The 5 Artists Who Defined Rap in the 2010s
Drake
When Drake burst onto the scene in 2009 with “Best I Ever Had” he was still just a kid who had yet to find his voice. 11 years later, he has cemented his place among rap’s elite. Over the past 10 years, Drake has never fully committed to a genre. He has toed the line between pop and rap for his entire career, which is extremely hard to perfect. However, Drake has remained excellent in both categories, which is why he makes this list.
There is no one quite like Drake and I’m not sure if there ever will be. He is someone that can make a song like “Controlla”, a vibey, dance hall type track and put it on the same album as “Still Here”, a hard-hitting, 808-heavy track.
Drake is currently one track away from tying the record for most Billboard Hot 100 entries, a record he will surely break in 2020. At this point, almost any track Drake drops is bound for the Hot 100, which only a few artists can say. Drake has accomplished everything there is to accomplish in the music industry in only one decade of work.
Future
Future redefined trap music in the 2010s with his seven solo albums and 16 mixtapes. At times, it was quantity over quality, but Future’s success throughout the decade is immeasurable.
Future truly started to break out following his revered 2014 mixtape Monster. Monster went places no one had been before. It is filled with melancholy anthems that helped to make the rap star seem human. This is what has kept Future so relevant the past ten years. His relatability is unmatched. While many of today’s rappers fill their lyrics with braggadocious bars, Future keeps it real and shows us how much he struggles with his fame and this is most clear on Monster.
Future proved he had what it takes to become a mainstream artist in 2015, the best year any rapper had throughout the decade. In 2015 alone, Future dropped his most successful album Dirty Sprite 2, 56 Nights, and What a Time to Be Alive, three of his most successful projects. Dirty Sprite 2 is loaded with trap bangers like “Where Ya At” that vaulted him into stardom.
It’s hard to recount the decade without mentioning Future and his revolutionary take on the genre.
Young Thug
The amount of influence Young Thug has in today’s rap culture is immense. His proteges are some of rap’s biggest stars: Gunna, Lil Baby, Playboi Carti, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Durk, and Lil Keed. On any day, half of the Rap Caviar playlist is in some way inspired by Young Thug.
Young Thug’s growth as an artist has been something to behold. With every project, his creativity has developed exceptionally. Thug has owned the second half of the 2010s, dropping Barter 6, Slime Season 3, JEFFERY, Beautiful Thugger Girls, Slime Language and So Much Fun all in the past five years. Each album built on something the previous had started, culminating in his best project yet: So Much Fun. On the 2019 album, he lets his creativity run without bounds, creating one of the best albums of the year.
What makes Young Thug special is the way he uses his voice as an instrument. It can be hard to understand at times, but more often than not creates beautiful music. It often creates for a fun, care-free vibe, which is what makes his style so attractive and so tempting to emulate.
Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar has been the premier lyrical artist of the decade. The topics that he touches on and how beautifully he portrays these topics has been something to behold.
Lamar produced three of the greatest albums of the decade in good kid, m.A.A.d city, To Pimp a Butterfly, and DAMN. In each of these projects, Lamar found a way to deliver thoughtful bars while also landing himself on the Billboard charts with multiple top 10 hits, something that doesn’t happen all too often nowadays.
The true impact that Kendrick Lamar has had on American youth is expansive. In any one of his songs, he is speaking to someone who is going through exactly what he had gone through at one point. All of his music is so personal and meaningful that it makes you feel like you are a part of his world.
At the end of the day, what we are looking for when we listen to music is a connection, and no one has been better at creating that sense of connection over the past 10 years than the Compton rapper. Kendrick Lamar simply makes beautiful music.
Tyler, The Creator
There is no better case study on the development of an artist than Tyler, The Creator over the past 10 years. He started the decade in 2011 with hit single “Yonkers” the song that set him up for the success he has enjoyed for the past decade.
“Yonkers” is far from a thing of beauty and couldn’t be farther from the songs that feature on his past two albums. While “Yonkers” is what got Tyler started in the industry, it is safe to say he has matured and graduated into a greater class of talent. Over the past few years, Tyler has allowed himself to be much more vulnerable with his listeners, which has opened up many doors for the Southern California native.
His talent is on full display in his latest album IGOR, which is the favorite for the award of “Best Rap Album” at this year’s Grammys. Tracks like “I THINK” and “PUPPET” are perfect examples of how Tyler uses his production skills to his advantage. The attention to detail is obvious, which makes it feel like you are listening to so much more than a song. You can feel how much effort went into each and every track on the album, which is special.
Tyler is one of rap’s most versatile artists and when he uses all of his talents in tandem, he makes beautiful music. With his recent development, I would not be surprised if he is one of the most influential artists of the 2020s.