The summer jam is as crucial to summer as BBQs, wedges, and blockbusters. Summer jams of the past have included Nelly’s “Hot in Herre,” Third Eye Blind’s “Semi Charmed Kind of Life,” and LFO’s “Summer Girls.” If any of those songs come on at a backyard soiree or a day in the beach, the crowd is likely to be transported back in time to a year when Abercrombie and Fitch was a relevant cultural reference. And isn’t that the point of the summer jam? To bring us to a magical happy place, where we are younger, tanner, and having more fun than we actually are?
To that end, I put together a list of 5 songs I think are in the running to be the Summer Jam of 2012.



