America was still climbing out of a recession, so we’d rather blame the budget fashion of the year on dark times—like the trendy Bieber haircut optimal for hair flipping and that whole leggings-as-pants craze. Questionable style peaked with the premiere of Jersey Shore, which kept millennials glued to the TV week after week, even when the weather was warm.
We’ll breakdown 2010, but you can relive all your summer anthems year by year: 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013
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But while the quality of our taste faltered, we did manage to make these songs epic hits in the summer of 2010. (see the full year’s No.1s here.)
1.”California Gurls” – Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg
Katy and Snoop Dogg wrote this song to pay homage to their home state in response to Jay Z’s East Coast anthem, “Empire State of Mind,” and it gave us one of the most enduring images of pop culture. No matter how much time passes, we’ll always remember Katy Perry with that lavender hair on her pink cloud in this Candyland-inspired music video. She also made every teenage boy’s favorite GIF, starring Perry in a bra adorned with whipped cream nozzles.
2. “Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem feat. Rihanna
It was a number one hit single with a catchy beat and an important message. While Rihanna was only a featured artist on the track, she used the song’s success to take a stand against an important cause: domestic violence. Following events involving Chris Brown, the music video made headlines for portraying a story that was sadly close to home for the star.
3.”Airplanes” – B.o.B feat. Hayley Williams
“Airplanes” never quite reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a success—especially considering it was a part of B.o.B.’s debut album. Paramore’s Hayley Williams heard the song, originally written by Lupe Fiasco, and insisted she had to be on it. Even though Hayley and B.o.B enjoyed mutual admiration from afar, they didn’t actually meet until they performed together at the MTV Video Music Awards.
4. “OMG” – Usher feat. will.i.am.
Usher has just suffered through a cheating scandal, but it didn’t tarnish his reputation enough to prevent “OMG” from becoming his ninth number one. To ensure another success, Usher called on will.i.am to provide that booming effect we hear (“Oh my god”). The music video definitely gave kids moves and style inspiration for the next year’s school dances. With or without that tilted black bowler.
5. “Cooler Than Me” – Mike Posner
What a debut! Posner recorded the song in his dorm room while he was still in college about a girl in one of his classes. The music video, directed by Jason Beattie, was a little less lovelorn teen than Posner’s origin story, and a little more rock star: it portrayed an all-night party at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
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Little did we know…
Jennifer Lawrence was blowing up. 2010 was the year she broke out in Winter’s Bone an independent film that earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. It would lose, but the movie was a media darling thanks to her uninhibited sense of humor and wide acting range. It paved the way for her role as Mystique in X-Men: First Class (2011) and then Katniss Everdeen in the world famous The Hunger Games (2012).