When it comes to fleeting musical fads, the decade that seems to have the most of them is the 2010s. In the decade alone, numerous fads arose and died out shortly after, and since then, they haven’t really been seen again, at least in the United States cultural landscape. With all that in mind, here are three musical fads from the 2010s that have come and gone.
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SoundCloud Rappers
The height of SoundCloud Rappers took place between 2016 and 2018, and some notable figures who were part of the game include XXXTentacion, Juice WRLD, Playboi Carti, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty, Trippie Redd, and 6ix9ine. Now, some of the rappers have gone on to have notable careers. Others have tragically passed, and the remainder are seemingly holding on to any thread of notoriety they can.
We’d be lying if we said all of the music that came out of the fad was bad; a lot of it was, but there were some great songs. Some of the more notable singles to come from the brief movement include “Gucci Gang”, “Lucid Dreams”, “Look At Me!”, and “Broke Boi”.
Dance & Novelty Crazes
You might hate to admit it, but songs such as “Gangam Style”, “The Harlem Shake”, and Bobby Shmurda’s “Hot Boy” are incredibly catchy. If you agree, then you are not alone in the slightest, as these three songs and more were some of the biggest hits in the early and mid-2010s.
Each and every song we just mentioned went on to become a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 following its release. Other than these three singles, some other songs from the dance craze include “Party Rock Anthem”, “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)”, and “Get Lucky”. The movement hasn’t necessarily gone away, but instead transformed and transferred into the realm of TikTok creators and influencers.
Dubstep
Right alongside the dance and novelty craze movement was the dubstep movement spearheaded by Skrillex. Now, EDM music is more prevalent than ever, but the days of incredibly aggressive beat drops and epileptic enducing electronic melodies are somewhat over. However, in the early 2010s, dubstep was the EDM genre of the masses.
Skrillex was certainly the head honcho of this movement, but some other significant players of the movement were Nero, Flux Pavilion, Zeds Dead, Zomboy, and Rusko. If you’re looking to go back to that day in age, then we recommend you listen to “Bangarang”, “Eyes On Fire”, and “Immunity”.
Photo Credit: Marilyn Hue











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