2010 Music Hits

Forget metal, rock and roll, and the occasional YouTube song gone viral--these 2010 music hits led the Billboard charts and had you rocking your socks out (if not dancing embarrassingly and provocatively). Dance your heart out dance pop? Check.

1. "Telephone" by Lady Gaga: Telephone, telephone, telephone--who knew that a simple communicative device could be so controversial?  Although the song was released on Lady Gaga's "The Fame Monster" album, it wasn't until early 2010 when it received the most airplay, due to the release of its official music video. As expected, the music video had nothing to do with an actual telephone--Gaga went from being thrown in jail to poisoning an entire restaurant.  Replay value: A solid 10 for its addictiveness.
2. "California Gurls" by Katy Perry: Why the hate on California girls? Perhaps the bleached blond hair, ganguro-like tans and valley girl accents didn't appeal to most of America. Nevertheless, Katy Perry tried to represent California's elite in this summer hit, though she wore a blue wig, not a blond one, in the music video.
3. "Forget You" by Cee Lo Green: Remember Darth Vader singing "Crazy" on stage?  Hint, hint--that was actually Gnarls Barkley singer Cee Lo Green.  Though he doesn't don the Darth Vader costume in this song, he does get downright Motownish in this classic 2010 song.  It was even nominated for a Grammy and later named the number one song of 2010 by Time Magazine.
4. "Whip My Hair" by Willow Smith: Whip your hair, whip your hair--for Willow Smith, daughter of Will Smith, this catchphrase would soon have every woman, man and child whipping their hair in the most inappropriate of situations. Rumor has it that Lady Gaga whipped her hair during her Born This Way performance in honor of the pint-sized Willette. Not surprisingly, this song first went viral online, giving birth to a line of parody videos, avatars and memes.
5. "We R Who We R" by Ke$ha: It impacted us all--the rise in teen suicides due to homosexual bullying.  While most of us were donating our money--and time--to help these troubled teens, Ke$ha had a different plan. In 2010, she wrote and released this self-titled white girl rap song. Scoff if you want, but her heart was in the right place.