Ahaha, so originally this blog post was supposed to be about EVERYTHING that makes me feel nostalgic from the 2010s. Music, film, pop culture moments, personal adventures, a holistic review of 2010-2019. I started by writing about my favorite songs from the decade, and to my surprise A LOT of songs have come out in the last ten years. A lot of which I’ve liked. Instead, I’ll make a part 2 of this post where I’ll highlight everything else. For today, let’s talk about music from the 2010s. (Manyi from the future here, today we’ll cover music from 2010-2014 because this post was getting a little long, so let’s make it a little shorter 🙂 Read as much or as little as you’d like.)
The craziest thing about this decade to me? The fact that it started when I was in elementary school, fifth grade to be exact, and now it’s ending in my junior year of college. I can’t even begin to wrap around my head that I was eleven years old when I vividly remembered coming back to school from winter break when one of my late classmates, Jordan Ciampi, exclaimed “Happy New Year, Mr. Nemerov! It’s a new decade!” And we really had no idea what this would mean considering the last turn of the decade we experienced was 2000….when we were two years old.
Music played a huge part of my life in this decade. I started writing my own music in third grade circa 2008, so going to middle school + taking my first theater classes + learning about classical music and music theory + playing more instruments + the music that came out in the beginning of this decade = a massive and moving renaissance period in my life. Here are some of my favorite songs and albums from the first five years of the decade. DISCLAIMER: I am going to miss a bunch of songs. For the sake of you all reading this, I am going to list the projects that transport me back to that time the most…the songs that have very vivid and distinct memories with them that I’ll never forget. I’ll even give you a snippet of why these songs are important to me. Okay, let’s get into it.
2010
- DJ Got Us Fallin In Love x Usher- Imagine younger me dancing in my basement to this song, haha. I knew the whole choreography.
- Airplanes x B.o.B & Hayley Williams- This song reminded me of the music I liked to write.
- Animal x Neon Trees- The perfect song to listen to while driving with the windows down in the summer.
- Dynamite x Taio Cruz- The pop anthem that doesn’t need to be explained.
- In My Head x Jason Derulo- I actually bought this album. I loved Jason Derulo’s talent soo much. Plus his music also reminded me of the head ass music I used to make.
- Empire State of Mind x Jay-Z & Alicia Keys– Top 2 and it’s not number 2 for favorite songs of this year. Alicia Keys was my first inspiration so I stanned everything she did.
- I Gotta Feeling x Black Eyed Peas– When this song came on the radio, the bus driver always turned it up to full volume and everyone stood and danced on the seats
- Down x Jay Sean ft Lil Wayne- 2010 Thanksgiving, my family hosted and all of my cousins and I were in my brothers room singing along to this song
- I can honestly go on forever, look through Billboard Hot 100 Songs of 2010…. I loved almost every last song that came out this year
2011
- Party Rock Anthem x LMFAO-Imagine middle school me shuffling to this during the annual school talent show…yiKes
- Give Me Everything x Pitbull & Ne-Yo– I still love this song so much, Ne-Yo CARRIED this song.
- The Show Goes On x Lupe Fiasco- Watched on 106 & Park after school
- Black and Yellow x Wiz Khalifa- Also 106 & Park
- Stereo Hearts x Gym Class Heroes ft Adam Levine- Watched on MTV while eating breakfast before school
- 6 Foot 7 foot x Lil Wayne ft Cory Gunz- ALSO 106 & Park, I can still rap this song word for word
- No Hands x Waka Flocka Flame ft Roscoe Dash & Wale- Yet another 106 & Park bop
- All of the Lights x Kanye West- Loved this video + all of the other collaborators, I remember me and my brother being scared to watch the video on YouTube because of the epilepsy warning
- Written in the Stars x Tinie Tempah ft Eric Turner- My best friend at the time showed me this song in Pre AP science class, she said “I think you’d like this song.” I loved it.
2012
- Loud x Mac Miller- Back when you had to buy music on iTunes, this song was one of the only songs I listened to every single day in 7th-8th grade.
- We are Young x Fun.- My entire 7th grade class used to sing this song at the top of our lungs during any given time.
- The Motto x Drake- Drake was the untouchable rising rapper during this time period. Everyone knew every word to every song. Even the unreleased songs.
- Young, Wild, and Free x Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa- Wiz Khalifa easily became one of the biggest rappers in middle school. Every guy wanted to do (or at least thought about) the famous bleached spot in their hair.
- Ni**as in Paris x Jay-Z & Kanye West- This entire album was iconic. We used to rap to this song during lunch all the time in 7th grade.
- Paradise x Coldplay– One of my favorite Coldplay songs. Brian Eno produced this album and made it so unique. If you know, you know.
- Let Me Love You (Until You Love Yourself) x Ne-Yo- When I wasn’t listening to Mac Miller, this was the other song on my iPod that I listened to on the walk to the bus stop every day.
2013
- Radioactive x Imagine Dragons- Found this song in a trailer for a movie and listened to it non stop all year. Refueled my love for alternative music.
- Can’t Hold Us x Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft Ray Dalton- Ray Dalton CARRIED this song with his vocals. Because of him, this song became top 5 favorite of the year, probably top 50 favorites from this decade.
- Mirrors x Justin Timberlake- I’m honestly a sucker for the chords in this song, stereotypical songwriting tings. Plus the choir performances of this song were always so moving.
- Cruise x Florida Georgia Line- Judge me if you want to. Listening to this song while on a family road trip in Summer ’13 was iconic.
- Locked Out of Heaven x Bruno Mars- Bruno was in his BAG on this album. Every single was unforgettable to me. What an icon.
- Get Lucky x Daft Punk ft Pharrell- I used this song for the background of a physics presentation freshman year of HS and I put my teacher on.
- We Can’t Stop x Miley Cyrus- I mean EVERYONE was shocked and entertained by Miley Cyrus’ antics this decade. Quality pop culture content.
- Clarity x Zedd- I’ve never been the biggest fan of EDM, but I found this song on that family road trip too. Listening to it with my earbuds when everyone was asleep and we were driving through the starry night in Alabama was mesmerizing.
- Safe and Sound x Capital Cities- I don’t see how you can’t like this song. I really miss music like this from the early 2010s. All types of music genres were celebrated equally, in my opinion.
- My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark x Fall Out Boy- I’ve listened to Fall Out Boy since I was a kid, so I’ve always loved Patrick Stump’s voice, plus this song would get played during timeouts in high school basketball and it got us just as pumped as the Drake songs.
2014
- Uptown Funk x Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars- Arguably one of the best songs from this decade. Definite top 10 for me. This song always brought people together wherever I was, from senior year prom to the field of the 52nd SuperBowl.
- All of Me x John Legend- If I could get a dollar for the number of times I walked into the choir room my sophomore year to hear a group of people belting this song at the top of their lungs…I’m lying I was actually apart of the group, too.
- Fancy x Iggy Azalea & Charlie XCX- Should this song be on this list? It’s actually an outlier…I never liked this song. But it will always remind me of my first school year walking to school since moving homes. The song reminds me of heat rash. Next song..
- Counting Stars x OneRepublic- Probably on my top 50 songs of the decade, as well. I’ve loved OneRepublic since 2007. They can do no wrong.
- Pompeii x Bastille- This has gotta be in the top 50 as well. White alternative music really hit different. They don’t make music like this anymore.
- Am I Wrong x Nico & Vinz- Funny story. I loved this song & watched the music video on MTV every morning before school. My high school was apart of the VH1 Save the Music program, and VH1 sent Nico & Vinz to my high school to meet all of our band and choir students. This is the only picture I got with them… ignore my dustiness.
Me and my friend were able to stop them to take a picture before they secretly left. As soon as I gave my phone to Principal Wrobleski to take the picture, non choir kids (I’ll leave their names out) ran down the hall screaming their names and asking for pictures. You know that episode of Suite Life of Zack and Cody when they meet Jesse McCartney? That was the level of crazy it was. Their bodyguard walked them out promptly. Vinz turned around to say “I’m sorry” as he was pulled away. And that was the time I met celebrities for the first time. Back to the post.
- Say Something x A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera- Another choir kid ballad. Honestly, the early 2010s was a great time to be in choir.
- Let Her Go x Passenger- I could write forever about what this song meant to me. So solemn yet so beautiful.
- Drunk in Love x Beyonce- C’mon now. Surprise album + surprise single?
- Ain’t it Fun? x Paramore- Imagine sophomore in HS me listening to this song everyday to and from the bus stop, walking to the beat of this song, stepping on every fall leaf on the ground.
- The Man x Aloe Blacc- Another song I listened to on the bus rides, unconsciously nodding my head to the beat of the song. What a talented artist.
Let’s just do a quick list of my favorite albums from this part of the decade to end us off:
- good kid, m.A.A.d city x Kendrick Lamar (2012)- I didn’t include any singles in my list of songs because this is one of the few albums from this decade that I can regard as a full body of work. Life was so easy when this album came out.
- Born Sinner x J. Cole (2013)- Another example of the album I listed above. I remember when J. Cole first came out, so I hold him dearly to my heart. I vividly remember listening to Pandora radio on my front porch and I always turned the volume up to its highest when Power Trip came on.
- Sail Out EP x Jhene Aiko (2014)- This sub-genre of RnB was so new to me when I discovered her music, and it was so exciting.
- Doo-Wops and Hooligans x Bruno Mars (2010)- Every single song is a banger. Bruno Mars is one of the only *popular* artists out here creating bodies of work, not just singles.
- Channel Orange x Frank Ocean (2012)- Like I said, this wave of contemporary RnB in the beginning of this decade blew my mind.
- Take Care x Drake (2011)– Drake’s best album, in my opinion.
- 4 x Beyonce- Probably my favorite album from her given the time in my life.
- and lastly My World 2.0 x Justin Bieber (2010)- Let me live, okay? I had this album on repeat on my cd player daily until I learned how to put music onto my iTunes.
I have so many more things to add, but I think this will be the end for now. Stay tuned to see the *depressingly short* 2015-2019 list really soon!
Carpe Diem – Seize the Day!
Manyi.