My friends and I are talking about how future generations will look at our music, and I am curious who y’all think defines American music in the 21st century so far.

30 comments

  2. The Weeknd seems like a good answer, especially with the genre crossing synthwave-y 80s style song Blinding Lights.

    I’m not that much of a fan but I do like his style. Accepting new styles and new ideas and trying it out makes more sense than being an industry pushover and going with what the producers want you to do to get them rich

    Edit: I just realized you asked for American artists. I’ll leave my comment though

  4. We’re all of 22 years into the 21st century, it’s quite possible the defining musicians / artists haven’t even been born yet. It’s likely that even if they have been born, they’re not even doing their thing yet.

  5. Kanye really changed the landscape of hiphop in the 2000s. I am sad to even write this given his current state of mind.

    Here is a good piece about the major shift in hiphop. We went from gangster rap to more 808 wavy and electronic beats coupled with conscious lyricism. Ask any current hiphop artist from the past decade and they will cite Kanye’s work as major inspiration.

    [link](https://www.grammy.com/news/how-50-cent-vs-kanye-west-beef-2007-was-hard-reset-hip-hop)

    A song like [Flashing Lights was considered revolutionary and is still a bop TODAY !](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAz3rnLGthg)

  6. I was going to say Rihanna but she’s Bahamian, so I’m going with either Mars or Swift or maybe even Eminem

  8. Ryan Tedder of Onerepublic. If you know you know. If you dont, look this man up. He’s a genius and has had a hand in so many top songs from different artists as well as continuing to generate top songs with his own band.

  10. The Strokes and a couple other bands of their ilk in the 00s really brought indie rock to the mainstream

  18. Surprised no one has said Blink-182 yet. They just announced they were back together and the millennial generation collectively lost their minds.

  20. A few I think have really been influential. Some began their careers in the 90’s, but have had significant impact with their work in the 2000’s:

    Lady Gaga

    Taylor Swift

    Eminem

    Gwen Stefani

    Kendrick Lamar

    Bruno Mars

    Beyoncé

    Missy Elliot

    Justin Timberlake

    Kanye West (Ye)

    Norah Jones

  22. Britney Spears

    The Killers

    ~~Arctic Monkeys~~

    Twenty One Pilots

    Edit: immediately forgot you said American artists

  25. I’d honestly argue that while there have been tons of very talented EDM artists over the years, Dubstep would not have exploded like it did without Massive Attack and The Faint.

  26. Honest answer, we don’t have a clue. Look at the [charts for 1970,](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1970) the year after Abbey Road came out in October ’69, which I think most people would say was the most influential album historically at that time, some may say ever. The Beatles only have two songs in the top 40. To be fair, let’s look at [’69 too.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1969) There they only have 1. I seriously challenge anyone to hum to themselves a little bit of some stuff on those lists. We don’t know what’s going to last, because we are caught up in the now.

  27. I definitely think you gotta put the Doc in there, his beats are featured on any early 2000’s artists as well as today. He found Eminem and kinda pioneered the G-funk gangsta rap beat of the 90’s into a much more brass and bass feel that many producers used later in the century.

  28. I will answer your question with a question: What artists do you think are still relevant from the 1920s?

  30. I think it’s The Neptunes. While they made music together in the 90s they have produced a ridiculous amount of hits and tours

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