I think it kind of makes sense that early 2017 (January - April) had a much bigger change in music than late 2016. Late 2016 did show signs on what'll be popular in the late 2010s, but it's not a lot from what I've seen, it's more of a transitional period rather than late 2010s. Here's a list why early 2017 music started the late 2010s trends.

XXXTentacion started receiving attention with Look At Me due to him accusing Drake of stealing his flow, thus starting the Soundcloud Rap trend.
Calvin Harris released "Slide", which sounds a lot different than the rest of his 2010s discography.
Bad and Boujee became Migos first #1 hit. Something that no one thought of before. I thought Migos were done after Fight Night.
XO Tour Llif3 by Lil Uzi Vert was the start of the emo rap trend that we have today.
Kendrick Lamar's "DAMN." album has more trap elements than the rest of his albums.
Paris and Scared To Be Lonely kick started the softer EDM that we have today.
Despacito gave more broader appeal on Latin pop.
Katy Perry sort of flopped when she dropped "Chained To the Rhythm".
Post Malone lost his "one-hit wonder" status with "Congratulations" and became an established star.
Imagine Dragons recovered from their unsuccessful last album in 2015.

These are reasons why I think early 2017 had a much bigger change in music than late 2016. I observed all this by production sounds and artist popularity. There was so much unpredictable trends in 2017. By mid 2017, we were firmly in the late 2010s. Late 2016 did popularize the trends of the late 2010s but it had a lot of mid 2010s leftovers. To be honest, early 2017 did have some mid 2010s leftovers, bchris02 said Something Just Like This sounds like it could be popular in the mid 2010s and I sorta could see that.

These are just my observations. Do you agree or disagree?

Bump

I agree with this.  I always thought at the beginning of 2017 we were still more or less in a mid '10s world musically.  Not only that, but the mid '10s sound was very long in the tooth by that point.  By Q3 2017 it was very evident that a sheesh had occurred, especially once Cardi B became popular.

I agree with this.  I always thought at the beginning of 2017 we were still more or less in a mid '10s world musically.  Not only that, but the mid '10s sound was very long in the tooth by that point.  By Q3 2017 it was very evident that a sheesh had occurred, especially once Cardi B became popular.


Here's how I break down the music in 2017:

Q1: Still has mid-2010s leftovers but it was declining while the late 2010s was bubbling hot.
- Ed Sheeran's Divide feels like a transitional album, not mid 10s but not late 10s either.
- Something Just Like This still has the mid 2010s sound.
- Culture by Migos ushered the music industry in a new trap age.
- Katy Perry started to decline.
- Slide by Calvin Haris abandons his traditional EDM sound he's known for in the 2010s.
- XXXTentacion started to become popular when he accused Drake of stealing his flow on "Look At Me".

Q2: The mid 2010s were fading away.
- Kendrick Lamar changed his sound in his DAMN album.
- XO Tour Llif3 started the emo rap trend.
- Despacito became popular giving a broader acceptance of Latin pop.
- Imagine Dragons regained popularity after their commercial failure in 2015.
- Miley Cyrus stops being raunchy and dirty.
- Post Malone's "Congratulations" made him have a second hit, no longer a one hit wonder.
- Charlie Puth moved away from his acoustic sound to a more funkier sound with Attention.
- Khalid became popular with his song Location.

Q3: The late 2010s have been established at this point.
- Lil Pump was starting to gain traction.
- Cardi B also became popular at this time which feels like we're definitely in the late 2010s.
- Taylor Swift changed her image and sound.
- Logic's "1-800" song making an impact with the prevention hotline increase.
- Mi Gente is another 2nd latin crossover hit, it sounds distinctly late 2010s.

Q4: Peak Late 2010s.
- Maroon 5 had a drastic sound change with their album "Red Pill Blues"
- Post Malone and Camila Cabello became superstars with their songs Rockstar and Havana.
- Gucci Gang by Lil Pump is peak Soundcloud rap, which is exclusively late 2010s.
- 6ix9ine and Lil Xan popped out of nowhere
- Dua Lipa gained popularity in the U.S.

Late 2016 / Early 2017 is the only period of pop music in the 2010s I don't like. It was just Chainsmokers clone after Chainsmokers clone. There was a huge improvement by the summer.

Late 2016 / Early 2017 is the only period of pop music in the 2010s I don't like. It was just Chainsmokers clone after Chainsmokers clone. There was a huge improvement by the summer.


I don't know.  I kind of liked these songs.



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But I do agree with you for the most part.  The dominant sound was becoming very long in the tooth by late 2016/early 2017.  Things had not really changed that much since 2013.

I don't know.  I kind of liked these songs.



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But I do agree with you for the most part.  The dominant sound was becoming very long in the tooth by late 2016/early 2017.  Things had not really changed that much since 2013.


Tbh, I don't really think half of those songs you listed can be popular in 2013-2014, even 2015. Maybe Cheap Thrills and All Time Low since those songs were released in early 2016.

I view late 2016/early 2017 as a special period in music. It's like a mixture of mid 2010s and late 2010s trends. Somewhere in April - May 2017, it felt like a brand new era.

Ay, have to admit early-to-mid 2017 is probably the period of mainstream music I'm the most oblivious about in the whole decade, coinciding with my busiest period in college. But my interest in music even hit rock bottom around the summer of it.

It makes me quite sad because I missed on Kendrick's DAMN era at its peak :-[

Ay, have to admit early-to-mid 2017 is probably the period of mainstream music I'm the most oblivious about in the whole decade, coinciding with my busiest period in college. But my interest in music even hit rock bottom around the summer of it.

It makes me quite sad because I missed on Kendrick's DAMN era at its peak :-[


DAMN is one of my favorite albums of 2017.

DAMN is one of my favorite albums of 2017.

It's great, but as shocking as it may sound my heart goes to the epic Brockhampton trilogy as my favorite albums of 2017 ;D

2018 has been a continuation of the 2017 sound. You have Cardi B and Post Malone, and the "Move to Miami" song is this year's "Mi Gente". Also, both of Drake's newer albums with songs like Passion Fruit and In My Feelings sound different from his Mid-10's songs such as One Dance and Hot Line Bling.

2018 has been a continuation of the 2017 sound. You have Cardi B and Post Malone, and the "Move to Miami" song is this year's "Mi Gente". Also, both of Drake's newer albums with songs like Passion Fruit and In My Feelings sound different from his Mid-10's songs such as One Dance and Hot Line Bling.


Yep, 2018 is basically Diet 2017. I never even heard of Cardi B until summer of 2017. I never thought Post Malone would have hits after White Iverson.  Is it me or am I hearing songs that sound like "Mi Gente" and "Unforgettable", especially the percussion. Soundcloud Rap also blew up in 2017 with the likes of XXXTentacion, Lil Pump, 6ix9ine, Lil Xan, and etc. 2017 was a very changeful and unpredicable year for music.