NPR Music 10: 2010
January 1, 2010
Kesha releases her debut album, Animal
The daughter of a Nashville songwriter, Kesha's vision for pop stardom in 2010 involved a healthy dose of '80s-era Sunset Strip hard rock swagger. The very same week she released her debut, her first solo single, "Tik Tok," climbed to the top of the Hot 100.
January 18, 2010
Justin Bieber releases "Baby"
With his Beatles mop and Michael Jackson voice, Justin Bieber stormed the charts and became the first YouTube-generated darling, sighing, "Baby, baby, baby, ooooh" — classic words for a new generation. By July, the video, centered around teenage flirtation and featuring Drake and awkward dancing in a bowling alley, had become the most-watched in YouTube history, a crown it would hold for two years.
February 8, 2010
Gil Scott-Heron releases I'm New Here
The last chapter in Scott-Heron's influential career lingered beyond his death, just a year after the release of this, his first new album since 1994. Recorded with producer Richard Russell and released on Russell's XL Recordings, which was also the home of Adele and The xx, was remixed in its entirety by the latter group's Jamie xx in 2011. The remixed version of Scott-Heron's cover of the Brook Benton song "I'll Take Care of You," first recorded in 1959 by Bobby "Blue" Bland, was the basis for the title track from Drake's second album, That recording, which features Scott-Heron's ghostly voice echoing a chorus sung by Rihanna, made it to the top 10 on the Hot 100.
