The internet was like the Wild West for hip-hop in the 2010s. Blogs promoted anyone. Everyone could upload their music to YouTube with no strings attached. We still had the mixtape era alive and thriving, starting with DatPiff and eventually ending on SoundCloud. Additionally, the trends were more frequent, making for a constant influx of bizarre ideas and outlandish personalities.
In the future, we’re probably going to have a hard time explaining to our kids that we thought a lot of this was cool. Or maybe we’ll live long enough to see a nostalgic revival take over. We’ll feel extremely old to see what the kids pick out from that time period.
Obviously, you’ll need to share the soundtrack just as much as the aesthetic, though. Consequently, we’ve picked out five 2010s hip-hop songs that soundtracked such a wild time in our lives.
2010s Hip-Hop Songs We All Probably Heard and Have a Hard Time Explaining Today
“Orion’s Belt” by Kitty Pryde and Riff Raff
There was such an intense fascination with white people in hip-hop in the 2010s. Something about the jarring contrast just made people crack up. Riff Raff and Kitty Pryde show that dichotomy at its strongest, the former outrageous and colorful while the latter is quaint and proper. Part of you shouldn’t show this to your kids just so they don’t try to recreate it in the future.
“Tuesday” by ILoveMakonnen and Drake
Drake’s impact on hip-hop will live on forever. But there will be certain moments that future generations will raise their eyebrows at too. “Tuesday” will certainly be one of those songs— strangely intergalactic in its production with weirder cadences to match. Imagine having to explain to your kids that the club probably wasn’t actually going up on a Tuesday.
“Caroline” by Aminé
In a world increasingly dark, jaded, and cynical, “Caroline” sticks out like a sore thumb. It catches an extremely specific cultural enthusiasm at large, where everything felt brighter and older Gen Z adults were having the time of their lives during summer ’16. Not long after, we’d all fall captive to a collective despair. But 2016 was like our series finale.
“I Love It” by Kanye West and Lil Pump
One of the most iconic artists in any genre teaming up with a flash-in-the-pan like Lil Pump was surreal then. It’s even more surreal now that Pump is essentially out of the spotlight. But to talk about the mental degradation of Ye’s mental state and artistry at the time would require an hour-long PowerPoint discussion.
“Water” by Ugly God
After the infamous 2016 XXL Freshman Cyphers, there was a big backlash against “mumble rap” as a concept. But in the midst of all the noise, more artists came out that were even worse. Rappers were popping up thirsty for the clout that would come from internet backlash and allow them to have their 15 minutes of fame. Nowadays, this happens with viral sensations, and they just become podcasters. But back then, we had to endure some vaguely catchy, low-quality rap songs that only lasted a couple of minutes.
“Water” by Ugly God is a prime example, almost primitive in its rapping. You have to really find the part of his verse about lesbians really funny to find any value in it.
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