In hindsight, it’s much clearer to look at the 2010s musical trends and now point out stuff like Electropop, EDM, Hey Stomp Clap, Trop-pop, Trap, Soundcloud Rap
What defines the 2020s?
Pop culture and music used to evolve so much faster.
Compare 2010 to 2016, 2000 to 2006, 1990 to 1996, 1980 to 1986, 1970 to 1976, 1960 to 1966, or 1950 to 1956, the differences are so huge.
But the gap between 2020 and 2026 feels so minor in comparison. There have been slight changes in music, but nothing remotely as drastic or transformative.
Music especially feels incredibly stagnant right now. There doesn’t seem to be anything genuinely extraordinary or revolutionary happening. It feels like we’re still stuck in this endless cycle of nostalgia, retro revivals and the dominance of country music.
Just look at where the 90s were in 1996 exactly 30 years ago this month. The Spice Girls were already exploding onto the scene and Backstreet Boys had their debut, while grunge was on its last legs and on its way out. There was a clear sense that music and pop culture were moving into something new.
Meanwhile in 2026 it feels like there’s barely any major cultural shift happening at all. Everything just feels recycled like the same thing from 2020 and honestly, it’s depressing.
Movies nowadays don’t even have good albums anymore
Even though they were technically the first decade of the 21st century, a lot of everyday life, culture, technology, and social norms still carried over from the 20th century.
Here are my reasons:
- It was the last pre-streaming decade. Spotify, Netflix, and Apple Music weren’t huge yet. Music videos were still regularly shown on television, especially on MTV and VH1, and they often had huge budgets. Pop culture was also much less fragmented. There was still a strong monoculture where practically everyone knew who Britney Spears or Paris Hilton was, even Boomers.
- Cable TV was still a major part of everyday life. The 2000s were the last decade when cable television was widely used before streaming and on-demand entertainment completely changed how people watched TV. A lot of households still had those bulky, box-shaped CRT televisions, while flat-screen HD TVs didn’t become truly dominant until around the early 2010s.
- Teen pregnancy was still relatively high. Teenage pregnancy rates remained much higher in the 2000s, particularly before the major decline that began around 2008 due to the financial crisis. In that sense, it was a continuation of the teen pregnancy trend that started from the 1950s.
- Social attitudes were noticeably different. Language that is widely recognized as offensive or unacceptable today was much more casually used in the 2000s and before. Celebrities could also get away with behavior that would cause major backlash today. Even certain age-gap relationships were often treated more casually than they are now. The 2010s brought a much greater cultural awareness around these issues.
- People weren’t constantly connected through smartphones. Smartphones hadn’t yet taken over everyday life. People still physically went out to meet friends, hang out at malls, shop at stores, go clubbing, and socialize without documenting everything online. The internet existed, obviously, but it hadn’t completely merged with everyday life yet. The internet was basically treated as like a fun casual thing for a short amount of time to spend with rather than something to spend your entire day with. Malls were still completely alive and young people would go out to hang out there frequently.
- The 2000s were arguably the last truly colorful decade aesthetically. Architecture, storefronts, theaters, restaurants, fast-food buildings, technology, magazines, fashion, and graphic design were always bright colors, futuristic shapes, and whimsical designs. Even computers and electronics had more personality and complexity compared with the simplistic and minimalist white, gray, black, and glass aesthetic that became dominant later in the 2010s, the 2000s felt much more visually playful.
- Celebrity culture was much messier. Young celebrities in their late teens and early 20s were constantly appearing in tabloids because of partying, DUIs, drug use, and reckless behavior. There was a whole celebrity culture built around watching young stars self-destruct in public. Today’s younger celebrities tend to be much more carefully managed, image-conscious, private, and professional.
- Home interiors still had that late 20th-century look. A lot of homes in the 2000s still featured the brown, beige, wood-heavy aesthetic that had been popular throughout the late 20th century. Around the mid-to-late 2010s, interiors increasingly shifted toward white, gray, minimalist, and more neutral designs.
- Also, the last decade where movies and music videos were all shot on film.
- Stricter body standards and thinness were also def a more late 20th century thing which continued through the 2000s. Obesity acceptance wasn’t a widespread thing until the 2010s.
So while the 2000s were technically the beginning of the 21st century, culturally they often felt like the final chapter of the 20th century. The 2010s were when things really started to feel different: smartphones became ubiquitous, streaming replaced traditional media, social media became central to everyday life, minimalism took over design, and culture became much more fragmented and digitally driven. I don’t think the shift happened overnight when the clock struck January 1, 2010. It was definitely a gradual transition, but I’d say it really accelerated around 2012, when things like Spotify reaching 1 million users and the launch of Tinder started taking off. 2012 was the point when social media began evolving into the version of it that we recognize today.
I know every decade and era evolves: 1990–1994 Bollywood for example, feels very different from 1995–1999 era but I was recently listening to songs and rewatching movies from the early 2010s and the difference really stood out to me.
2010–2014 still had that distinctly “old Bollywood” look and feel. The sets, locations, production design, and overall aesthetic still felt like an extension of the 2000s. Even the superstar landscape was very powerful, with people like Katrina, Priyanka, SRK, Salman, Kangana, Hrithik, Kareena, Parineeti, Sonakshi, Alia, Varun, Sidharth, Ranbir, and Ranveer all being major parts of the industry. We had so many promising young stars
But from around 2015 onward, Bollywood seems to start looking noticeably different. A lot of movies began to have cheaper-looking sets and the production designs start to look super westernized, and even the music started becoming really bad. There was an increasing popularity of Punjabi-style remixes and dance tracks, and I feel like this trend really took off around 2016 with songs like Kala Chashma and Nachange Saari Raat. The entire 2015–2019 period feels like a transitional era: less like the polished, big-budget Bollywood of the 2000s and early 2010s, but not quite the Bollywood we have today either.
I also noticed that this period coincided with a lot of changes among established actors and actresses. Several major stars were entering periods of struggle or transition. Kangana’s public criticism of nepotism and her confrontation with the industry around 2017 became a major turning point in the conversation around Bollywood. Priyanka gradually shifted toward Hollywood from 2016 onward, and Imran Khan essentially left the industry. A lot of the stars who had defined the previous era were either changing direction, losing their dominance, or stepping away.
Obviously, the post-pandemic period brought an even bigger transformation, but I increasingly feel like 2015–2019 was the precursor to the Bollywood we have today.
Thoughts?
The early 2010s still had that bright, colorful, over the top look, but I see it more as the last gasp of 2000s maximalism. The 2000s were incredibly materialistic and gaudy when it came to pop culture, fashion and aesthetics and that energy lingered into the beginning of the 2010s. But by the mid to late 2010s, everything started becoming so muted and watered down again as a reaction to 2000s maximalism. Clothes got more understated, music videos felt increasingly low-effort and low-budget and pop culture as a whole started taking on a much more bleak and depressing atmosphere.
Ironically, the 2000s revival has made the 2020s feel much more tacky, gaudy, colorful and maximalist again, especially in pop culture, celebrity fashion, and music videos.
It’s basically like the 2010s went from sunny to depressing as the decade progressed, whereas the 2020s seem to be going from depressing back to sunny, in a pop cultural context to be specific.
Younger people’s fashion now is way much tackier than the fashion of the youth from 10 years ago.
Also, whenever someone gets asked what the stereotypical 2010s aesthetic looks like, they’ll probably describe some hipster in flannels or a lumberjack-type dude with a clean-cut side hair part. But I feel like the stereotypical 2020s look is going to be much flashier; basically a recycled, more exaggerated version of 2000s fashion paired with a perm.
Even artists have started putting in so much more effort into their music videos this decade. There’s been more color and common use of CGI as well like the music videos from the 00s. Artists from the mid 2020s like Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan or Charli XCX are all definitely way more flashier than artists from the mid 2010s like Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd, Halsey
Let me put it into simpler terms. Basically:
Uranus in Aries (2010–2017):
- The era of viral meme/dance challenges like the Harlem Shake, Gangnam Style, Whip/Nae Nae, and Party Rock Anthem.
- A much emphasis on DIY.
- Social media felt much more spontaneous. People would post random photos and videos without worrying too much about looking polished or maintaining a carefully curated image.
- There was generally less pressure to make your profile look like a cohesive “brand.”
- Comedy apps like Vine and memes were so much more common.
- YOLO/Swag era
- Old Youtubers: JennaMarbles, ryanhiga, Smosh, Ray William Johnson
Uranus in Taurus (2018–2025):
- The takeover of influencer culture.
- Suddenly, everyone seemed to know how to pose and take photos like professional models.
- Profiles became much more curated, with an extreme emphasis on aesthetics, visual branding, and making everything look “perfect.”
- Beauty standards became increasingly strict, with trends like lip fillers, the return of extreme thinness, and a renewed obsession with 1990s/2000s-style beauty ideals. Considering Taurus is ruled by Venus, this emphasis on beauty and aesthetics feels especially fitting.
- OnlyFans became huge
- The rise of incel culture and the broader red-pill movement, particularly its backlash against women. Again, with Uranus moving through a Venus-ruled sign, it’s interesting to see how much instability and conflict emerged around femininity, gender, and women’s rights during this period from movements like 4B to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
- The rise of looksmaxxing and the increasing obsession with optimizing one’s physical appearance.
- The rise of mukbang youtubers and ASMR
- The whole tradwives stuff
- Current youtube era: Mr. Beast
Overall, it feels like the shift was from “just post whatever” social media to “everything has to look good, aesthetic and marketable” social media. This fits the Aries to Taurus shift to a T.
Curious as to what Gemini will bring for the next few years. We can expect a return to blogs, people putting more emphasis on intelligence than beauty, reading culture becoming widespread, I also think people are going to start making a habit to see both perspectives rather than just one side of the argument. The black or white mentality will decrease.
and I’m not just saying that for the sake of saying it.
If you’ve been paying close attention, you’ll notice that a lot of popular music tends to start underground before eventually becoming mainstream again. And while they’re still not massively successful, a new wave of hyperpop/electropop artists has been quietly building momentum and gradually gaining popularity artists like Frost Children, ninajrachi, 2hollis, fakemink, underscores, and Slayyyter. Even with Pinkpantheress doing UK garage and Zara Larsson getting back to Eurodance beats
Even most K-pop groups have been leaning heavily into hyperpop lately. It really feels like the groundwork for another big electropop/hyperpop era is already being laid.
Does anyone have any thoughts on what astrological significations might explain the death of the monoculture?
For those unfamiliar with the term, “monoculture” refers to a time when there was a much more unified mainstream culture. Most people knew the biggest artists, dressed alike, watched the same TV shows and movies and listened to the same hit songs. Even different eras tended to have a more cohesive musical identity whereas everything is so much more fragmented now.
What astrological configurations do you think contributed to the decline of that shared culture?
My own theory is that Gen Z’s listening habits play a major role and that this reflects the influence of Neptune in Aquarius (born 1998-2012). Aquarius tends to seek out individuality, niche interests, and alternative communities rather than following the mainstream. In contrast, Leo is associated with mass appeal, blockbuster celebrities, and Top 40 culture. That seems to fit the way many people today prefer discovering highly personalized music and creators instead of consuming whatever is most popular.
It also makes sense to me that so many people from this generation become influencers and twitch streamers who are hugely famous within specific online communities but virtually unknown outside of them.
I find the Leo–Aquarius axis especially fascinating. Leo represents A-list celebrities and universally recognized superstars, whereas Aquarius seems to correspond more with internet personalities, niche creators, and decentralized fame. In the age of social media, almost anyone can become well known by going viral on Tiktok or other platforms. At the same time, this generation grew up as streaming services like Netflix, Spotify, and Soundcloud became the norm, making it easier than ever for people to curate their own entertainment instead of consuming the same media as everyone else.
In contrast, consider the Uranus in Leo generation (roughly born 1956–1962). This generation came of age during Disco & the rise of MTV, when music videos became just as important as the music itself. Image & branding became a lot more central to pop culture. It’s no coincidence that this generation produced some of the biggest global popstars in history, including Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Prince + this generation were the main cohort of the Big Hair movement.
The difference is Uranus in Leo generation made music videos popular with MTV and the Uranus in Aquarius generation killed music videos with Tiktok, short-form content and streaming services (the Leo-Aquarius opposition axis)
I feel like oppositions are really underrated in astrology. You could apply the same idea to Millennials, too. Most Millennials have both Uranus and Neptune in Capricorn, which reflects a generation that feels let down by the very systems they were told to trust. They came of age during the 2008 financial crisis, faced stagnant wages and economic instability, and have struggled to afford homeownership. In that sense, Capricorn’s themes of corporations, institutions and ambition manifest in ways that undermine the opposing Cancerian themes of home, family and emotional security. It’s like rent is high, prices are rising because of corporate greed (Capricorn), so this generation faces a bigger difficulty finding security and home (Cancer) because of the said opposing Capricorn struggles.