I love archiving cultural movements and moments, and I love remembering them many years later even more.

So in no particular order, movements and moments from 2010 to 2017, happening mostly in LA (some specific to LA culture, some US/global culture from my perspective as an Angeleno) that I’m remembering, updated whenever I feel like it:

ART & ARCHITECTURE

• LA finally removes helipad requirement for skyscrapers
• Development of Grand Park in Bunker Hill, downtown finishes as the initial phase of the Grand Avenue Revitalization Project
  
• Ace Hotel in downtown opens
  
• The Broad in downtown opens
  
• The LA State Historic Park finishes revitalization
  

MUSIC
Note: if there’s one thing you can take away from this list, it’s this: live music of all genres during this time in LA was ridiculous and can never be replicated; IFYKYK.

• hip hop/rap: TDE, Odd Future (OFWGKTA), Danny Brown, Kid Cudi, Mac Miller (RIP), Vince Staples, Childish Gambino, YG, Nipsey Hussle, Dom Kennedy
• SOULECTION is born out of Long Beach State’s KBeach radio show: Joe Kay, Andre Power, ESTA., Sango, Ta-Ku, Kaytranada before it booms in the mid-2010s
• indie rock/indie pop: Marc DeMarco, Beach House, Tame Impala, MGMT, Cold War Kids, Neon Indian, Toro Y Moi
• other artists: Flume, Death Grips, RL Grime, Anderson .Paak
• Amoeba Music when it was on 6400 Sunset Boulevard
• Low End Theory
• Mad Decent Block Party
• The inaugural year of Camp Flog Gnaw
• free music festivals all over the city/county: Echo Park Rising, Twilight Concerts at Santa Monica Pier
  
• not free festivals: FYF Fest, Coachella (obviously), Camp Flog Gnaw
  
• TDE toy drive and concert at Nickerson Gardens for Christmas every year
  
• Cartoon & Cereal by Kendrick Lamar leaked and not cleared before the GKMC release
  

SPORT

• Boxing: Black, Filipino, and Mexican boxing matches and house parties
  
• Basketball: Los Angeles hosts the 2011 NBA All Stars
  
• Basketball: Los Angeles Lakers’s bleakest and darkest years in franchise history
  
• Basketball: Los Angeles “Lob City” Clippers era
  
• Basketball: Jerry Buss’s passing
  
• Am. Football: Am. Football returning to LA rumors start
  
• Biking: the fixed-gear (”fixie”) biking era
  
• Biking: A super fun decade of CicLAvia: 2010-2020
  
• Soccer/Futbol: I’m pretty sure Chicharito is the most famous football player in the US at this time; he was beloved by many Angelenos
  
• Soccer/Futbol: Chivas USA is a team no more
  
• Soccer/Futbol: USMNT suck but Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, and Landon Donovan gave US American fans hope
  
• Soccer/Futbol: Marta, Sawa, Abby Wambach, Hope Solo, and Women’s 2011 World Cup
  
• Soccer/Futbol: US Women’s National Team beats Canada 4-3 in 2012 Olympic Semifinal
  

MISCELLANEOUS

• Four Loko... yeah.
  
• Hip hop, underground punk, and skateboarding scene altogether
  
• Cannabis is legalized for recreational use in the state of California
  

Written: Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Updated: Monday, May 27, 2024