42 Musician & Rock Star Jokes: The 2012 “Gangnam Style, Channel Orange & The EDM Explosion” Edition

In 2012, the world didn’t end, but the internet definitely broke. A South Korean rapper named PSY taught the entire planet how to ride an imaginary horse, a guy named Gotye became “somebody that we used to know” in record time, and Taylor Swift decided that her “Red” era was the perfect time to start her transition into a global pop titan. It was the year of the “Harlem Shake” (well, almost), the rise of the “Tumblr-Girl” aesthetic, and the moment Frank Ocean changed the R&B game forever.

The 2012 Soundboard Top 10: “Gangnam Style, Red & The Ocean’s Soul”

1. The PSY “Gangnam Style” Viral Peak: Why the horse dance? Because PSY became the first person to hit 1 billion views on YouTube, proving that you don’t need to speak Korean to know exactly how to party like a gentleman.
2. The Taylor Swift “Red” Evolution: Why the 22? Because Taylor traded the banjo for Max Martin’s pop production, reminding us that we were all “happy, free, confused, and lonely” at the same time.
3. The Frank Ocean “Channel Orange” Masterpiece: Why the “Thinkin Bout You”? Because Frank released a generational R&B album that was so honest and beautiful it made every other artist in 2012 rethink their lyrics.
4. The Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe” Fever: Why the business card? Because Justin Bieber tweeted about it once and suddenly, the entire world was singing the most infectious chorus of the 21st century.
5. The Kendrick Lamar “good kid, m.A.A.d city” Arrival: Why the van? Because Kendrick released a cinematic hip-hop classic that proved the West Coast had a new king who could tell a story like a novelist.
6. The Maroon 5 “One More Night” Run: Why the boxing video? For the song that stayed at #1 for 9 weeks, stubbornly blocking PSY from the top spot and keeping “Adam Levine fatigue” at bay for one more year.
7. The fun. “We Are Young” Anthem: Why the slow-motion bar fight? For the song that made every group of friends in 2012 feel like they were part of a grand, theatrical revolution.
8. The Mumford & Sons “Babel” Boom: Why the even bigger banjos? Because they sold 600,000 copies in one week, proving that the world was still very much in love with stomping on wooden floors.
9. The Swedish House Mafia “Don’t You Worry Child”: Why the final tour? For the ultimate EDM anthem that soundtracked the peak of the festival era before the “Mafia” called it quits (for a while).
10. The Lana Del Rey “Born to Die” Cult: Why the flower crowns? For the album that turned Tumblr into a lifestyle and made “Summertime Sadness” the official mood of 2012.

The Full 2012 Musician & Rock Star Archive

11. The Jack White “Blunderbuss” Solo: Why the blue everywhere? For Jack proving he could lead an all-female or all-male band and still be the coolest guy in rock.
12. The Tame Impala “Lonerism” Shift: Why “Elephant”? For Kevin Parker proving that psychedelic rock could be heavy, catchy, and sound like it was recorded in a 1960s laboratory.
13. The Macklemore & Ryan Lewis “Thrift Shop”: Why the $20? For the independent rappers who proved you could have a #1 hit by rapping about grandma’s hand-me-downs.
14. The Rihanna “Unapologetic” Reign: Why the “Diamonds”? For Rihanna releasing her 7th album in 7 years, proving she was the hardest working woman in pop.
15. The Muse “The 2nd Law” Dubstep: Why the “Madness”? For Matt Bellamy deciding that he wanted his guitar to sound like a Skrillex drop.
16. The Grimes “Visions” Breakthrough: Why the bedroom production? For the Canadian artist who proved that a girl with a synthesizer and a lo-fi aesthetic could change the face of indie-pop.
17. The Alt-J “An Awesome Wave”: Why the “delta” symbol? For the band that made “math-rock” sound like a weird, beautiful lullaby and won the Mercury Prize.
18. The Usher “Climax”: Why the Diplo beat? For the R&B song that sounded like a futuristic panic attack and became an instant classic.
19. The Green Day “¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré!” Trilogy: Why three albums? For the band deciding that 37 songs was the only way to express their 2012 energy.
20. The Die Antwoord “I Fink U Freeky”: Why the rats? For the South African duo scaring the internet and making us all question what “Zef” culture actually was.
21. The P!nk “The Truth About Love”: Why “Try”? For the singer who continued to out-dance and out-sing everyone while literally flying through the air.
22. The Miguel “Kaleidoscope Dream”: Why “Adorn”? For the man who brought the “sexy” back to soul music with a rock and roll edge.
23. The Beach House “Bloom”: Why the zebra cover? For the dream-pop duo perfecting their sound so much it felt like floating in a cloud.
24. The Linkin Park “Living Things”: Why the return to form? For the band finding the balance between their electronic experiments and the heavy riffs.
25. The Justin Bieber “Believe” Era: Why the “Boyfriend”? For the moment the Biebs tried to sound like Justin Timberlake and the world actually took him seriously.
26. The Killers “Battle Born”: Why the desert? For the band leaning into their inner Springsteen and making the most “American” rock album possible.
27. The Solange “True” EP: Why the “Losing You” dance? For Solange proving she was the indie-cool sister with the best taste in 80s pop.
28. The Alabama Shakes “Boys & Girls”: Why Brittany Howard? For the voice that sounded like it was born in 1965 and transported to 2012 to save soul music.
29. The One Direction “Take Me Home”: Why the phone booth? For the boyband officially conquering America and starting a global riot every time they smiled.
30. The No Doubt “Push and Shove”: Why the 11-year wait? For the band returning to show that Gwen Stefani still had the best abs and the best ska-pop hooks in the game.
31. The Fiona Apple “The Idler Wheel…”: Why the long title? For the woman who proved that 7 years of silence was worth it for the most raw and intense album of the year.
32. The Passion Pit “Gossamer”: Why the upbeat depression? For the band making the most danceable songs about having a complete emotional breakdown.
33. The Death of Whitney Houston: Why the February shock? For the loss of “The Voice,” leaving the music world much quieter and ending an era of vocal greatness.
34. The Death of Adam Yauch (MCA): Why the Beastie Boys silence? For the loss of a legend who taught us how to fight for our right to party and then how to fight for world peace.
35. The Death of Donna Summer: Why the disco goodbye? For the loss of the Queen of Disco, whose “I Feel Love” literally invented the modern dance floor.
36. The Santigold “Master of My Make-Believe”: Why the gold throne? For the artist continuing to be cooler than everyone else by mixing punk and reggae.
37. The Cat Power “Sun”: Why the colorful hair? For Chan Marshall ditching the sadness for an electronic pop record that sounded like a new beginning.
38. The Grizzly Bear “Shields”: Why the tension? For the Brooklyn band proving that complex indie-rock could still be powerful and grand.
39. The Kendrick Lamar vs. Everyone: Why the “Control” verse (Technically 2013, but the hype started now)? Because Kendrick was already making the list of rappers he was about to outshine.
40. The Dirty Projectors “Swing Lo Magellan”: Why the art-rock? For the year that indie music got a little more acoustic and a little more melodic.
41. The Mayan Calendar Ending: Why the party? Because we all spent December 21st listening to music and realizing that the only thing ending was our phone battery from tweeting about the “Apocalypse.”
42. The 2012 Final Music Vibe: Why did the year feel so chaotic? Because of the Gangnam Style horse-riding, the iPod touch dominance, and the Lana Del Rey flower crowns that made us feel like we were living in a sepia-toned Tumblr post while waiting for the Mayan Apocalypse to drop the beat.