Decade in Music

Jonathan Yoon and Akash Shivakumaar

The following Spotify playlist features two songs from each year of the decade (2010-2019) Note*: All songs were personally picked, it may not fit your music taste or what you have listened to in the past but please enjoy! 

Song Year Artist
  • Firework
2010         Katy Perry 
  • Only Girl In The World
2010         Rihanna 
  • Call Me Maybe
2011         Carly Rae Jepsen
  • Sexy and I Know it 
2011         LMFAO
  • Gangnam Style 
2012         PSY
  • Thinking Bout You
2012        Frank Ocean
  • Get Lucky 
2013        Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers
  • Blurred Lines 
2013        Robin Thicke
  • Uptown Funk 
2014        Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars
  • Thinking Out Loud 
2014        Ed Sheeran
  • Hello 
2015        Adele
  • Hotline Bling 
2015        Drake
  • Heathens 
2016        Twenty-One Pilots
  • Starboy (Explicit)
2016        The Weeknd, Daft Punk
  • Thunder 
2017        Imagine Dragons
  • Feel it Still (Explicit)
2017        Portugal. The Man
  • All the Stars (Explicit)
2018       Kendrick Lamar, SZA 
  • This is America (Explicit)
2018        Childish Gambino
  • Suge (Explicit)
2019        DaBaby
  • Graduation (Explicit)
2019        Juice Wrld, Benny Blanco

 

  1. “Firework” by Katy Perry illustrates that everyone goes through rough times and through the song she expresses to the viewers/audience to be themselves and that things will be ok in the end.
  2. “Only Girl in the World” by Rihanna is an upbeat love song that was produced in the year of 2010. The main idea of the song was to treat girls with kindness, and affection rather than emotionless intimacy. You would typically listen to this song when you have a crush on someone.
  3. Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen was the definition of being a teenager in the 2010s. The song describes life as a teen in the early decade in a way that is amusing and relatable. The song is about suddenly falling in love and the common events that arise because of that boy.
  4. “Sexy and I Know It” by LMFAO was a popular song that was mostly about self-confidence and how overconfidence isn’t always a bad thing. Although the song may seem random it is catchy and nostalgic as a song of the 10’s.
  5. “Gangnam Style” by PSY was a global sensation for the world. It was the first youtube video that reached one billion views. The music is settled in a city called Gangnam which is known as a very wealthy part of Korea. The song is illustrating a sense of swag as he repeats “Oppa Gangnam Style.”
  6. “Thinking Bout You” by Frank Ocean, a well-known song in 2012. The song was about how his life was a mess before he met “the love of his life” but he doesn’t know if the significant other feels the same way and continues to talk about issues that arise.
  7. “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams, and Nile Rodgers dedicated a song to their uprising and success. The song is about the three’s success and describes their way of celebration by spending intimate times with a significant other.
  8. “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke confesses his love to a girl but she doesn’t seem to understand his intentions and thinks that he is going crazy. The song continues on about how he knows the girls want some intimacy but are too timid to show it.
  9. “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson was easily one of the most popular. Not only was it a large factor of  Mars’ popularity to date. The song describes city life and the craziness revolved around it. The song has a great beat and has a great music video as well. Definitely check this one out if you haven’t already.
  10. “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran discusses in his song about falling in love and the process of it due to his emotions of loneliness. He also mentions that no one will remember who he is when he grows old as his grandfather suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
  11. “Hello” by Adele was huge in 2015, and not just because of the memes it made, but how we got our first wave of music that focused on depression. Songs like this are currently still popular by artists like Billie Eilish and XXXTENTATION, but it all started with Adele. The song itself looks at loneliness and how it affects you over time.
  12. “Hotline Bling” by Drake is about before his fame there was a girl that cherished him but as he became popular the attention seemed to fade away. Now he gets calls just to make love and nothing else which is why it’s called hotline bling.
  13. “Heathens” by Twenty-One Pilots illustrates through his song that we never know the true intentions of the people around us whether they are our best friends or not. Heathens mean to think differently compared to what we view as standard.
  14. “Starboy” by Weeknd is a song about a man who has become so successful that he is known as starboy. The term “starboy” was popularized by this song and refers to the man in the song, who is beyond experience and the greatest in the world. He cannot be stopped, and any challenges he faces are simple delays in his path. The song is explicit for good reason, but it is still a great motivational song.
  15. “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons was a song that was mostly about background music. The lyrics itself are repetitive and don’t mean much, but the music in the background is interesting and has depth and beat. Other Imagine Dragons’ songs came out this same year, but none were like Thunder. Thunder gave pop-rock a new meaning.
  16. “Feel it Still” by Portugal. The Man describes the beginning of her daughter’s life and mentions about getting her a babysitter because he won’t be there a lot of the time due to the drugs he was taking at the time.
  17. “All the Stars” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA was featured in the Marvel movie Black Panther. The song starts off as him being able to be there for this significant other but doesn’t know if she will do the same and leads into whether he will be able to accomplish his goal.
  18. “This is America”  by Childish Gambino was very popular in the 2010s. The song had vibrant and strong views about American political systems and values. As it exposes many of the laws and rights are given to citizens, but at the same time shows America as a place of freedom and rights. No matter what view you support This is America is a great song.
  19. “Suge” by DaBaby was very popular this year. Its lyrics and beat make it an all-around good rap. However, this song, in particular, is strong because of its beat and voice. The song focuses on DaBaby and his story of showing people who didn’t believe in him that he could do it.
  20. “Graduation” by Juice Wrld and Benny Blanco was a favorite by many of the late Juice Wrld’s fans. Juice Wrld talks about his struggles to graduate in high school. The song is very relatable and lyrics make sense. Juice Wrld’s songs are so popular due to the fact that his songs are so relatable, and he writes about sad issues that a lot of teens can connect to.