In the 2010s, technology made creating, distributing, and listening to music easier than at any previous point in history. Producers and artists collaborated through the cloud, mixing styles like potions, from emo trap to EDM ballads to indie R&B to bedroom pop. A million modes of distribution meant you could hear those songs milliseconds after they were born. Artists started releasing music at an unprecedentedly rapid pace. The infinite scroll of social media made listeners insatiable. The result of all this was both a blessing and a curse: There was more great music out there than ever before, but it was nearly impossible to keep up. Here at Pitchfork, we sure tried. Here are our top 200 songs of the decade.

For more about how we put together this list, read this letter from our editor-in-chief Puja Patel. And check out all of Pitchfork’s 2010s wrap-up coverage here.

Listen to selections from this list on our Spotify playlist and Apple Music playlist.

Universal

200.

Avicii: “Levels” (2011)

As sampled in Avicii’s “Levels,” Etta James’ relatively modest claim that “Oh, sometimes I get a good feeling” felt impossibly aspirational for a generation of entry-level millennials dumped into an indifferent economy. In 2011, good feelings were rare and expensive, but it was possible to get one for free via a sparkling EDM hook. “Levels,” with its monumental synths and jetstream whooshes, took that potential and conquered the world with it.

In hindsight, its sheer scale still feels staggering, but there’s a sinister undertone to it. Tim Bergling, who took his own life in 2018, at age 28, got his stage name from Avici, the hell-like realm in Buddhism where dead sinners are reborn. There is something punishing about “Levels,” which, like the office drone pushing a boulder up a mountain in its music video, seems to climb and climb without actually going anywhere, an illusion of transcendence that’s actually just plain old limbo. Electronic pop music of the early 2010s, from “Harlem Shake” to “Turn Down for What,” was punctuated by images of people in their boring jobs and dumpy apartments exploding into uncontrollable, spasmodic dancing—half joyful release, half exorcism. “Levels” is the sound of a generation hell-bent on having a good feeling, reality be damned. –Emily Yoshida

Listen: Avicii, “Levels”

#Merky

199.

Stormzy: “Big for Your Boots” (2017)

Before he was a world-famous MC, Stormzy got his start uploading DIY freestyle videos in which he spit nonstop bars over hard-edged grime beats in streets and parks near his South London home. So it makes sense that the knockout track from his eclectic debut album, Gang Signs & Prayer, simply showcases his high-octane rapping and palpable charisma over a jagged instrumental, proving that he deserves to take a seat next to grime greats like Dizzee Rascal and Wiley. On “Big for Your Boots,” Stormzy fires off a barrage of disses directed at his enemies and rap rivals. “You’re getting way too big for your boots/You’re never too big for my boot,” he raps in the chorus, emphasizing the last syllable with maniacal glee. Considering the fact that he’s 6-foot-5 and wears a size 12 shoe, any detractors would be wise to heed his warning. –Michelle Kim

Listen: Stormzy, “Big for Your Boots”

Self-released

198.

dvsn: “The Line” (2016)

It's not explicitly about God, but the debut single from singer Daniel Daley and producer Nineteen85—better known as dvsn—is some kind of gospel, particularly if you consider falling in love to be a religious experience. Arriving the year before mainstream hip-hop reclaimed gospel via Chance the Rapper's Coloring Book and Kanye West’s “Ultralight Beam,” “The Line” has Daley showing off a preacher’s sense of mesmerizing repetition as he fills the song’s skeletal framework with melisma capable of stretching moments into eternities. By the time the choir hits about halfway into this epic slow jam, dvsn’s romantic redemption is secured. –Rich Juzwiak