Insider is reminiscing about the past 10 years of musical greats with a series of opinion essays dedicated to the artists who inspired fans around the world. Here, reporter Libby Torres explains why she believes Carly Rae Jepsen is the greatest artist of the decade.

While most people know Carly Rae Jepsen as the singer behind the viral 2011 hit "Call Me Maybe," in recent years she's proved herself to be more complex than her initial career might suggest.

Her 2015 album "Emotion" was a radical departure from her previous work, and 2019's "Dedication" is a powerful testament to Carly's range and versatility.

In addition to crafting eminently listenable pop music, the singer is also making an impact as a beloved icon for the queer community.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Insider is looking back on the last decade of musical greats with a series of opinion essays. Next up: Carly Rae Jepsen.

If you've ever been swept away by the stirring saxophone solo at the beginning of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Run Away With Me," you're likely familiar with the emotion and energy her music can inflict with just a single listen.

But most people tend to associate Jepsen with one song, and for good reason — "Call Me Maybe" became a total sensation after it was released in the summer of 2011.

Because of the recognition it got from famous fans upon its release, as well as its undeniably catchy chorus, the song quickly topped the charts, and made Jepsen a star (and a two-time Grammy nominee).

Even though Jepsen could have milked her newly minted status as a pop queen for all it was worth, she ultimately took a break from music after the hysteria over "Call Me Maybe" had died down and began her unconventional rise to musical greatness, effortlessly surpassing any early predictions that she was destined to become nothing more than a one-hit-wonder.

Over the past decade, the singer has gone from an overnight phenomenon to an adaptable artist crafting some of the most interesting and underrated pop music of the 2010s.

While there are numerous artists who made the 2010s a decade to remember, Jepsen's versatility, ever-evolving musical style, and impact make her the most important artist of the last ten years.

Carly Rae Jepsen in the video for "Call Me Maybe." 604/Schoolboy/Interscope

Jepsen didn't follow the traditional path to pop stardom

After the runaway success of "Call Me Maybe," Jepsen could have taken a number of career paths, using her newfound status as a viral pop sensation as a springboard to superstardom.

Instead, she did something unexpected: She stepped away from the limelight to craft a brilliant, underrated synth-pop album, 2015's "Emotion."

"Emotion" was a radical departure from Jepsen's earlier, bubblegum-pop sound. Enlisting the help of a variety of collaborators, including Sia, Dev Hynes (known for his solo work as Blood Orange), and Rostam Batmanglij from Vampire Weekend, "Emotion" saw Jepsen abandon the sugary-sweet pop music that made her famous, and turn instead to synths and saxophone solos straight out of the 1980s.

With "Run Away With Me" (which would go on to spawn thousands of memes) and "Boy Problems" especially, Jepsen let her versatility take center stage, effortlessly pivoting from dramatic proclamations of devotion to Cyndy Lauper-esque celebrations of single-dom and girl power.

With the album, Jepsen proved that she couldn't be pigeonholed in her music. She's as comfortable writing and singing moody songs about clandestine trysts in a nightclub as she is describing the overwhelming and saccharine giddiness of love at first sight.

Carly Rae Jepsen debuted a new look for her "Boy Problems" music video. 604/Schoolboy/Interscope Records via YouTube

Critics loved it. "Emotion" was included on numerous year end lists, and Jepsen's departure from her "Call Me Maybe" days was definitely noted.

More importantly, Jepsen had proved that she was no one-hit wonder after all — instead, she was a complex, creative musician who wasn't afraid to take risks or redefine herself. "Emotion" would go on to become something of a cult hit for Jepsen, and is, without a doubt, her best album to date.

As with 'Emotion,' Jepsen took her time creating her fourth album

"Dedicated" was released earlier this year, and features Jepsen fully embracing her new synth-pop sound. "Want You In My Room," with its sweeping musical arrangements and drolly exaggerated, spoken hook, puts fellow pop artists like Lana Del Rey to shame. And in "Julien," a song about fresh heartbreak after a summer fling, a lovelorn Jepsen name-drops her ex in one of her most relatable songs about past romances.

"I did have a boyfriend named Julien back in the day," Jepsen said in an interview from May. According to the singer, she'd been trying to incorporate mentions of him into numerous songs since they went their separate ways — something she finally achieved with "Julien."

"This was the first one that finally scratched the itch of getting to describe what that feeling is like — when you're young and you've just met someone, but you feel like it's gonna be eternity," Jepsen said of the heartfelt song.

But according to Jepsen, Julien is "more of a metaphor now, of what it is to have that person that is maybe the one that got away."

Jepsen's repeated pleas for Julien ("I've been all alone, on my own/ Every single night, I pray /When you coming home? Coming home? / 'Cause I've been livin' for that day") as well as her heartbroken reckoning with the intricacies of their relationship ("Julien, in your heart, yeah, you must believe / Julien, it was more than a fantasy") resonated deeply with romantically-inclined fans, especially me.

Like Jepsen, I'd also dated a guy named Julian, although he spelled his name with an "a" instead of an "e," and like Jepsen, I also thought I'd be "forever haunted" by my time (or lack thereof) with him.

I still feel chills every time I listen to "Julien," if only because Jepsen's pain is searingly familiar to anyone who's ever felt that they were passed over for a chance at love —regardless of their current relationship status.

Carly Rae Jepsen performed at Los Angeles pride in 2016. Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic

Jepsen's music has that kind of power over her listeners — the ability to draw you in with relatable and passionately emotional lyrics that speak to universal experiences of love and loss, but also unadulterated joy and excitement.

Jepsen's impact extends far beyond music, as she's often celebrated as a queer icon

Critics of Jepsen have argued that most of her music seems crafted for the pure enjoyment of listening, at times lacking a story or personal narrative and the barest trace of Jepsen as an artist. But others have pointed out that the so-called anonymity of some of her lyrics actually makes her songs more relatable, especially for the queer community.

Some have even taken a deep dive into Jepsen's lyrics and music videos, and uncovered a surprising number of nods to LGBTQ people. To call Jepsen's lyrics superficial is to misunderstand the inherent relatability that characterizes pop — and the subversive quality that so-called generic music can have, for marginalized communities especially.

Carly Rae Jepsen released her latest album in May of this year. Michael Tullberg/Getty Images

In part due to the expressions of unrequited yearning and desire that make up much of the album, and because it didn't receive the commercial success it deserved, "Emotion" helped Jepsen gain more LGBTQ fans. Her underdog status endeared her to a historically marginalized community, and her catchy yet undeniably intense songs about crushes, missed connections, and first loves were instantly relatable to anyone but were especially embraced by queer people who felt similarly unsure in their romantic lives.

Jepsen definitely recognizes her newfound status as a beloved icon in the queer community and has performed at a variety of Pride festivals and LGBTQ venues in recent years. Although her music isn't explicitly LGBTQ-focused, the fact that she's been embraced shows just how relatable — and meaningful — her music can be.

Jepsen's subversively catchy lyrics, slick musical arrangements, and pop experimentation have made her a true star

Without her versatility, her willingness to try new things and prove that pop stardom comes in all different forms, singers like Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, or Kim Petras wouldn't have the kind of platforms they have now. For up until very recently, these unconventional pop stars were relegated to the margins of music, destined for a niche following on SoundCloud or, at best, a minor hit that didn't make an impact.

But Jepsen changed all of that. "Emotion" and "Dedication," with their bold musical experiments, forged a path for bringing new sounds into the accepted pop sphere. And now, thanks to Jepsen, musical eclecticism is no longer out of the ordinary, and the boundaries of pop music have been opened up for exploration once more.

Jepsen's first hit, "Call Me Maybe," threatened to define her career. But as "Emotion" and "Dedicated" have shown, her true power lies in crafting experimental yet intensely personal pop music for the ages that will make anyone listening want to run away with her.

Libby Torres is a junior entertainment reporter at Insider. She covers a variety of topics, including TV, horror movies, Latinx culture, and Keanu Reeves. She's a huge Carly Rae Jepsen stan who has a lot of thoughts about "Call Me Maybe" and pop music in general. Follow her on Twitter @libbytorres95