and you don’t attempt the choreography, just know your playlist privileges will be revoked.

Because nothing says “iconic” like turning cash register sounds and gunshots into a beat that somehow still slaps.

Legally required at weddings, road trips, random Tuesdays, and any moment when you’re trying to convince yourself life is about to get better.

A masterclass in pop perfection (and also the reason an entire generation thought they could successfully bluff at literally anything).

Because every kid needs to know that even if life hits rock bottom… at least the songs still slap on the way down.

My kids will understand that before FaceTime, people communicated via telephones and emotional trauma.

Mandatory campfire-core. If my kids can’t scream-sing “HOME! LET ME GO HOOOME!” in a field somewhere, I’ve failed as a parent.

Proof that in the early 2010s, people believed any random Tuesday night could turn into a life-changing coming-of-age movie montage.

Educational material on peak Disney Channel drama (when gossip was the real villain of the story).

Because one day my kids will fall in love, stare dramatically at a reflective surface, and this will suddenly make sense.

A historical document from the exact moment pop culture collectively said, “Oh. Miley’s grown now.”

To teach them that one accordion riff can single-handedly carry an entire era of European club music.

Required listening so they understand that coolness existed long before whatever AI DJ they’ll be listening to in 2050. Also, I will be showing them the ICONIC Kat Stratford dance montage.

An important lesson is that confidence > money, and also that Timbaland's beats were basically a superpower.

So when they procrastinate on homework, I can just play this and silently stare at them.

Because if my kids don’t know the choreography, the spooky music video lore, and how to yell “EVERYBODYYYYY (YEAHHHH)” at full volume, I’m legally allowed to revoke their Wi-Fi. Also, it’s their first lesson in the cultural dominance of Backstreet Boys.

Want to get your very own quizzes and posts featured on BuzzFeed’s homepage and app?