A study from last year discovered that bass-heavy, cocksure songs (including 50 Cent’s “In Da Club,” which kicks off this playlist) helped boost people’s confidence ahead of that most stressful of scenarios: the job interview. The message seems to be that a little bit of self-esteem, and a lot of bass, can go a long way. Working out can also do wonders for a person’s sense of herself or himself.
So whether it’s the inflated confidence that leads to inflated muscles, or vice versa, there has to be a connection between the two. To help boost your self-esteem in the gym, we made a playlist of some of the cockiest tunes out there, a swaggering collection of braggadocio and trash talking set to teeth-rattling bass. Rappers, as a general rule, excel at confidence-building and opponent-smashing, so this playlist is pretty stacked with hip hop. But there’s definitely room for other genres—Freddie Mercury’s claim that people call him “Mr. Fahrenheit” and Iggy Pop’s “street-walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm” are Muhammad Ali-esque in their declarations of supremacy.d
If 50 Cent can get you ready for a job interview, he can definitely get you prepared for a workout. Here it is.
