Decade Defining Artists: 2010s Edition
May 8, 2022 14:51:33 GMT -5
Post by Groovy on May 8, 2022 14:51:33 GMT -5
The 2010s, the decade of trap, EDM, emo-rap and tropical house, it was interesting decade to say the least but who defined the decade?
Drake: Pretty easy, he is the biggest artist of the 2010s. He ran the mid-late 2010s with Views and Scorpio as well as elevating other artists such as Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Future and Lil Baby. He pretty much owned the summer of 2016 and 2018. He is still one of the biggest artists today giving artists hits.
Taylor Swift: Another easy one, she came into the the 2010s as a country artist with her album Fearless but slowly yet noticeably was moving away from country in favor of pop, you see this in her following album, Red but then 2014 rolled around and she came out with 1989 which is her biggest album to date. She didn't stop there, she followed that up with Reputation and Lover which added more hits to her name. You can make the argument that she was the biggest female artist of the 2010s and looking at her album success, you can see why.
Adele: If Taylor Swift isn't the biggest female artist of the decade, it's Adele. Coming in during the club boom in the early 2010s, Adele broke out with her hit, Rolling in the Deep and was nowhere but up from there. After taking a 4 year break, she came back with Hello which had record setting streams and sales. 21 and 25 were two of the biggest albums of the 2010s.
Justin Bieber: Despite how you may feel about him, Justin Bieber is one of the biggest acts of the decade. We all remember his polarizing hits Baby and Boyfriend but his peak didn't come until 2015 with his album, Purpose which scored him three of his biggest hits as a solo artist, What Do You Mean?, Sorry and Love Yourself. His impact was really felt in 2017 when he remixed reggaeton hit, Despacito and it became a huge worldwide hit. Like everyone I talked about up until this point, Bieber is still one of the biggest artists today.
Bruno Mars: Bruno Mars originally started out his career by making pop hits to mixed reviews but eventually found his place by doing retro tracks and has been doing it since. He is one of the most critically acclaimed artists of this generation. Bruno even gave Mark Ronson a hit in America with Uptown Funk which is one of if not, the biggest songs of the 2010s. His success didn't stop at Uptown Funk, he had success with 24K Magic which gave him the 24K Magic, Finesse with Cardi B and his biggest solo hit to date, That's What I Like. Today, he is teaming up with Anderson Paak to form Silk Sonic and still making hits.
Rihanna: What do I have to say about her that hasn't been said already, Rihanna is one of the most iconic artists of this generation and to think her career started way back in 2005 and she's still relevant today despite not releasing an album in six years now. To start the decade she had Rated R which saw big success as well as funnily enough, giving Drake his first of many number 1s with What's My Name. The following year, she gave Calvin Harris his first number 1 in the US with We Found Love but her biggest album didn't come until 2016 with Anti which gave us many iconic songs such as Work, Needed Me, Love on the Brain and even moderate successful songs like Sex with Me, Kiss It Better and Desperado. Sadly she hasn't released an album since Anti but fans are still hopeful she will drop in the future.
Ed Sheeran: Like Bieber, Ed Sheeran has a mixed reaction when talking about him but feelings aside, he is one of the biggest acts in Europe and one of the most streamed artists on Spotify. His albums, Multiply and Divide are two of his most recognizable albums especially the latter which was everywhere in 2017 and he was inescapable. One of the more unique things about Ed is that the singles from those two albums are still being streamed today, just goes to show how popular he is.
Ariana Grande: From teen actress to global superstar, Ariana Grande is one of the biggest artists of the late 2010s. First coming to the scene in 2013 with The Way, it just seemed popularity just kept growing from there. Her two biggest eras came in 2018 and 2019 with Sweetener and Thank U, Next which gave her, her biggest hits, No Tears Left To Cry, Thank U, Next and 7 Rings and that doesn't include her previous albums, Dangerous Woman and My Everything which was both big in their own right. Ariana Grande is still one of the biggest artists to date with her album, Positions as well as doing collabs with Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and The Weeknd.
Post Malone: Like many, I did not expect Post Malone to stick around for as long as he did, when he came out with his breakout hit, White Iverson it just sounded like a generic trap song but, he did prove his doubters wrong by snagging hits such as Congratulations and Rockstar which was the first trap song to become an international number 1 hit. Since then, he's had two huge albums Beerbongs and Bentleys and Hollywood's Bleeding which gave us Sunflower and Circles, two of his biggest songs to date.
The Weeknd: Remember when he helped Drake with Take Care, felt like a long time ago. In 2014, he broke out in 2014 with his collab with Ariana Grande, Love Me Harder. From there, he made a name for himself in 2015 with his hits, Can't Feel My Face and The Hills. He would then come out with Starboy the following year and would be his biggest era before After Hours. Of course, we know him now for Blinding Lights and its record breaking run.
Katy Perry: In the early 2010s Katy Perry was simply inescapable, you could not go anywhere in the early 2010s without hearing her songs from Teenage Dream. After Teenage Dream, she had Prism which gave her two more big hits such as Roar and Dark Horse. Unfortunately for Katy Perry, her time in the spotlight didn't last as long as the other artists but she did see success with some other songs like Chained to the Rhythm and Never Really Over.
One Direction: Middle school me hated this group but now that I'm older, I've learned to appreciate One Direction. Simon Cowell's group from the X Factor broke out in 2012 with their hit, What Makes You Beautiful. After that, they saw success with other hits such as Story of My Life, Best Song Ever, Perfect, Night Changes and plenty of other songs. Sadly, they broke up in 2015 but while their run as a group didn't last long, they are doing really well as solo artists especially Harry and Zayn who have both seen success and the others seeing moderate success.
Add artists who you thought defined the 2010s.
Drake: Pretty easy, he is the biggest artist of the 2010s. He ran the mid-late 2010s with Views and Scorpio as well as elevating other artists such as Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Future and Lil Baby. He pretty much owned the summer of 2016 and 2018. He is still one of the biggest artists today giving artists hits.
Taylor Swift: Another easy one, she came into the the 2010s as a country artist with her album Fearless but slowly yet noticeably was moving away from country in favor of pop, you see this in her following album, Red but then 2014 rolled around and she came out with 1989 which is her biggest album to date. She didn't stop there, she followed that up with Reputation and Lover which added more hits to her name. You can make the argument that she was the biggest female artist of the 2010s and looking at her album success, you can see why.
Adele: If Taylor Swift isn't the biggest female artist of the decade, it's Adele. Coming in during the club boom in the early 2010s, Adele broke out with her hit, Rolling in the Deep and was nowhere but up from there. After taking a 4 year break, she came back with Hello which had record setting streams and sales. 21 and 25 were two of the biggest albums of the 2010s.
Justin Bieber: Despite how you may feel about him, Justin Bieber is one of the biggest acts of the decade. We all remember his polarizing hits Baby and Boyfriend but his peak didn't come until 2015 with his album, Purpose which scored him three of his biggest hits as a solo artist, What Do You Mean?, Sorry and Love Yourself. His impact was really felt in 2017 when he remixed reggaeton hit, Despacito and it became a huge worldwide hit. Like everyone I talked about up until this point, Bieber is still one of the biggest artists today.
Bruno Mars: Bruno Mars originally started out his career by making pop hits to mixed reviews but eventually found his place by doing retro tracks and has been doing it since. He is one of the most critically acclaimed artists of this generation. Bruno even gave Mark Ronson a hit in America with Uptown Funk which is one of if not, the biggest songs of the 2010s. His success didn't stop at Uptown Funk, he had success with 24K Magic which gave him the 24K Magic, Finesse with Cardi B and his biggest solo hit to date, That's What I Like. Today, he is teaming up with Anderson Paak to form Silk Sonic and still making hits.
Rihanna: What do I have to say about her that hasn't been said already, Rihanna is one of the most iconic artists of this generation and to think her career started way back in 2005 and she's still relevant today despite not releasing an album in six years now. To start the decade she had Rated R which saw big success as well as funnily enough, giving Drake his first of many number 1s with What's My Name. The following year, she gave Calvin Harris his first number 1 in the US with We Found Love but her biggest album didn't come until 2016 with Anti which gave us many iconic songs such as Work, Needed Me, Love on the Brain and even moderate successful songs like Sex with Me, Kiss It Better and Desperado. Sadly she hasn't released an album since Anti but fans are still hopeful she will drop in the future.
Ed Sheeran: Like Bieber, Ed Sheeran has a mixed reaction when talking about him but feelings aside, he is one of the biggest acts in Europe and one of the most streamed artists on Spotify. His albums, Multiply and Divide are two of his most recognizable albums especially the latter which was everywhere in 2017 and he was inescapable. One of the more unique things about Ed is that the singles from those two albums are still being streamed today, just goes to show how popular he is.
Ariana Grande: From teen actress to global superstar, Ariana Grande is one of the biggest artists of the late 2010s. First coming to the scene in 2013 with The Way, it just seemed popularity just kept growing from there. Her two biggest eras came in 2018 and 2019 with Sweetener and Thank U, Next which gave her, her biggest hits, No Tears Left To Cry, Thank U, Next and 7 Rings and that doesn't include her previous albums, Dangerous Woman and My Everything which was both big in their own right. Ariana Grande is still one of the biggest artists to date with her album, Positions as well as doing collabs with Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and The Weeknd.
Post Malone: Like many, I did not expect Post Malone to stick around for as long as he did, when he came out with his breakout hit, White Iverson it just sounded like a generic trap song but, he did prove his doubters wrong by snagging hits such as Congratulations and Rockstar which was the first trap song to become an international number 1 hit. Since then, he's had two huge albums Beerbongs and Bentleys and Hollywood's Bleeding which gave us Sunflower and Circles, two of his biggest songs to date.
The Weeknd: Remember when he helped Drake with Take Care, felt like a long time ago. In 2014, he broke out in 2014 with his collab with Ariana Grande, Love Me Harder. From there, he made a name for himself in 2015 with his hits, Can't Feel My Face and The Hills. He would then come out with Starboy the following year and would be his biggest era before After Hours. Of course, we know him now for Blinding Lights and its record breaking run.
Katy Perry: In the early 2010s Katy Perry was simply inescapable, you could not go anywhere in the early 2010s without hearing her songs from Teenage Dream. After Teenage Dream, she had Prism which gave her two more big hits such as Roar and Dark Horse. Unfortunately for Katy Perry, her time in the spotlight didn't last as long as the other artists but she did see success with some other songs like Chained to the Rhythm and Never Really Over.
One Direction: Middle school me hated this group but now that I'm older, I've learned to appreciate One Direction. Simon Cowell's group from the X Factor broke out in 2012 with their hit, What Makes You Beautiful. After that, they saw success with other hits such as Story of My Life, Best Song Ever, Perfect, Night Changes and plenty of other songs. Sadly, they broke up in 2015 but while their run as a group didn't last long, they are doing really well as solo artists especially Harry and Zayn who have both seen success and the others seeing moderate success.
Add artists who you thought defined the 2010s.