Honestly, I'm kinda conflicted on this one.

Maybe, I’ll go with 2009 because 2012 still had plenty of electropop while 2015 has none.

2009, easily. 2012 as a whole (musically, politically, economically, technologically, even fashion) is more in the world of 2009, than it is in the world of 2015.

Honestly, I'm kinda conflicted on this one.

Maybe, I’ll go with 2009 because 2012 still had plenty of electropop while 2015 has none.


This is my exact reason as well.

Obvious answer, 2009.

The first obvious thing that stands out is Electropop, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Kesha, as well as some hip hop artists like Nicki Minaj made lots of Electropop songs in 2012. While there wasnt much Lady Gaga, these artists helped keep it big. EDM still had those aggressive synths until Early/Mid 2014, songs like Clarity, Titanium, Turn Me On, Sexy and I know it, Sorry for party rocking, and the insanely popular Gangnam Style had that Electropop sound. On the far end of the Electronic spectrum, you had Dubstep, while it was popularized in 2011, it doesnt sound 2015 either. You had Bangarang, Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, Bass Cannon, etc. 2015 had a more minimalist/watered down vibe for EDM.

On the hipster/alternative side of things, Adele was still huge, but you had Somebody That I Used To Know, We Are Young, Some Nights, and more. This one is in a gray area considering how 2009 had no hipster, while 2015 was the peak year for it, but I'd say this part is closer to 2015.

With Hip Hop, 2012 is closer to 2009. There was barely any Trap music, you had those simpler beats, and the artists that 2009 and 2012 have in common are Drake, Jay-Z, Kanye West, and a bit of Eminem, while let alone 2015 had early mumble rappers like Rae Sremmurd, Fetty Wap, Future, and Rich Homie Quan. 2015 in hip hop was mostly Trap, so it's an obvious one here. However, I'd like to point out that 2012 did have a few Trap songs, while not popular as in 2015-16, Future, 2 Chainz, and Chief Keef, but I wouldn't count them because they werent popular. There were newcomers in hip hop during this year as well! Macklemore and Kendrick Lamar.

To sum things up, 2012 was still mostly Electropop dominated, with EDM and its aggressive synths coming into play since 2011, so it's mostly closer to 2009 here. 2015 was also pop dominated but it's more on the minimalist side of things, or watered down. However, Trap was gaining steam underground in 2012 which later gave birth to Trap's early popularity in 2013/14.

Can there be an option to change a vote? I picked 2015, but I thought about it for a little bit more and now I want to change it to 2009.

Can there be an option to change a vote? I picked 2015, but I thought about it for a little bit more and now I want to change it to 2009.

Sorry, I don’t how to change the vote  :-\\

Bump

2012 was the last hurrah of the electropop era which got spearheaded by 2009. 2015 felt already pretty disconnected from that, minus all the hipster/indie pop stuff that were ubiquitous in both '12 and '15.

As far as music goes, 2012 is much more like 2015 for sure, considering in 2009, rock still had a presence on the charts and post-grunge was enjoying it's very last legs. In 2012, nobody was still listening to Nickelback or Daughtry, LOL.

Fashion and pop culture was definitely closer to that of 2009 than 2015 though.