2010

Just when you thought pop music couldn't get any stranger, 2010 hit our stereos upside the head with one twilight-zone track after another. Led by the year's top-selling digital single — Train's "Hey, Soul Sister," a ukulele-led meditation on Burning Man — we're talking about everything from the sensitive side of Eminem (the skeletal drums and swooning strings of "Not Afraid," the restrained riffs and inescapable Rihanna choruses of "Love the Way You Lie") to a pair of smash Katy Perry singles that'd clear up just about any cloudy day (the sun-stroked electro of "Teenage Dream" and "California Gurls"). Nikki Yanofsky scored with "I Believe" and Drake continued his unstoppable ascent with "Find Your Love."

In our 2010 Next Steps, Lady GaGa shows up with Beyoncé and the Black Eyed Peas.

True to its title, Lady GaGa's second platter, The Fame Monster, couldn't be stopped in 2010. All thanks to three Top 10 singles and a brain-burrowing blend of siren-call synths ("Bad Romance"), beehive beats ("Telephone"), and mildly insane melodies ("Alejandro"). Speaking of artists who owned the spotlight, Ke$ha dared us to love or hate her with the razor-tongued rhymes and speaker-clobbering keys of "We R Who We R," while Fefe Dobson bridged the gap between Auto-Tune and performance with "Stuttering," and Beyoncé entertained our subconscious with the notion of a "beautiful nightmare" on "Sweet Dreams."

Some of the same names creep into our Deep Cuts as well, right alongside such familiar faces as Miley Cyrus and Christina Aguilera.

Our chart-skimming 2010 playlist doesn't just add to the deafening buzz of newly anointed pop stars like Katy Perry and Ke$ha; it's also a flawless reminder of the year's other hits, including the manic drum machines and prison-break verses of all-grown-up Miley Cyrus cut "Can't Be Tamed"; P!nk's celebratory shout-out to like-minded crazies, freaks, and rebels, "Raise Your Glass"; and Christina Aguilera's finest crack at the clubs in forever ("Not Myself Tonight"). Not to mention such buzz-stirring singles as Owl City's supremely sweet "Fireflies" and La Roux's defiant "Bulletproof" — two very different takes on electro-pop that'll please fans of the Postal Service and Yaz.

The line between pop, rap, rock, and R&B wasn't just blurred in 2010 — it was tossed out the window by tracks that were as scatterbrained as the Twitter and Facebook feeds that trampled our computer screens. As you're about to hear, this is a good thing — a very good thing, leading to such instant classics as B.o.B's guard-dropping collaboration with Paramore singer Hayley Williams ("Airplanes"); Usher's will.i.am-assisted assault on discriminating dance floors ("OMG"); and Jay-Z's timeless tribute to New York City ("Empire State of Mind," featuring a golden Alicia Keys chorus). And if you ever need a break from all of those laser-guided synth lines and heat-seeking hooks, we made sure to mention a flurry of country-fried favorites from Clay Walker ("She Won't Be Lonely Long"), Sugarland ("Stuck Like Glue"), and Rodney Atkins ("Farmer's Daughter").