It seems like every year we’ve had a Drake project. And where previously Bowie’s reinventions had been in the guise of a man who apparently had the font of eternal youth in his backyard, ‘Where Are We Now’ was different. “Look up here, I’m in heaven/I’ve got scars that can’t be seen/I’ve got drama, can’t be stolen/Everybody knows me now/Look up here, man, I’m in danger/I’ve got nothing left to lose,” went its lyrics. At only 26, he’s had a hand in shaping rap’s biggest stars’ next chapters – Gucci Mane, Young Thug, Travis Scott – and gave favorites like Future and 21 Savage mainstream relevance. The campaign was one of quality control – no interviews, few pictures, just a series of talking-point music videos and the album itself to pick over. Hip hop music has also grown as a genre with artists like Drake and Kendrick Lamar taking over the charts. One of the first groups to portray this was Bill Haley & His Comets . Complete week-by-week rock chart archives are onine for the entire period. On the cusp of 2020 Joseph Junior Adenuga Jr. can take a bow as the man who took grime to the rest of the globe and became the figurehead of the UK’s most groundbreaking new sound since Britpop. He was, after all, the decade’s most streamed artist on Spotify. T.P.A.B was an album that pushed its audience to reflect on African-American history, interrogate society for all its injustices, empty patriotism and needless structures before eventually emerging triumphant and loving oneself against all odds: one of critical tension and liberation. Unfortunately, most people have probably lost a person they loved, too. Verification email has been resent. Over the last few years, she’s spoken astutely about pop’s habit for co-opting select aspects of LGBTQ culture, and interrogated the way she’s been hailed as a fashion icon for cropping her hair short or wearing sharp suits. At times, the album feels more like a balm – soothing and healing all at once. The end of 2014 also meant the end of the first half of the 2010s, a decade that has been defined by larger-than-life personalities in the world of popular music. Kanye West defined this decade, for better or worse, because he defined divisiveness, the single most prevalent quality of the 2010s. Robyn’s experiments with convention arguably paved at least some of the way. Billie Eilish – the voice of the next generation. For: Decade-defining music and a propensity for shock and awe. In the 2010’s, traditional instruments made a comeback in the form of the mandolin, ukulele, banjo, and accordion thanks to bands such as Mumford and Sons and country singers like Chris Stapleton. But when it came to going places, it’s incredible to see how far Beyonce Knowles has actually gone. Sade - Soldier of Love [Epic] After a decade of waiting, Soldier of Love arrived and earned … The Compton, California rapper exploded onto the mainstream in 2012 with his album “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.” He hasn’t dropped the ball since, rolling out “To Pimp a Butterfly” in 2015 and “DAMN” in 2017. She did all of this with infinite kindness, best demonstrated by the lyric: “Even almost got married/And for Pete, I’m so thankful/Wish I could say, ‘Thank you’ to Malcolm/’Cause he was an angel.”, Ariana Grande has defined the decade with her empathy and compassion. While touring the album in arenas around the world in 2017, the unthinkable happened. He picked a political side and dared us to abandon him, like a family member you love but can’t see eye-to-eye with. Music, Film, TV and Political News Coverage. Once again, producing something impossible to outdo, Kendrick did what he does so well and shifted the goalpost entirely. She cemented her star with “Edge of Glory” and “Born This Way,” a song championing LGBTQ rights. He called himself a genius and for every person who agreed, there was another who sided with Obama. Few would have anticipated the artistic gulf between the group’s self-titled debut, essentially a teen movie in musical form, and last year’s ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’, but you suspect that Healy, with his unflinching belief in the creative core of his band, probably did. It was a massively uplifting event, filled with joy and a refusal to let hate win, and with it, Grande united a city. So much more than a popstar, Beyonce has become an outspoken advocate for civil rights, feminism and self-expression, proving that it’s possible to be politically engaged and still hold down an extremely successful career in mainstream entertainment. As if revitalizing country-pop music wasn’t enough, part of what made Swift so important to music in the 2010s may have come from outside the studio. Part of this is built into Kanye – as he said on the ‘Yeezus’ track ‘On Sight’, “As soon as they like you/Make ‘em unlike you” – and part of it is iconoclasm: unwittingly soaking up the times you live in and refracting them back to the world. She’s united cities and been a symbol of hope, despite having to deal with a huge amount of tragedy herself. Christine and the Queens herself is far more interested in uncertainty and evading definition. And from the impossible fantasy of ‘Call Your Girlfriend’, an imagined break-up letter penned to a lover’s current partner, to the painful self-obliteration of ‘Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do’, pinpointing the most painful registers of the emotional spectrum is exactly what Robyn does best, housing aching darkness in juggernaut pop bangers. Solange may not be the most recognizable name on this list. “The ardent simplicity of Kendrick Lamar as an idiosyncratic individual who talks about “money, hoes, clothes, God and history” in the same sentence is the basis for his creative freedom”. Kanye West performing at the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Festival. Christine And The Queens CREDIT: Bella Howard/NME, The 1975’s Matty Healy CREDIT: Matt Salacuse/NME, David Bowie – a long shadow over a tough decade, Christine & The Queens – the pop icon redefining gender, Billie Eilish – the voice of the next generation, Ariana Grande – the relatable superstar, Kendrick Lamar – hip hop’s boundary-pusher, 100 Greatest Albums Of The Decade: The 2010s, The Big Read – Christine And The Queens: “I’m horny, and I desire, and I’m sad, and happy, and joyful”, The Big Read – Billie Eilish: the most talked-about teen on the planet, One Love Manchester, a benefit concert she helped organise, The Big Read – The 1975: “I feel more like I’m in a punk band than ever before”, The Big Read – Kendrick Lamar: The Compton King On Riches, Responsibility And Immortality. Here she blended old blues and Isaac Hayes samples, worked with men whose talent just about matched hers; namely Jack White, James Blake, The Weeknd, Father John Misty and Kendrick Lamar, and in ‘Freedom’ sampled a speech made by Jay-Z’s grandmother at her 90th birthday, her words closing out the song as if they were a time-travelling mirror to Beyonce’s own lived experience and giving the album its title in the process. HANNAH MYLREA, Key track: ‘No Tears Left to Cry’ It’s not just her albums – even her music videos are performance art. She doesn’t let barriers like genre or others’ expectations hold her back. Towards the end of 2010, the Swedish artist smushed together the biggest cuts from the two mini-albums she’d released that same year: the resulting ‘Body Talk’ is her undisputed masterpiece. Probably thinking about the next hit he's gonna produce. Discover more music, concerts, videos, and pictures with the largest catalogue online at Last.fm. All Rights Reserved. Carrying through previous themes of struggle and pain amid joy and beauty but, this time, on a significantly larger scale, Kendrick transcended the boundaries of success in a West Coast rap space altogether. PHOTO: No longer was she just a pop star; she was a phenomenon using her platform to bring the stories of others into the light. Password reset email has been resent. The phrase “the kids are alright” might have … It’s hard to remember the last time that a British movement connected so well with an international audience, but when the likes of Drake, A$AP Rocky and Kanye West started to fall at the feet of grime there was one man they needed to link up with first. The king of carving out a career on his own terms, Skepta did the 2010s right. 1 albums, 0 No. In short, this group has brought K-pop to the mainstream. For her next solo record, Robyn excavated and excavated, delving deep down into the messy depths of grief. And his latest is a dizzying flurry of quick raps and self-reflection. and Drake, by name, telling them to step their game up. He’s used his platform to speak out for marginalised groups, and even kissed a male fan on stage in Dubai to prove a point. 2018’s muddled ‘Ye’ was an austere depiction of the fall-out from his renewed pariah status and this year’s much more successful ‘Jesus Is King’ saw him implore God to shield him from the criticism. ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’ Is full of the weird and the strange. Brava, Mother Monster. She performed the album’s first single ‘Formation’ at the Super Bowl halftime show with backing dancers dressed in Black Panther inspired costumes and tapped 20-something British-Kenyan poet Warsan Shire for the accompanying ‘Lemonade’ film, which featured the mothers of murdered black American citizens Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Aware of his own critics and amalgamating all the themes of his previous works into something still challenging and packed with gems, but more immediately accessible and universal than ever before. A curveball for anybody who expected anything vaguely akin to ‘Body Talk’, ‘Honey’ is all soft edges and crashing waves. He’s released five studio albums and three mixtapes this decade alone, and it’s impossible to think about music of the 2010s without coming up with a few Drake hits. On stage, The 1975 have thrived in a decade that has, on the whole, given guitar bands a rough ride. LEONIE COOPER, Key track: ‘Shutdown’ In April 2018 Ariana released ‘No Tears Left to Cry’, her first piece of new music since the attack. Rewind to the beginning of her career in the 1990s and industry cogs were conniving to try and make Robyn into the ‘perfect’ pop star. As newer artists continue to redefine R&B – people like Kelela, Nao, Moses Sumney, even SZA – it’s difficult to imagine this as possible without Solange. She followed it up with her third record ‘Dangerous Woman’, which featured guest appearances from Lil Wayne and her mate Nicki Minaj, and fused trap, disco and house with her trademark sparkling pop. He soon became a fashion show front row mainstay, constantly adding his own twists to his unique personal style, making him grime’s most chic as well as most successful. EL HUNT, Key Track: ‘Dancing On My Own’ The resulting list of 100 artists, published in two issues of Rolling Stone in 2004 and 2005, and updated in 2011, is a broad survey of … The Wonder Girls, a now defunct girl group, had a track called “Nobody” back in 2009, which entered the Hot 100 at No. An air of mystery permeates everything he does. Check out a deep dive into the biggest acts of the decade as measured by Billboard’s charts. Please click the button below to agree to our Terms and Conditions and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. A powerful example of just how great America can be, it’s worth looking back to the very beginning of the towering Texan’s storied career when considering how much of an impact she’s had on this decade. His influence can be summed up maybe by one event: his infamous verse on Big Sean’s “Control.” He calls out multiple rappers, including J.Cole, Big K.R.I.T. Many, many people disagreed. 1 hit after No. Musically, we’ve witnessed the widespread casting aside of subcultural identity and genre loyalty. Gaga isn’t afraid to be weird, and she encourages the same acceptance and inclusivity among her fans. Kendrick Lamar? 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