2010s Music Quiz

1. Adele's '21' (2011) became one of the best-selling albums of the decade. Which single from it became her signature ballad?

1. Hello
2. Rolling in the Deep
3. Skyfall
4. Someone Like You

2. Taylor Swift re-recorded her early albums starting from 2021, labelling them '(Taylor's Version)'. Why?

1. A legal dispute over copyright infringement forced re-recording
2. Her original label (Big Machine) was sold, giving the buyer control of masters she didn't own — so she re-recorded to own new versions
3. She lost the original master recordings in a fire
4. She wanted to update the production with modern sound

3. Drake's 'Take Care' (2011) and 'Nothing Was the Same' (2013) helped define which hybrid genre?

1. Melodic rap / emo rap blending hip-hop with R&B and singing
2. Mumble rap
3. Trap music
4. UK drill

4. Lorde was just 16 when she released her debut single 'Royals' (2013). Where is she from?

1. Australia
2. Canada
3. New Zealand
4. South Africa

5. Which artist's 'Lemonade' (2016) was a groundbreaking visual album exploring race, infidelity, and Black womanhood?

1. Beyoncé
2. Janelle Monáe
3. Rihanna
4. Solange Knowles

6. PSY's 'Gangnam Style' (2012) became the first YouTube video to do what?

1. Reach 1 billion views
2. Reach 100 million views
3. Top the Billboard Hot 100
4. Win a Grammy Award

7. Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of You' (2017) broke records on Spotify. What record did it set?

1. All of the above are true
2. First song to debut at #1 in 60 countries simultaneously
3. First song to reach 1 billion streams
4. Most-streamed song of the decade on Spotify

8. Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp a Butterfly' (2015) drew on which musical traditions?

1. Electronic dance music and hip-hop
2. Gospel and country music
3. Jazz, funk, soul, and spoken word poetry — a radical departure from contemporary rap trends
4. Purely trap and modern hip-hop

9. Rihanna's 'Anti' (2016) was released how, breaking music industry conventions?

1. As a free download exclusively through a Samsung app deal before its commercial release
2. Dropped simultaneously on all platforms at midnight with no warning
3. Released as a streaming-only album, never on physical media
4. Released without any singles or advance notice, exclusively on Tidal

10. Justin Bieber was discovered through YouTube videos at age 13. Which music executive signed him?

1. Jimmy Iovine
2. L.A. Reid
3. Scooter Braun and Usher
4. Simon Cowell

11. What was the 'SoundCloud rap' movement of the mid-2010s?

1. A generation of DIY hip-hop artists who used SoundCloud to self-release music, characterised by emo-influenced aesthetics and mumbled delivery
2. A movement to bring classical music to SoundCloud
3. A sampling culture based on remixing SoundCloud tracks
4. Producers sharing beats on SoundCloud for rappers to use for free

12. Billie Eilish became the youngest artist to do what at the 2020 Grammy Awards?

1. Win a Grammy Award at all
2. Win a Grammy for Best New Artist
3. Win all four main Grammy categories (Record, Album, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist) in one night
4. Win Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album

13. The Weeknd's 'Blinding Lights' (2019/2020) broke which record on the Billboard Hot 100?

1. Fastest song to reach 1 billion streams
2. First song to reach #1 in 70+ countries simultaneously
3. Longest-running #1 in Hot 100 history
4. Most weeks on the Hot 100 chart ever — over 90 weeks

14. Bruno Mars's '24K Magic' era drew heavily on which musical tradition?

1. 1970s disco and classic soul
2. 1980s funk, new jack swing, and R&B — a retro sound celebrating Black music of the 80s
3. 1990s grunge
4. Early 2000s pop-punk

15. What was significant about Childish Gambino's 'This Is America' (2018)?

1. It was banned in multiple countries for its content
2. It was the first music video to premiere at the Super Bowl
3. It was the first rap song to top the Billboard Hot 100
4. Its music video, directed by Hiro Murai, delivered a powerful commentary on gun violence and racism in America

16. Which band's 2012 album 'El Camino' helped revive interest in straightforward rock and roll?

1. Arctic Monkeys
2. Queens of the Stone Age
3. The Black Keys
4. The White Stripes

17. What was 'streaming' doing to the music industry throughout the 2010s?

1. Destroying all revenue for musicians
2. Having no significant effect — CD sales remained stable
3. Increasing album sales across the industry
4. Shifting music consumption from ownership to access, collapsing album sales while growing overall listening and industry revenue by the end of the decade

18. Ariana Grande's 'Thank U, Next' (2019) broke which records?

1. Broke the Spotify single-day streaming record and debuted at #1 on the Hot 100
2. Fastest song to reach 1 billion YouTube views
3. First solo female artist to have 5 simultaneous top 10 hits
4. First song to debut at #1 in 60 countries

19. Florence + the Machine released 'Lungs' (2009) and 'Ceremonials' (2011). Florence Welch's voice was described as:

1. A classic 1960s girl-group style
2. A dramatic, gospel-inflected operatic mezzo-soprano delivering powerful emotional performances
3. A punk-influenced growl
4. A soft, whispery indie pop vocal

20. Which 2013 song by Robin Thicke (featuring T.I. and Pharrell) became both one of the biggest hits of the year and one of the most controversial?

1. Blurred Lines
2. Get Lucky
3. Happy
4. Talk Dirty