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  • 6 months ago
Some songs from the 2010s hit differently once you know the dark stories behind them. In this video, we explore 10 of the most disturbing songs of the 2010s — tracks that seemed harmless at first but carry chilling backstories, controversies, or tragic connections you might not have known.

From shocking lyrics to real-life events tied to these hits, these songs will make you listen to them in a whole new way.

Watch till the end to discover the hidden truths behind these popular tracks!

Category

🎵
Music
Transcript
00:00You got a baby Benz, you got some bad friends, high school pigs, you was even bad then,
00:05you ain't stressing off no lover in the past tense.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at pieces of music released from 2010 to 2019
00:13that in light of dark events that occurred after their release, now induce chills.
00:18Out of respect for those involved, all entries to follow are unranked,
00:22and listed in chronological order of album release date.
00:25Who cares if one more light goes out in the sky of a million stars?
00:35TikTok, Kesha
00:36Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy
00:40Grab my glasses, I'm out the door, I'm gonna hit this city
00:44Wake up in the morning feeling like, wait, who?
00:48Long before we were made aware of Sean Diddy Combs' literal dozens of assault charges,
00:52he was a freewheeling, seemingly ubiquitous hip-hop mogul.
00:56Music, movies, brand deals, you name it, Diddy was everywhere.
01:00It made sense then that emerging pop singer Kesha name-dropped the rapper-producer in the opening line of her breakthrough hit.
01:06Don't stop, make it pop DJ blow my speakers up
01:10Tonight, I'ma fight till we see the sudden light
01:14After Combs was arrested on racketeering and sex trafficking charges in 2024,
01:20TikTok threatened to disappear from the public consciousness entirely due to its association with the performer.
01:25Thankfully, Kesha had already changed the song's lyrics to denounce Combs in live performances,
01:30with plans for a full studio re-recording in the works.
01:34You build me up, you break me down, my heart if pounds, yeah you got me
01:41Pumped Up Kicks, Foster the People
01:44This seemingly breezy indie pop tune was inescapable in the early 2010s,
01:56playing at every mall food court, dentist's office, and children's birthday party.
02:00What we all failed to consider at the time, though, was the song's pitch-dark lyrics,
02:05which detail the inner life of a fictional mass shooter.
02:16Lead singer-songwriter Mark Foster has said that the song stemmed from his desire to raise awareness for gun control,
02:22expressing his feeling that, quote,
02:24mental illness among youth had skyrocketed in the last decade.
02:28With such violence and epidemic that has continued to plague the United States,
02:32Pumped Up Kicks remains an unfortunately timely anthem over a decade after its initial release.
02:37Blurred Lines
02:46Robin Thicke featuring Pharrell and T.I.
02:57Admittedly, Blurred Lines felt uncomfortable right from the start.
03:01Critics praised its funky, danceable sound, courtesy of featured artist Pharrell Williams,
03:05but they condemned the song for its ambiguous stance on the necessity of consent in intimate encounters.
03:11Despite being pop veteran Thicke's mainstream breakthrough and reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100,
03:16the song faced significant backlash.
03:18The true turning point wasn't the lawsuit by Marvin Gaye's estate,
03:31which successfully argued that Thicke and Williams had plagiarized Gaye's Gotta Give It Up.
03:35Rather, it was model and actor Emily Ratajkowski's 2021 revelation
03:39that Thicke had groped her on the set of the Blurred Lines music video.
03:43Do What You Want
03:49Lady Gaga featuring R. Kelly
03:51In what seemed like an inherently questionable decision,
04:02Gaga recruited the already disgraced R&B mainstay R. Kelly because, as she explained,
04:07This is a real R&B song, and I have to call the king of R&B for his blessing.
04:12At the time, Kelly was already embroiled in legal troubles,
04:16and was later convicted of sex trafficking charges in 2019.
04:27It's more than a little cringeworthy to hear him singing about doing whatever he wants with someone's body.
04:32After the release of Surviving R. Kelly, Gaga publicly apologized for collaborating with him
04:38and replaced his version of the song on streaming services with a remix featuring Christina Aguilera.
04:49I Took a Pill in Ibiza
04:51Mike Posner featuring Sieb
04:53On the face of it, there doesn't seem to be anything particularly disturbing about the cooler-than-me hitmaker's tropical housebanger.
05:05However, like Pumped Up Kicks, listen a little closer to the song's vulnerable lyrics,
05:10and you'll find a raw, heartbreaking indictment of fame.
05:13Posner laments the hollow nature of what it means to be a celebrity,
05:17and just how false and fleeting Hollywood success can be.
05:20That's what I Took a Pill in Ibiza is about.
05:22I say, I'm just a singer who already blew his shot.
05:25I get along with old-timers because my name's a reminder of a pop song people forgot.
05:30Somehow, that is not even the most disturbing part.
05:34That would be the fact that name-dropped Avicii would take his own life in 2018.
05:39Knowing that turns a dance floor anthem into an uneasy tribute to the Swedish DJ,
05:43who had reportedly struggled with mental illness and substance use disorder for years.
05:48Point being, he never cared, unlike almost everybody in the music industry,
05:54he never cared if I was number one or number a million.
05:58Black Star, David Bowie.
05:59Something happened on the day he died.
06:04Spirit rose a meter.
06:07Leave it to David Bowie to do everything with a tantalizing dash of mystery, even his own death.
06:13Bowie released the Black Star album on January 8th, 2016,
06:17preceded by its title track and Lazarus as singles.
06:21Little did the public know about his valiant battle with liver cancer,
06:24which would claim his life on January 10th, nearly two days after the album's debut.
06:29How many times does an angel fall?
06:33Little by little, devastated Bowie fans realized that the song,
06:38its music video, and accompanying album contained hints and Easter eggs
06:42that seemed to allude to his impending death.
06:44Pay close attention to Black Star's cryptic, morbid lyrics if you don't believe us.
06:48I'm a Black Star, I'm a Black Star, I'm gonna get you.
06:55One More Light, Linkin Park.
06:57Should have stayed, were the signs I ignored.
07:06It's unlikely that fans of new metal stalwarts Linkin Park were at all surprised to hear them
07:11experimenting with new genres of music on their One More Light album.
07:14That said, one song that might have caught them off guard was the record's title track,
07:19an uncharacteristically mellow, affecting ballad that finds frontman Chester Bennington
07:23expressing solidarity with those suffering privately.
07:25Who cares if one more light goes out
07:29In the sky of a million stars
07:34The song turned into a moving tribute after Bennington took his own life in 2017.
07:39It is the last single Linkin Park released with Bennington as their lead singer,
07:43nearly three months after his July 20th passing.
07:46Who cares when someone's time runs out
07:50If a moment is all we are
07:54Legends, Juice WRLD
07:56Almost everything about this emo rap classic could send a chill down your spine.
08:08Juice WRLD, born Jared Higgins, was just 21 at the time of his death,
08:12the result of a December 2019 oxycodone and codeine overdose.
08:16Looking back, it's clear that the Chicago native had a certain preoccupation with death and dying.
08:21In some ways, the concept permeated nearly every song the rapper wrote.
08:26All legends fall in the making
08:28This is perhaps no more apparent than on Legends,
08:36in which Higgins accurately predicts his own death,
08:39down to the age he'd be when it would happen.
08:42Even creepier,
08:43Higgins recorded the song as a tribute to already deceased rappers
08:47Lil Peep and XXXTentacion.
08:49I usually have an answer to the question,
08:52but this time I'm gonna be quiet.
08:54Nice for what?
08:55Drake
08:56I don't show you and she doesn't want no slow song
08:58Had a man last year, life goes on
09:01Haven't let that thing lose, girl, it's so long
09:03Canadian rapper Aubrey Drake Graham has consistently maintained a reputation
09:07as hip-hop's resident lover boy,
09:09incorporating once unconventional themes into his music.
09:13These included highly vulnerable accounts of his experiences with women.
09:16It was this reputation, though, that served as fodder
09:19for his fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar,
09:21who engaged in a widely publicized beef with Drake in early 2024.
09:31Most damningly of all,
09:33Lamar accused Graham of inappropriate conduct with underage girls.
09:37This charge causes a particular line in Nice for What
09:40to take on an entirely new context.
09:42She was bad even then?
09:46Bad friends, high school pics, you was even bad then?
09:50You ain't stressing off no lover in the past tense, you...
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10:08Murder on My Mind
10:09YNW Mellie
10:11On its own,
10:19Murder on My Mind serves as a catchy,
10:21if painfully dark meditation on inner-city gang violence.
10:25Mellie spins a descriptive first-person tale about what it means to take a life.
10:29While this was mere fiction at the time of its writing in 2016,
10:32Murder on My Mind was subject to renewed attention
10:35when its performer was charged with double homicide in February 2019.
10:39And everybody acting suspicious
10:41Might probably say that I'm tripping
10:43When I'm all alone in my jail cell
10:46Like to negate my business
10:47Posting to his official Instagram account shortly after turning himself in,
10:52Mellie reassured fans that,
10:53The Florida native,
11:01whose first trial ended with a deadlocked jury,
11:03is set to be tried again in September 2025.
11:14Which 2010 song is hard for you to listen to nowadays?
11:18Let us know in the comments below.
11:23Did you enjoy this video?
11:28Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,
11:30and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
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