Top 10 Pop Songs of Summer 2010

01
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10. Kesha - "Your Love Is My Drug"

Kesha Your Love Is My Drug
Kesha - "Your Love Is My Drug". Courtesy RCA

Ke$ha continued her streak of major hits with this singalong ditty. It was her third consecutive top 10 pop hit and peaked at #4. It also topped the dance chart and reached #1 at mainstream pop radio. The lyrics may be cute or supremely annoying depending on your tolerance of cute, obsessive infatuation. Kesha says the song was written in about 10 minutes on an airplane, and it is "stupid and fun," and she did not intend the song to be taken seriously.

02
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9. Taio Cruz - "Dynamite"

Taio Cruz Dynamite
Taio Cruz - "Dynamite". Courtesy Island

Taio Cruz' follow up to the #1 smash "Break Your Heart" uses the same production and songwriting team behind "California Gurls." The result was another huge hit single. "Dynamite" hit #2 on the US pop chart for three weeks blocked from the top by Eminem. It went all the way to #1 on mainstream pop radio and the dance chart. Lyricist Bonnie McKee has said she thought "Dynamite," "was the dumbest song I had ever written and thought it was going nowhere."

03
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8. Eminem - "Not Afraid"

Eminem Not Afraid
Eminem - "Not Afraid". Courtesy Interscope

"Not Afraid" was Eminem's first single from the Recovery album and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, it was soon eclipsed by the runaway success of "Love the Way You Lie." However, "Not Afraid" stuck around inside the top 20 all summer long. The song was both praised and criticized for its upbeat nature. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo and earned a nomination for Best Rap Song.

04
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7. Drake - "Find Your Love"

Drake Find Your Love
Drake - "Find Your Love". Courtesy Young Money

Drake turns from rapping to singing here. He worked with Kanye West, one of his key inspirations, on songwriting and production. The song was rumored to be a leftover from Kanye West's songwriting for the album 808 & Heartbreak. The accompanying music video ran afoul of government authorities in Jamaica for presenting a negative image of their country. "Find Your Love" peaked at #5 on the US pop singles chart making it Drake's second most successful single so far. It also hit the top 10 on both the R&B chart and the mainstream pop radio chart.

05
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6. Mike Posner - "Cooler Than Me"

Mike Posner Cooler Than Me
Mike Posner - "Cooler Than Me". Courtesy J Records

Just after college graduation Mike Posner blasted into the pop spotlight with this clever, sweet sounding song of mistreatment by the opposite sex. He was one of the top new artists of 2010. Mike Posner first recorded the song while he was still a student. "Cooler Than Me" peaked at #6 on the US pop singles chart and went to #3 on mainstream pop radio. It also broke into the adult contemporary chart.

06
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5. Eminem - "Love the Way You Lie" featuring Rihanna

Eminem Love the Way You Lie
Eminem - "Love the Way You Lie" featuring Rihanna. Courtesy Aftermath

Eminem proved the title of his album Recovery is accurate. He scored two consecutive #1 pop hit singles for the first time in his career. Rihanna's voice on the chorus adds an additional note of authenticity to this intense song about domestic violence. "Love the Way You Lie" ultimately spent seven weeks at the top of the US pop chart. It earned five Grammy Award nominations including for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The controversial accompanying music video earned four MTV Video Music Awards nominations.

07
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4. Travie McCoy - "Billionaire" featuring Bruno Mars

Travie McCoy Billionaire featuring Bruno Mars
Travie McCoy - "Billionaire" featuring Bruno Mars. Courtesy Fueled By Ramen

The honey sweet voice of Bruno Mars played counterpoint to the raps of Gym Class Heroes' Travie McCoy on his first solo single. The song seems to say it all for many of us, "I want to be a billionaire so f**king bad." Travie McCoy says he came up with the idea for the song when he made a trip to London and his label gave him $350 to spend over 11 days. He found himself walking around wishing he didn't have to worry about money. "Billionaire" went all the way to #4 on the pop singles chart and hit the top 10 on the rap chart and the mainstream pop radio chart.

08
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3. Usher - "OMG" featuring will.i.am

Usher OMG will.i.am
Usher - "OMG" featuring will.i.am. Courtesy LaFace

Black Eyed Peas ruled the pop singles chart in the summer of 2009, and in the summer of 2010 group member will.i.am made his presence known by helping Usher to a huge #1 hit in the spring that stuck around through much of the summer. Some criticized the use of auto-tune in the song. However, it was a #1 smash on both sides of the Atlantic. "OMG" also reached #3 on the dance chart and #2 at mainstream pop radio.

09
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2. B.o.B. - "Airplanes" featuring Hayley Williams

B.o.B. Airplanes Hayley Williams
B.o.B. - "Airplanes" featuring Hayley Williams. Courtesy Atlantic

Rapper B.o.B. turned to a more serious tone for his powerful follow up to the #1 hit "Nothin' On You." While "Airplanes" never hit #1, having to settle for a #2 placement, it remained prominent on the radio throughout the summer. "Airplanes" earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. A sequel titled "Airplanes, Part II" was released, and it includes featured vocals from Eminem.

10
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1. Katy Perry - "California Gurls" featuring Snoop Dogg

Katy Perry California Gurls
Katy Perry - "California Gurls" featuring Snoop Dogg. Courtesy Capitol

Katy Perry has had the biggest summer pop song for two of the last three years now, and she is the only artist to appear in the top 10 of the summer for each of the last three years. Upon release, her web site proudly announced, "Summer starts now!" and that statement was correct. By its fourth week, "California Gurls" was the #1 pop song in the US, and it spent six weeks there. It was the lead-in for Katy Perry's multi-platinum success with the Teenage Dream album. "California Gurls" earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.