He deserves credit for making it not just okay but cool for a rapper to talk about his insecurities at length, and his ability to weave in pop culture from all corners - turning “Back That Azz Up” into a melancholy bedroom banger, referencing George Strait - is unmatched by virtually anyone. Top-shelf Rihanna, Lil Wayne, and Nicki Minaj duets break up all the breakup tunes, with the new star holding his own on every one, eventually drawing the entire musical universe into his overcast, fame-obsessed world. Take him or leave him, Drake made his best, most enjoyable work with Take Care, diluting his self-pity with seductive party anthems like “Crew Love,” featuring a just-discovered fellow Torontonian known as the Weeknd (who was responsible for a sizable chunk of the record). A great deal of his fame and fortune has come from all of this being mistaken for sensitivity. His unhealthiest songs - drunk-dialing classic “Marvin’s Room,” the delusional “Hotline Bling,” a Rihanna duet where the hook is literally Drake telling a woman he’s too good for her - have often become his biggest. He’s also the most-streamed artist of all-time. The album dedicated to his perilously delayed fatherhood announcement also found him rapping about having “Mob Ties” (?). He was oversharing run amok, the perpetually thirsty mayor of the friend zone. His unedited self-indulgence extended to his album lengths: From 2016 to 2018 alone he released more than 252 minutes in combined full-lengths (or playlists or whatever he wants to call them to avoid criticism) without even factoring in his loosies and guest spots on others’ work. He also brought emo’s worst tendencies to rap music, with a weird, condescending streak towards women whom he expects to return his texts even after they’ve got whole new lives, even whole new kids. He ran so far with Kanye’s 808s & Heartbreak playbook that he eclipsed its creator, spotted trends faster than Tan France when he landed on the French-tuck, and rode waves harder than an Olympic surfer. For better or worse, Drake was the 2010s. Here are the 101 albums and album-shaped music packages that SPIN would most prefer the past decade to be remembered for, and we guarantee you’ll find at least one new discovery to change your listening habits, if not your world. And perhaps most importantly, many of these artists and works upended the status quo as the world questioned its power structures like never before. Some of them, for better or worse, defined the concerns and musical trends of the 2010s. Some of these albums taught us something. What does that leave then? The most pleasurable, innovative, infinitely replayable, groundbreaking, heartbreaking, hilarious, challenging, emotionally overwhelming, unrelenting, memorable, did-we-already-say-pleasurable collections of music that we leaned on over the last 10 years for pure life-enhancing sensation.
![rae sremmurd this could be us mp3 download rae sremmurd this could be us mp3 download](https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2015/05/Rae-Sremmurd-This-Could-Be-Us-video-640x315.jpg)
And those are just the ones we know you’re gonna ask about. Vincent, D’Angelo, M83, Foxing, Tyler, the Creator, Angel Olsen, Group Doueh, Nick Cave, Perfume Genius, Vince Staples, Todd Terje, Kurt Vile, SZA, Tim Hecker, Spoon, Brockhampton, Shabazz Palaces, Torche, Moodymann, CupcakKe, Lorde, the late, irreplaceable David Bowie and Leonard Cohen. Have fun guessing who’s who: LCD Soundsystem, the War on Drugs, Tame Impala, Carly Rae Jepsen, Father John Misty, Jay-Z, FKA twigs, Joyce Manor, Kacey Musgraves, Sleep, Arcade Fire, 03 Greedo, G.L.O.S.S., Daft Punk, Cobalt, Bad Bunny, Calvin Harris, HAIM, Jon Hopkins, Mbongwana Star, Rae Sremmurd, SunnO))), the National, Migos, DJ Koze, the New Pornographers, St. Many, many artists we love we just didn’t have room for. Some are overrepresented in critical circles at the expense of other artists who aren’t viewed as equally valid, and some we don’t even like. Some were cherished by past incarnations of SPIN and haven’t aged as we hoped some were overrated in the first place. Some of these artists didn’t move us as much as they did other braintrusts of music writers. Which, duh, but plenty of artists whose work defined the decade for many, many people, including many of us, just wouldn’t fit. There’s a lot of music that isn’t on this list. Because lord knows we need the distraction.
![rae sremmurd this could be us mp3 download rae sremmurd this could be us mp3 download](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9RZg4tk1Vdg/hqdefault.jpg)
Because the works of art below serve as a reminder that the 2010s weren’t all bad. Because we relish excuses to sound off on the music that’s affected us the most and to enlist some of our favorite writers to do so. Because some of the already unanimously beloved music on this list still merits further praise. Because plenty of our favorite albums of the last 10 years could still use a boost. Why now? Because - and there’s no reason to ignore the elephant in the room: SPIN stewardship has changed hands many, many times since we made the online jump - we got our chance.