Gents Weekly: 90's Era Dads and Mixtapes

Issue #26: The manliest newsletter on the internet • July 13, 2026

Gents Journey

Jul 13, 2026

Welcome to issue #26 of The Gents Weekly, a newsletter for the modern man.

Every Monday, you’ll receive a weekly roundup of inspiring ideas + products to help you become a better man.

Brought to you by the men of Gents Journey — Dean Bokhari, Stephen Seidel, and Matt McManus.

📝 THE MESSAGE

A timely piece from the gents.
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90s nostalgia

^{by Dean Bokhari}

The 90s was a heck of an era that “kids these days” will never truly understand…

The excitement of being dropped off at the mall so you could meet your friends at the arcade and play Street Fighter for six hours.

The nerves that come with actually asking that girl in person if she was interested (instead of hiding behind a screen).

And that damn 56k dial-up internet - courtesy of an AOL disc that came in the mail.

Today, rather than writing up a column, I’m leaving you with a series of 90s nostalgia clips that I, personally, can’t get enough of.

Makes me wish I had a time-machine, just so I could go back and relive it for a little while.

Enjoy, gentlemen, enjoy…

Sounds like the 90s.

Dunkaroooooos

Blockbuster, baby….

Arcades, Goosebumps books, and more from the 90s

— Dean Bokhari
Co-founder, Gents Journey

Share this with someone you think it could inspire.

📰 THE MOMENT

Sh*t that’s happening now, ICYMI
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This Week’s AI Prompt: The Mixtape Playlist

Make a playlist like it’s 1995. Intentional. Sequenced. Real.

Back in the nineties, you didn’t just throw songs together. You built a mixtape.

You’d sit with your tape deck, thinking about flow. About which song came next. About how one track led to another. Every song mattered. Every placement had a reason. The order was everything.

Now we have playlists. But most playlists are just... collections. Random. Algorithmic. Missing the soul of what a mixtape actually was.

This prompt helps you build a modern playlist with old-school mixtape energy. Intentional. Sequenced. A journey from start to finish. The kind of playlist you’d actually give to someone to say, “This is what I’m about. This is who I am right now.”

Then we’re taking it digital. You can plug it into Spotify AI to find similar songs. You can run it through Claude or ChatGPT to expand it, understand it deeper, or remix it.

But first? You build it like it’s 1995.

THE PROMPT:

Copy everything below and paste it into ChatGPT or Claude:

I want to build a playlist the old-school way—like a nineties mixtape. Intentional. Sequenced. Real. Help me create something that actually means something.

Help me:

1. Identify the songs that matter to you (Your soul soundtrack)
   - What songs make you feel alive?
   - What songs remind you who you are?
   - What songs have you played a hundred times?
   - What songs make you want to move, think, or feel differently?
   - Pick 8-12 songs that genuinely move you (not what you think should move you)

2. Understand why each song matters
   - For each song: Why does this one hit? What does it make you feel?
   - Is it the lyrics? The beat? A memory attached to it?
   - What's it saying about where you're at right now?
   - What does this song represent about you?

3. Build the sequence (The mixtape flow)
   - What order should these songs go in?
   - How do they flow together?
   - Does it start quiet and build? Start energetic and evolve?
   - What's the emotional journey from first song to last?

4. Give your playlist a name and purpose
   - What's this playlist actually about?
   - What's the through-line connecting all these songs?
   - Who is this for? (Even if it's just you)
   - What's the story it tells?

5. Expand or remix it
   - Are there songs missing that should be on here?
   - What would you add to make it even more you?
   - Give me 3-5 similar songs I haven't heard that fit this vibe
   - Help me see what this playlist is really saying about me

Here are my core songs: [List your 8-12 songs]

Here's why these songs matter to me: [Explain what they mean]

Here's what my playlist is about: [What's the theme or story?]

Help me build something real. Something that sounds like me.

PRO TIP: Take it digital

Once you have your playlist:

Spotify AI: Copy your song list into Spotify’s AI playlist generator and it’ll find similar vibes to expand your collection.

Claude or ChatGPT: Plug this entire prompt (with your answers) into Claude or ChatGPT and ask:

“Help me expand this playlist with 5 new songs”
“What’s the deeper story behind these songs?”
“What does this playlist say about me?”
“Create a visual description of what this playlist looks and feels like”

The AI can help you see patterns, fill gaps, and deepen the meaning.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

The AI is going to help you build a playlist with real intention—the way mixtapes used to be made.

By the end, you’ll have:

A personal playlist of 8-12 songs that represent you
Understanding of why each song matters
A sequence that flows
A name and purpose for your playlist
Expansion ideas to make it even more powerful

WHY THIS MATTERS

Music is one of the most honest things about us. The songs you love, the ones you replay, the ones that make you move—they’re not a choice. They’re a signal.

Your playlist is a mirror. It shows you who you are right now. What moves you. What you’re searching for. What you’ve found.

That’s worth knowing. That’s worth protecting.

The nineties understood that. They understood that a playlist (or a mixtape) was a message.

Let’s bring that back.

Run this prompt. Build your playlist. Listen to who you actually are.

Drop your playlist name and one song that’s gotta be on it. Let’s see what moves you.

— Matt McManus
Co-founder, Gents Journey
Your Playlist Is Your Story

👊 THE MOVES

Media for men.
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In the 90’s, You Had to Show Up

Watch & Listen I Growing up in the 90’s, we were really the last to LIVE

We grew up in the 90’s analog world, where if you wanted something, you went and got it. Tech wasn’t saving you or making it any easier.

To see Jurassic Park outside the theater, you drove to Blockbuster. You wanted a song, you sat by the radio, ready to record. You wanted to see someone, you had to make it happen, literally, without a cellphone.

And when you felt something for someone, you had to find a way too.

No likes on social media.
No memes, GIFs, or texts.
No sliding into DMs at midnight.

You had to SHOW UP, look them in the eye, and let them know how you felt.

Too many of us have become keyboard warriors now, hiding behind screens and algorithms, too afraid to show who we really are. But back then, when words failed us, and they often did, we had one move left.

The Art of the Mixtape

I was the kid listening for the songs that made me FEEL something. The Cure. Smashing Pumpkins. Alice in Chains, whose “Nutshell” still hits hard for me.

Then there was the ritual of it all. The lawn mowing routine. The chores our kids have never heard of. Paper routes. A shift at Circuit City or Blockbuster, trying to cop the hottest flick the second it hit the shelf.

Blockbuster is nearly extinct now, but people are keeping the spirit alive, turning abandoned library boxes into mini-Blockbusters to give away DVDs like little time capsules.

Back then, cash was king. Credit was for emergencies only, or you wrote a check, something 99% of the next generation couldn't even identify today. No UPCs, no swiping. And balancing your checkbook was the stuff CPAs' dreams were made of.

But the mixtape? That was your masterpiece.

They let you say the things you never could out loud. You'd dig through your archives, song by song, and hand someone a piece of your heart you were too scared to speak.

Rage Against the Machine for every renegade, protester, and locker room in America. Sade for the suitor, a quiet bet that one day you’d get to play that one face-to-face, in the heat of the moment. And don’t forget PM Dawn’s “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss.”

We now live a life stacked with irreplaceable memories, and we can only hope our kids get a fraction of it. We had Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, and Prince. They have LeBron, Harry Styles, and Billie Eilish. Not bad. Just not the same.

Pass The Mic

Recently, I was at a baseball game with my buddy, a Hollywood comedy writer, taking selfie after selfie. He turned to me and said, "Can you get me doubles?" That brought me back to say the least, lol.

We never had that luxury. Back then, you planned every shot on a disposable, prayed they came out, and found out two weeks later at the counter. Usually you had maybe 3 usable photos, while the others were blurry, close-ups or overexposed.

So, how do we pass the mic to our children and future generations?

Give freely and deeply. Let your relationships marinate the way a mixtape did after spinning round and round for weeks, then check back in.
Plant the seeds. Let them germinate in their own time, and don’t rush things. We are on borrowed time anyway.
Pull out your AAA map or those old MapQuest printouts from a favorite trip, and remember it was never about the destination. It was the journey.

Connection is our currency.

And in true mixtape fashion, I’ll leave you with this. If you’re a real one, you already know the answer.

What did Mobb Deep say ain’t no such thing as?