Ah, the end of a decade. No better time to look back and take a glance at how things played out over the past ten years, what changed and what didn't. It's been a tumultuous decade, a decade that made us all realize how much can really change in the span of ten years. In 2010, purchasing and downloading music on your phone or iPod instantly was something new and exciting, a revolutionary way of discovering and listening to music. In 2019, streaming music is the norm, our music libraries are bigger than ever, and CDs are considered vintage.
The WUSC DJ body came together and submitted our favorite music of the decade. We hope you enjoy our list. See you in 2020.
Top Albums:
Pop:
Teen Dream by Beach House
- Sleigh Bells - Treats, 2010
- Beach House - Teen Dream, 2010
- "There are a lot criteria you can use to make a list like this. Obviously though, any time you listen to an album for eight hours straight having a sublime experience, that album becomes your favorite album of the decade. This particular Beach House album marks the first in a series of amazing albums and - besides my own personally great experience - is largely influential in my favorite genre, dream pop." - JBryd
- Grimes - Visions, 2012
- M.I.A. - Matangi, 2013
- Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence, 2014
- Beyonce - Lemonade, 2016
- Solange - A Seat at the Table, 2016
- Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer, 2018
- "This album came directly from god and no one can tell me otherwise." - Goggles
- Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour, 2018
- Robyn - Honey, 2018
Rap:
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West
- Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010
- Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly, 2015
- The Internet - Ego Death, 2015
- Anderson Paak. - Malibu, 2016
- Frank Ocean - Blonde, 2016
- Mac Miller - The Divine Feminine, 2016
- Noname - Telefone, 2016
- Tyler, the Creator - Flower Boy, 2017
- "A seminal album in Tyler, the Creator's musical career, Flower Boy brought him fully into the mainstream. This album is a beautiful exploration of identity ("Garden Shed"), loneliness ("911/Mr. Lonely (feat. Frank Ocean and Steve Lacy)"), and the weight of nostalgia ("November")." - DJ BREAD
- Thundercat - Drunk, 2017
- Tierra Whack - Whack World, 2018
Rock:
Nocturne by Wild Nothing
- Wild Nothing - Nocturne, 2012
- "If this album was released in the latter half of the decade, it would have struck me as a bit cliché. At the time, their New Order inspired throwback to the 80s was fresh enough to soften my commutes across the lonely outskirts of Toronto's gray megacity. The reason it's so high is that its one of the few albums I've binged on from this time of my life that I can come back to over and over." - JByrd
- Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City, 2013
- The War on Drugs - Lost in a Dream, 2014
- "This album got me through some tough times where I, too, was lost in a dream." - JBryd
- Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color, 2015
- "It's hard to live up to a debut as fantastic as Alabama Shakes' 2011 Boys & Girls, but their sophomore album completely blew it out of the water and confirmed their place in defining 2010s rock." - DJ BREAD
- Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, 2015
- Joanna Newsom - Divers, 2015
- Tame Impala - Currents, 2015
- Big Thief - Capacity, 2017
- Yves Tumor - Safe in the Hands of Love, 2018
- Still Woozy - Lately, 2019
Top Songs:
1991 by Azealia Banks
- Azealia Banks - "212" (2012)
- Grimes - "Oblivion" (2012)
- Courtney Barnett - "Avant Gardener" (2014)
- Death Grips - "On GP" (2015)
- Janelle Monae feat. Grimes - "Pynk" (2015)
- Kendrick Lamar - "How Much A Dollar Cost" (2015)
- Beyonce - "Formation" (2016)
- Frank Ocean - "Nights" (2016)
- Phoebe Bridgers - "Motion Sickness" (2018)
- SOPHIE - "Immaterial" (2018)