In 2011, Beyoncé asked (instead rhetorically) “Who run the world?” The answer, of course, had been girls, which was fairly apt, considering everywhere you looked this season, female artists were front and center, not only running the world, but plain dominating it.
Adele’s experienced the year’s best-selling album, by a long chance. Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift each relocated 1 million units in one week. Katy Perry continued in order to nab #1 singles, as do Rihanna and Britney Spears. Nicki Minaj broke through to the mainstream, W made the jump with 4, Christina Aguilera relocated like Jagger … the list goes on as well as on. Female artists did it all this year, to the point where you sort of forgot that dudes made music too.
Of course, they did as well as truly you can’t possess a discussion about 2011 without mentioning Lil Wayne, Drake, Justin Bieber or Jay-Z and Kanye West’s high-profile Throne project. Girls might have run the world, but the guys definitely picked their spots, and delivered big time.
However who had the biggest year of all?
It’s a tough question to reply to. Still, we’ve trained with our best shot, organizing a brain trust to lead a roundtable – moderated by MTV’s Sway — on the Best Artists of 2011. Panelists James Montgomery and Rob Markman (Nick News), Yomi Desalu and Malika Quemerais (MTV Music and Talent) and Tamar Anitai and Nicole Wayne (MTV.com) pored over the charts, debated stuff like Facebook friends and Twitter followers and viewed a ton of music videos. After some rather zesty discussions, we’ve come up with a list of 10 who not just defined the year, however dominated it too. Here’s the first take a look at who made the cut, from #10 to #3. Tune in to MTV at 4:59 g.m. ET upon Thursday (December Fifteen) to find out who’ll be named 2011′s Artist of the season!
10. Justin Bieber
This year, the teenager pop superstar increased the ante: He or she toppled the box office together with his 3-D concert flick, “Never State Never,” and released a slew of new music, including his chart-topping holiday recording, Under the Mistletoe. And when he or she wasn’t busy documenting, shooting videos, rapping, shufflin’, visiting and tweeting, he romanced Selena Gomez. Not really tabloid headlines could rain on their parade. In fact, Bieber demonstrated that if he really wants to try something in his career, he will not just try- he’ll probably succeed. – Jocelyn Vena
9. Drake
Drizzy claimed that all he or she cared about was money and the city that he’s from, but you’ve got to figure that making hits was pretty high on the Toronto MC’s list in 2011. Granted, his second solo album, Take Care, came out in November, but the performing rapper (or the rapping singer) still made their presence felt throughout every season. Duets with Rihanna (“What’s My Name”), posse cuts with Lil Wayne and Ron Ross (DJ Khaled’s “I’m On One”) and the own Internet leakages (“Marvins Room” and “Dreams Money Can Buy”) served as ample appetizers before Drake served his main program. When he do unveil his psychologically driven main program, 750,000 starving fans came to the actual table and purchased it in the first 7 days of release. A lot for a sophomore jinx. – Take advantage of Markman
8. Lil Wayne
Rap celebrity or rock star? Or maybe he’s the pop star? Within ’11, Lil Wayne proved he’s all of the above. With “6 Foot 7 Foot,” the thumping “John” and his free I’m sorry 4 the Wait mixtape, Weezy left no doubt that he’s still a premier MC. But over the acoustic guitar plucks of “How to like,” Wayne once again penetrated the pop world. If covers by Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato were not enough, then think about Wayne’s appearances on J.Lo’s “I’m Into You” or Joe Jonas’ “Just in Love.” Tunechi additionally took his acoustic guitar on the road with his I’m Still Music Visit, rocked an MTV “Unplugged” special and closed out this year’s Video Songs Awards. Oh yeah, his ninth solo album, Tha Carter IV, almost went platinum in the first week away, selling more than 964,000 copies. What a year! – R.Michael.
7. Beyoncé
Like every other Beyoncé fan, I’m delighted the star is actually expecting her very first child with hubby Jay-Z, but the delivery of her album Four was just as thrilling. The LP, the woman’s most mature to date, is a collection of soulful ballads and midtempo tracks tempered with a deep nostalgic streak. And people singles, the best of that have been joyful, horn-blasting throwback jams such as “Love on Top” and “Countdown,Inch were unlike other things on pop radio. Maybe that’s why Four didn’t connect in a commercial sense the way many of her past records have. But B’s 2011 arc continues to be steady and, most significant, certain. Everything she touched in 2011, through 4 to those commended dates at Ny City’s Roseland Ballroom within August (to that stomach!), was golden. – John Mitchell
6. Rihanna
Rihanna experienced us buzzing about songs off not one, however two albums this year. There were a number of hits that dropped this year from 2010′s Loud, together with a remix of “S&M” with the one-and-only Britney Spears. Even though she was still using high off the momentum of her 5th album, Rih went back in to the studio mid-tour and cranked the sexy, grinding Speak That Talk. Thanks to “We Found Love,Inch the chart-topping lead solitary off TTT, Rihanna reinvented herself like a punked-out club kid searching for love … knowing that it isn’t always easy to find. – J.V
5. Lady Gaga
Gaga is that woman you knew in college with a triple-major in finance, modern dance and molecular chemistry who additionally played cello and made her own whole-wheat gnocchi on weekends. In 2011, she hit pretty much every talk show and awards ceremony known to man. And while she did all that, she additionally toured, released a string of questionable high-concept music videos, spoke out against intimidation and starred in an HBO concert movie and a prime-time Thanksgiving unique. Oh, she additionally spent the year rotating off a chain of hits that mined everything from classic rock to self-indulgent disco. She never slows down, it’s never enough and she’s set a torrid pace for all divas in the future. And that’s exactly how your woman likes it. – Gil Kaufman
4. The Throne
Be honest, a person didn’t think it was going to work out. After all, the track record with regard to superstar team-ups isn’t exactly great (just request Jay-Z about the Best of Both Worlds Tour), and the Throne are perhaps the super-starriest team-up in recent history. But somehow, The author and Kanye West made it happen, ditching their egos and delivering a vintage album … and a sold-out visit too. Sure, they might play “N—as in Paris” 15 times a show, but that’s only because they’ve earned the authority to do so. – Wayne Montgomery
3. Adele
No artist was more quietly ubiquitous this year than Adele. When it came to the actual charts, she dominated: 21 was the actual top-selling album of This year and “Rolling in the Deep” had been the year’s biggest song. She ruled because everyone, from millennials to their mothers and maybe even their grandma and grandpa, could all agree that hers was the very best, most universally attractive mainstream music launched this year. There was no need for a year-round media attack, no reason to cause the Twitter beef; heck, she only needed to release two singles to keep it all afloat. Why? Because she is just that good. — J.M.
To see Numbers 2 and 1, check out MTV.com
