Artists that make song references to their past eras

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

I love it when artists get retrospective in their music.

Here are some examples:

Madonna - "Veni Vidi Vici"

I Expressed Myself
Came Like a Virgin down Erotic, Exposed my naked ass
And I did it with a smile, and when it came to Sex
I knew I walked the Borderline, and when I Struck A Pose
All the gay boys lost their mind, I Justified My Love
I made you say a little prayer, they had me crucified
You know I had to take it there, I Opened Up My Heart
I learned The Power of Good-Bye, I saw a Ray of Light
Music saved my life!

Mary J. Blige - "MJB da MVP"

'91 I stepped in this game
After 'what's the 411' things ain't been the same
And I can't complain but with all this fame comes a whole lot of pain
But I'm so glad to be here
And my music's still sincere
Lets get back to the story
All of this pain and glory
And '94 was my life and my life wasn't right
So I reached out to you and told you what I been through

I came with 'share my world'
But at that point I was just a foolish girl
Trying to find my way
Then I dropped the 'Mary' album
And people were saying that its just not gonna work
And my feelings they did hurt
But my fans showed me so much love
And I owe it all to them
And I came with 'No More Drama'
I remember that year
It was when Aaliyah died I couldnt hardly sleep
Thought about it everyday and it made me change my way
I'm a real woman now because of all of these days

Janet Jackson - "Shoulda Known Better"

I had this great epiphany
And rhythm nation was the dream
I guess next time I'll know better

J. Lo - "Jenny From The Block"

From In Living Color and movie scripts
To On the 6 to J. Lo to this headline clips
I stayed grounded as the amounts roll in
I'm real, I thought I told you
I really been on Oprah
That's just me
Nothin phony, don't hate on me
What you get is what you see

Any more examples you guys can list?

[Lost In Musical Reverie]

Mariah Carey is the queen of seamlessly integrating references to older songs.

"Lullaby" (2002): a sequel to her 1997 song "The Roof"

"So I guess I'll sing you that sweet lullaby
And we can revisit us one more time
Yes, I'll come home with you tonight"

"[...]
That it actually almost feels like deja vu
Of that night on the roof
We kissed under the sky amid the city lights
A sudden flashback to so long ago
In the dark, all alone
With our bodies this close
Guess some things never change
'Cause I still melt away
When you touch me
And say my name"

"For The Record" (2008)

"For the record (For the record)
You'll always be a part of me, no matter what you do
And for the record (For the record)
Can't nobody say I didn't give my all to you
And for the record (For the record)
I told you underneath the stars that you belong to me
And for the record (For the record)
It's obvious that we just can't let go of us, honey (Oh no, oh)"

[oliviafan101]

Well one worders like Honey or Baby shouldn’t count, cuz not everytime that Bieber says baby in a song he’s referencing his song with Luda.

[Lost In Musical Reverie]

oliviafan101 I totally get where you're coming from, but Mariah rarely uses 'honey' in her songs, and given this whole bridge is meant to be a homage to previous songs, it was definitely done on purpose here.

[divasummer]

Donna Summer "The Queen Is Back"
"So many years ago. "ON THE RADIO" I crept into your soul and LOVE TO LOVE YOU (whoa oh oh).
No it's not as big as the ones posted above but the fans of Donna's knew the bolded parts were a reference to herself.

[Caviar]

Toni Braxton - “Finally”