- 2 months ago
They had us shuffling, singing about being young, and even doing the Gangnam Style dance, but then disappeared! Join us as we count down the artists who briefly dominated the 2010s music scene with exactly two massive hits before fading from the spotlight. Which musical flash-in-the-pan was your favorite?
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00:00Some nights I stay up, cashing in my bad luck.
00:04Some nights I call it a draw.
00:08Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:10And today, we're counting down our picks for the most notable music acts
00:13who scored two massive hits in the 2010s
00:16and never managed to reach those heights again.
00:20But if you close your eyes,
00:22does it almost feel like nothing changed?
00:2710. Ex-Ambassadors
00:30Renegades and Unsteady
00:33This Ithaca-based band broke into the mainstream with Renegades,
00:37the second single off their debut album.
00:47A soaring, feel-good anthem,
00:49the track became a huge hit after it was used in a Jeep Renegade commercial.
00:53Its uplifting message and music video,
00:56featuring people with disabilities striving to achieve their goals,
01:00helped it reach the top 20 on the Hot 100.
01:09A few months later,
01:11they replicated the same success with Unsteady.
01:14Inspired by frontman Sam Nelson Harris' parents' divorce,
01:18this song was a raw and vulnerable follow-up
01:21that tugged at heartstrings everywhere.
01:23Hold up to me
01:25Cause I'm a little unsteady
01:28But after those two hits,
01:30the magic sort of fizzled.
01:32The band kept releasing music
01:33and experimenting with new sounds,
01:35but none managed to recapture their earlier success.
01:38Number 9
01:48Designer
01:49Panda and Timmy Turner
01:51In 2016,
01:52rapper Designer seemed to appear out of nowhere one day,
01:56only to suddenly be everywhere the next.
01:59That was thanks to his breakout hit, Panda.
02:01I got bribes in the London
02:02Just a door being in the family
02:04Credit cards and the scammers
02:05Here ain't no licks in the family
02:07Legacies, family
02:09Released at the tail end of 2015,
02:12the song blew up in early 2016,
02:14dominating radio stations and club playlists across the country.
02:18By May,
02:19it had reached number one on the Hot 100,
02:22making Designer one of the youngest artists ever to top the chart.
02:25Legacy, family
02:26Why is it?
02:28Daddy
02:28Packers for
02:29Daddy
02:30He soon signed a record deal with Kanye West's Good Music,
02:35and West later sampled Panda on his song Part 2.
02:38Now with the backing of a label,
02:40Designer scored another hit with his follow-up Timmy Turner,
02:43a darker, more experimental track
02:45named after the Nickelodeon character from The Fairly Oddparents.
02:56Number 8
02:57Daya
02:57Hideaway and Sit Still Look Pretty
03:00There are a lot of pop artists who debuted in the 2010s that remain relevant today,
03:11and for a while,
03:13it seemed Daya had the potential for such longevity.
03:16In April 2015,
03:17she released her debut single Hideaway,
03:20a sparkly, rebellious anthem that crept up the charts until it peaked in the top 25.
03:33She rode that wave and dropped her follow-up single,
03:36Sit Still, Look Pretty,
03:37a sassy pop gem that told the world she wasn't going to play by anyone's rules.
03:41I know the other girlies want to wear expensive things with diamond rings,
03:46but I don't want to be the puppet that you're playing on a string.
03:50During this time,
03:51Daya's name was hot.
03:53Two hits as a lead artist and a Grammy for her feature on The Chainsmokers' Don't Let Me Down.
03:57But despite such early promise,
04:00her momentum faded just as quickly.
04:07Number 7
04:08Aloe Blacc
04:10I Need a Dollar and The Man
04:12Even if his moment in the sun didn't last forever,
04:22this R&B singer made soul music sound fresh again.
04:25His debut album, Shine Through, didn't make that big a splash commercially,
04:29but with I Need a Dollar, the lead single off his second album,
04:33Aloe Blacc finally received some overdue recognition.
04:44Released during the post-recession era,
04:47the song became a global anthem,
04:49and it was used as the theme song for HBO's How to Make It in America.
04:53It would take four years for Black to score another hit in the form of The Man.
04:58Gone was the struggling hustler looking for a dollar.
05:00In his place was a suave gentleman with a lot of swagger.
05:04Go ahead and tell everybody
05:06I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man
05:09Yes I am, yes I am, yes I am
05:12Number 6
05:13Tuve Lu
05:14Habits, Stay High, and Talking Body
05:17You're gone and I gotta stay high
05:21All the time
05:23To keep you off my mind
05:25It might seem unfair to call Tuve Lu
05:27a two-hit wonder given her undeniable talent,
05:30but going by pure chart metrics, she technically falls under the category.
05:35Lu crashed onto the pop scene with Habits, Stay High,
05:38which was released in 2013,
05:40but didn't become a worldwide hit until the following year.
05:50The song turned the Swedish singer into pop's unapologetic wild child.
05:55Those who believed she was merely a flash in the pan were proven wrong when Talking Body dropped in 2015,
06:01which saw the singer embracing a more sultry sound.
06:11Since then, Tuve Lu has only continued to evolve as an artist,
06:15and although her fanbase remains devoted,
06:17that hasn't always translated into mainstream commercial success.
06:21Love, give me love
06:23Anything you want
06:25I'll give it up
06:27Lips, lips I kiss
06:31Number 5
06:33Bastille, Pompeii, and Happier
06:35I was left to my own device
06:41The 2010s were a golden era for alternative and indie music,
06:45and one of the decade's early success stories was Bastille.
06:49The British band broke through with Pompeii,
06:51an indie pop anthem inspired by the volcanic eruption that buried the Roman town in 79 AD.
06:57But if you close your eyes
06:59Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all
07:05Its infectious, chant-like hook was impossible to escape,
07:09propelling the song into the top five on the Hot 100.
07:12For the next few years, Bastille struggled to match that success,
07:16leading many to label them a one-hit wonder.
07:19They proved otherwise with Happier,
07:21their collaboration with Marshmello,
07:23which surpassed Pompeii and peaked at number two.
07:26Lately, I've been, I've been thinking
07:30I want you to be happier
07:32I want you to be happier
07:35They haven't achieved a similarly successful song since,
07:38but who knows, a third hit might still be on the horizon.
07:42Number 4, Carly Rae Jepsen, Call Me Maybe and Good Time
07:46Hey, I just met you and this is crazy
07:50But here's my number, so call me maybe
07:54When it comes to churning out bibles of phenomenal pop music,
07:57very few 21st century artists can rival Carly Rae Jepsen.
08:01However, the charts haven't necessarily caught up to her talent.
08:04Of course, everyone remembers Call Me Maybe,
08:07the song that launched Jepsen into the limelight.
08:18The irresistibly catchy single became a global phenomenon,
08:21topping the charts in over a dozen countries.
08:23She found her next hit, In Good Time,
08:26a sunny duet with Owl City
08:27that perfectly captured the feeling of summer.
08:29Good morning and good night
08:33I wake up at twilight
08:37This song broke the one-hit wonder spell
08:39not only for Jepsen, but also for Owl City,
08:42who struck gold in 2009 with Fireflies.
08:44Commercially, Jepsen has never hit such dizzying heights again,
08:48but her subsequent music has been far more impressive.
08:59Number 3, Fun, We Are Young and Some Nights
09:03This pop-rock band formed in 2008,
09:06but didn't get their breakout hit until three years later with We Are Young.
09:10Tonight, we are young
09:17Featuring Janelle Monae,
09:19this explosive sing-along about reckless youth soared to number one
09:22and made the band instant stars.
09:24Not only did it top the charts for six consecutive weeks,
09:28it was also nominated for three Grammys,
09:30ultimately winning Song of the Year.
09:32So let's set the world on fire
09:36We can go brighter than the sun
09:43They followed that up with Some Nights,
09:45a powerful pop anthem that mixed Andy Flair
09:47with the theatrical style of Queen.
09:49Some nights I stay up cashing in my bad luck
09:54Some nights I call it a draw
09:57Everyone believed they were the next big thing in indie rock,
10:00and the Grammys agreed, awarding them Best New Artist.
10:04But by 2015, the band announced a hiatus to pursue solo projects,
10:08and they have never reunited since.
10:11When I still wake up
10:13I still see your thoughts
10:15Oh lord, I'm still not sure
10:18Number 2, Psy, Gangnam Style and Gentleman
10:22Before groups like BTS dominated the airwaves,
10:32one artist gave Kpop its first major international breakthrough, Psy.
10:37The South Korean rapper took the world by storm in 2012 with Gangnam Style,
10:41a satirical and addictive track that sparked its own dance craze.
10:44The song topped the charts in over 30 countries,
10:54and made history as the first YouTube video to hit a billion views.
10:58Replicating that kind of success is difficult,
11:00but Psy gave it a solid shot with his follow-up single, Gentleman.
11:05While it didn't capture the same lightning in a bottle,
11:13it still landed in the top 5 of the Hot 100.
11:16After that, Psy continued making music,
11:18and remains a legend in South Korea,
11:20but the world mostly moved on to the next viral craze.
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11:48Number 1, LMFAO Party Rock Anthem and Sexy and I Know It
11:52Party Rock is in the house tonight
11:56Everybody just have a good time
12:00No music act embodied the wild, party-loving spirit of the early 2010s quite like LMFAO.
12:06In fact, they helped define it.
12:08The uncle-nephew duo, Red Fu and Sky Blue,
12:11turned every dance floor upside down in the summer of 2011
12:14with their song Party Rock Anthem.
12:16Every day I'm shuffling
12:18It was inescapable, hitting number one in over 20 countries, including the US,
12:27where it spent six consecutive weeks at the top.
12:30They quickly followed that with Sexy and I Know It,
12:32yet another goofy tongue-in-cheek party anthem that topped the charts.
12:36Girl, look at everybody
12:38Girl, look at everybody
12:40Girl, look at everybody
12:41I work out
12:42Together, both songs turned LMFAO into cultural icons of the party rock era.
12:48But just as they reached the height of their fame,
12:50the group announced a hiatus, promising to return stronger than ever,
12:54but that still hasn't materialized.
13:04Did we miss any other two-hit wonders of the 2010s?
13:07Shout them out in the comments below.
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