Looking back at the decade I notice that the songs I tended to put at No. 1 have the least longevity. Kind of weird, right? It’s a curse, like getting Best New Artist at the Grammys. “Clarity,” “No Type,” that Dej Loaf + Jacquees song–as much as I loved them at the time, and as much as I like highlighting music, the closer to the top of the hierarchy the harder it is for me to put a point on the pyramid. That said, as I picked through old lists & ran through my personal memory banks, on the whole I was overall satisfied with the music I chose to represent my tastes year after year.

this list is, obviously, filtered through my subjective lens of the period, but that doesn’t mean I’ve made some attempt to focus on a specific “beat” ie Chicago rap or whatever … though my tastes can tend in that direction, this is more abt my personal journey through the decade. There’s an effort to remove redundant styles, and also in some cases for a song to stand in for an iceberg’s worth of music. 100 songs is really only 10 songs per year.

Albums list is more haphazard by design. I tried to solely include albums I felt strongly about, not that fit in with some pre-ordained history or story of the decade in music, of what ‘Mattered’. This doesn’t really reflect “the direction of music” during the decade as a result. Making good albums is kind of a strange art separate from making great music for a lot of the artists I listen to, pop, rap, dance, whatever. The order of the albums is is, after a point, kind of arbitrary and random. That said, i do think there are some unusually consistent, cohesive, well-crafted art products in the list as a result, stuff you aren’t likely to find elsewhere.

Recently I’ve been doing some consulting work “behind the scenes”; though I don’t work w/ any of the listed artists there could be some perceived conflict bc of shared corporate parentage but rest assured I’m being stubbornly myself in selection. Disclosing nonetheless.

Top 100 Songs of the 2010s:

100. Swedish House Mafia Vs. Tinie Tempah “Miami 2 Ibiza” (2010)

99. Tommy Lee Sparta “Vibes Inna Dis” (2013)

98. Young Humma feat. Flynt Flossy “Lemme Smang It” (2010)

97. The Fives “What You Do (Hottest By Far)” (2011)

96. Hot Toddy “Down To Love” (2010)

95. Jack J “Thirstin” (2015)

94. Pressa “TBH (To Be Honest)” (2016)

93. Deep Cotton feat. Jidenna “Let’s Get Caught” (2015)

92. RÜFÜS “Sundream (Classixx Remix)” (2014)

91. Travis Porter feat. Wale “My Team Winnin'” (2011)

90. Amel Larrieux “I Do Take” (2013)

89. Koran Streets feat. K.I. “Struggle” (2016)

88. T.L. Williams “Gettin Mo Money Than You” (2013)

87. Nicole Scherzinger “Heartbreaker” (2014)

86. Jimmy Wopo “Elm Street” (2016)

85. Nick Jonas “Jealous” (2014)

84. Speaker Knockerz “Money” (2013)

83. Babes Wodumo feat. Mampintsha “Wololo” (2016)

82. Chinx feat. Meet Sims “On Your Body” (2015)

81. Rudimental feat. MNEK and Sinead Harnett “Baby” (2013)

80. Katie Got Bandz “I Need A Hitta” (2011)

79. Sam Smith “Restart” (2014)

78. Patoranking feat. Wande Coal “My Woman My Everything” (2015)

77. Uhuru ft. DJ Buckz, Oskido, Professor and Uri-Da-Cunha “Y-tjukutja” (2013)

76. Dom Kennedy “My Type of Party” (2012)

75. Boldy James “Concrete Connie” (2011)

74. Christine and The Queens “iT” (2014)

73. Chris Crack “Love Is Still Awesome” (2016)

72. Mikael Seifu “Brass” (2015)

71. Trouble “Bussin” (2011)

70. Dua Lipa “New Rules” (2017)

69. Ty Money “Ready to Ride” (2012)

68. Rae Sremmurd feat. Gucci Mane “Black Beatles” (2016)

67. Mouse And Level “I Bet U Won’t” (2017)

66. 03 Greedo “Sweet Lady” (2016)

65. Years & Years “King” (2015)

64. CupcakKe “Deepthroat” (2016)

63. Maroon 5 feat. SZA “What Lovers Do” (2017)

62. J Hus “Did You See” (2017)

61. Kreayshawn “Gucci Gucci” (2011)

60. Alkaline “City” (2016)

59. Kanye West feat. Ty Dolla Sign “Real Friends” (2016)

58. A-Wax “Be Alone” (2014)

57. Bankroll Fresh “ESPN” (2015)

56. Fantasia “Collard Greens & Cornbread” (2010)

55. Messy Marv “Motorbike” (2010)

54. Kiss Daniel “Good Time” (2015)

53. Youngboy Never Broke Again “Drawing Symbols” (2018)

52. Sada Baby & Drego “Bloxk Party” (2018)

51. Justin Bieber “Sorry” (2015)

50. Sky Ferriera “You’re Not the One” (2013)

49. Wooh Da Kid feat. Waka Flocka Flame and Bo Deal “Body Bag” (2010)

48. XXXTentacion “SAD!” (2018)

47. Kelis “Jerk Ribs” (2014)

46. Chainsmokers & Coldplay “Something Just Like This” (2017)

45. Yves Tumor “Limerence” (2017)

44. DJ Khaled feat. Chris Brown, August Alsina, Future, and Jeremih “Hold You Down” (2015)

43. Lil Reese feat. Fredo Santana and Lil Durk “Beef” (2012)

42. Sevyn Streeter “Consistent” (2015)

41. Waka Flocka Flame feat. Kebo Gotti “Grove Street Party” (2010)

40. Tay K “Murder She Wrote” (2017)

39. Kacey Musgraves “Lonely Weekend” (2018)

38. Valee “Seen Her Before” (2017)

37. Future “Trap N*****” (2015)

36. Berner, The Jacka, and Carey Stacks “So Much Pain” (2015)

35. Jhene Aiko feat. Swae Lee “Sativa” (2017)

34. Gotye feat. Kimbra “Somebody That I Used To Know” (2011)

33. Lil Peep “Problems” (2017)

32. Vybz Kartel “Coloring Book” (2011)

31. Maleek Berry “Kontrol” (2016)

30. Peggy Gou “It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)” (2018)

29. The 1975 “A Change of Heart” (2016)

28. Chance the Rapper “Acid Rain” (2013)

27. Major Lazer & DJ Snake feat. MØ “Lean On” (2015)

26. Nipsey Hussle feat. K-Camp “Between Us” (2014)

25. Moodymann feat. Andres “Lyk U Use 2” (2014)

24. King Louie “Bars” (2012)

23. Meek Mill “Middle of the Summer” (2012)

22. Ty Dolla $ign “My Cabana” (2012)

21. Davido “Dami Duro” (2012)

20. Storm Queen “Look Right Through” (2011)

19. Benny Benassi ft. Gary Go “Cinema (Skrillex Remix)” (2011)

18. Sun El-Musician feat. Samthing Soweto “Akanamali” (2017)

17. Tiwa Savage “Eminado” (2013)

16. Rick Ross feat. Drake & Chrisette Michele “Aston Martin Music” (2010)

15. Kodak Black “No Flockin” (2014)

14. Todd Terje “Inspector Norse” (2012)

13. Kendrick Lamar “HiiiPOWER” (2011)

12. Young Thug “Hey I” (2015)

11. E-40 “Choices” (2015)

10. Diddy-Dirty Money feat. Swizz Beatz “Ass On The Floor” (2010)

9. Kevin Gates “Movie” (2014)

8. Kelly Rowland feat. Lil Wayne “Motivation” (2011)

7. Lil Boosie “Top to the Bottom” (2010)

6. Grimes “Realiti (Demo)” (2015)

5. Mozzy “Baldheaded” (2015)

4. Gucci Mane “What It’s Gonna Be” (2010)

3. WizKid “Show You the Money” (2014)

2. Chief Keef “Earned It” (2015)

1. Burna Boy “Soke” (2015)

1. Beyonce Beyonce

2. Rick Ross Rich Forever

3. Diddy-Dirty Money Last Train to Paris

4. Erykah Badu New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh

5. Young Thug Barter VI

6. Distruction Boyz Gqom is the Future

7. Chief Keef Almighty So

8. Valee and ChaseTheMoney VTM

9. Ty Dolla $ign Beach House 3

10. Rich Gang Tha Tour Part 1

11. Rihanna Anti

12. Kevin Gates The Luca Brasi Story

13. Kiss Daniel New Era

14. E-40 Revenue Retrievin’: Graveyard Shift/Overtime Shift

15. Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly

16. Future 56 Nights

17. Polo G Die a Legend

18. Jay Critch, Rich the Kid and Famous Dex Rich Forever 3

19. Jazmine Sullivan Reality Show

20. Nipsey Hussle Mailbox Money

21. Tay-K SantanaWorld

22. Burna Boy African Giant

23. Chance the Rapper Acid Rap

24. The 1975 I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It

25. Mozzy Gangland Landscape

26. SZA CNTRL

27. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah Ancestral Recall

28. Kehlani You Should Be Here

29. King Louie Tony

30. Mr Twin Sister Mr Twin Sister

31. Kendrick Lamar Good Kid, mAAd City

32. Doja Cat Amala

33. Boldy James Trappers Alley: Pros and Cons

34. Tree The Tree EP

35. CupcakKe Cum Cake

36. Trouble Edgewood

37. Hailu Mergia Lala Belu

38. Chief Keef Back From the Dead 2

39. Kacey Musgraves Golden Hour

40. 03 Greedo Purple Summer

41. Starlito Renaissance Gangster

42. Lil Durk I’m Still A Hitta

43. Theo Parrish American Intelligence

44. Vic Spencer and Chris Crack Who TF is Chris Spencer?!

45. Tink Winters Diary 4

46. Playboi Carti Die Lit

47. Robyn Honey

48. Grimes Visions

49. ZMoney Rich B4 Rap

50. Sun El Musician Africa to the World

51. A-Wax Pullin’ Strings

52. Alkaline New Level Unlocked

53. Ty Money Cinco de Money

54. KING We Are KING

55. Meek Mill Dreamchasers

56. Mr. Fingers Cerebral Hemispheres

57. NhT Boyz Power Triangle

58. Jacka What Happened To the World

59. Heavy K Respect the Drumboss

60. Famous Dex Dex the Robot

61. Lil Peep Hellboy

62. HD Fresh

63. Waka Flocka Flame Flockaveli

64. Moodymann Moodymann

65. Chris Crack Just Gimme a Minute

66. Tweet Charlene

67. Vic Spencer The Cost of Victory

68. Saba Care For Me

69. Drake Nothing Was the Same

70. Ariana Grande Yours Truly

71. Trippie Redd A Love Letter To You 3

72. Kevin Gates Islah

73. Smino BlkSwn

74. dumblonde dumblonde

75. Bicep Bicep

76. Ty Dolla $ign Beach House

77. Roy Kinsie Blackie

78. Nipsey Hussle Victory Lap

79. Deem Spencer We Think We Alone

80. Chief Keef Dedication

81. BeatKing Gangsta Stripper Music 2

82. Lil Durk Signed To the Streets

83. Koran Streets You.Know.I.Got.It (The Album)

84. Isaiah Rashad Cilvia Demo

85. PVRIS White Noise

86. Mozzy Bladadah

87. Lil Herb Welcome to Fazoland

88. ZMoney Chiraq Mogul

89. Lloyd Banks FNO

90. Fat Trel Georgetown

91. Future Streetz Callin

92. Mick Jenkins or more; the anxious

93. SpaceGhostPurrp Blackland Radio 66.6

94. Azealia Banks Broke With Expensive Taste

95. Lucki Freewave 3

96. Cyhi the Prynce No Dope on Sundays

97. Syclops Pink Eye

98. Lady Donli Wallflower

99. Jacquees Mood

100. Rico Nasty Nasty