@Stephen Abrams

Fresh faces and electrifying sounds yield a golden era of EDM.

When Pharrell showed us that leaving your mark means looking to the future.

A diverse disco where genre rules no longer apply.

The tracks you can’t get enough of lately, all in one place. Updated as you listen.

The songs you love. The more you use Apple Music, the better the mix. Refreshed every Tuesday.

Whether it’s a weekday morning or Saturday night, get going with this personalized mix of upbeat music. Refreshed every Monday.

Songs to help you relax and unwind. Updated every Sunday.

Discover new music from artists we think you'll like. Refreshed every Friday.

If you partied in the ’00s, you already know eclecticism ruled the dance floor, as the hard lines between ’90s genres were basically being wrecking-balled by the rise of downloads and streaming. The ability of the era's songs to inspire booty-shaking is in no danger of expiring; they still feel brash, with the sheen of a familiar style undergoing a thrilling shift. To wit, teen pop went urban, as producers like Timbaland gave edge to ex-Mouseketeers such as Justin Timberlake. Urban became mainstream as people once known as collaborators—Beyoncé and Kanye West—claimed their spotlight with larger-than-life production. And the mainstream got weirder as artists like Outkast, M.I.A., and Lady Gaga introduced a sense of free-wheeling auteurism. It’s that last development—along with the rise of reggaetón—that pointed most clearly to where the party headed in the ’10s as the stylistic meld continued and stars got ever bolder in embracing their odder ideas.

The 2000s began with New York’s lyrical titans—JAY-Z, Nas, Cam’ron, Jadakiss, newcomer 50 Cent—battling for supremacy, commercial and otherwise. However, New York’s grip on the hip-hop narrative would loosen. Atlanta rappers like Outkast, Ludacris, T.I., Lil Jon, and Young Jeezy would spin hip-hop into crunk and trap; a young, ambitious Chicago producer named Kanye West would open up new vistas of personal and emotional hitmaking; and New Orleans spitter Lil Wayne’s constant flood of mixtapes would change the economics of rapping forever. The internet would help spread regional sounds like the UK’s minimalist grime, Houston’s slow-moving chopped-and-screwed music, the Bay Area’s hyperactive hyphy, and Atlanta’s short-lived snap. By decade’s end, the gurgle of Auto-Tune and the freewheeling phrasing of Drake had begun to scramble the circuits, setting up hip-hop for its most melodic decade yet.