Named the Artist of the Decade by the lousy Billboard Magazine, Marshall Bruce Mathers III (or simply M&M, hence Eminem) has one of the most distinctive voices and styles in music, period. Combining horror with humor and rage with melodies, and using Dr. Dre’s dexterity in production, Eminem takes hip-hop to new emotional borders. Menacing and amusing at the same time, he makes it so easy for us to hate him, but following his ambivalence, it is also that simple for us to admire and respect his outstanding work.

The indietronica trio from Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos, is one of the masterstrokes of Spanish exquisite music label Elefant Records. Sweet, intimate, hypnotic, ethereal and sensual are some of the best words to describe the soft electronic pop that the Argentinian band percolates. Regardless of two changes in the leading voice, their music uncovers a box of surprises, a handbook filled with elegance, personality and beauty that will surely will prevail as some of the best sounds achieved throughout the decade.

The Canadian singer/songwriter Leslie Feist, an artist who has played with Broken Social Scene and several other bands, has a delicate and sweet voice that perfectly suits her combination of folk, jazz-pop, bossa nova and indie rock. Feist uncovers several musical landscapes aided by her luscious and introspective lyrics. The Calgary native is famous for her simple productions based on fine melodies and arrangements, but also for the puzzling magnetism of her vocals that is very hard to discard.

From Glasgow, Scotland, comes a quartet with such a unique sound. It was named after the Archduke whose assassination was a major factor in the outbreak of World War I. With an everlasting sense of fun, they gave us some of the most entertaining and danceable indie rock and post-punk of the decade. Worldwide indie anthems, lovely psychedelic ballads and political inflaming tunes with meritorious sonic textures. The band is formed by Alex Kapranos, Bob Hardy, Nick McCarthy and Paul Thomson.

From Portuguese parents, the multicultural Nelly Kim Furtado was born in the Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia. She is a gorgeous and talented singer, songwriter, record producer and actress that also plays guitar, keyboards, ukulele and trombone. Mixing a traditional fado sound with Brazilian and Latin rhythms, urban rhymes, folk, R&B and pop rock, she manages to obtain a really different and radiant contemporary pop music.

An astounding collaboration between Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) and Cee-Lo Green (Thomas Callaway), a singer with one of the most distinguished voices in recent times and founding member of Goodie Mob. Dark and introspective, the odd-couple style is an amalgam of funk, R&B, hip-hop, rock and soul with harsh and delirious beats plus intense, strange and spooky melodies, all without endangering their music’s spontaneous flow.

Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory formed an electronic music duo in 1999. The trip-hop dark-ambient of their debut, Felt Mountain, is slightly different from the glam rock, electro-synthpop style of their next two albums but they returned to make ambient and downtempo music in their fourth release, in no way this means that the lush and breezy orchestration makes the contrasting electropop sound better or worse since the common ground in their productions is the exuberant and sensual intensity of their now classic sound.

Gorillaz are a virtual band created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. The band has four animated band members: 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle and Russel Hobbs. A captivating collaboration between various musicians, lead by Albarn, that mixes hip-hop, electronic rock, pop and dub. Collaborators include: Phil Cornwell, Dan the Automator, Danger Mouse, De La Soul, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Miho Hatori, Kid Koala, Roots Manuva, Shaun Ryder and Martina Topley-Bird, among others. Excellent music that proves —once again— that Damon Albarn’s musical vision is one of a true genius.

A trio based in Paris, consisting of musicians Philippe Cohen Solal, Eduardo Makaroff and Christoph H. Müller. They gained notoriety for reviving tango and they’ve achieved this by melding it with electronic music, nu jazz, dub and trip-hop and presenting it to a whole new audience. Using original compositions as well as sampling they develop largely instrumental masterpieces impregnated with violins, horns, a bandonion and electronic beats and breaks.

In 2005, Mexico City conceived a pop rock trio that quickly gained recognition as one of the best contemporary music bands in Latin America. Putting together a combination of quirky and bubbly pop, some shoegaze, plus surrealistic and introspective lyrics, all these ingredients embellished by the mellow, high, fragile and candy-coated voice of Denise Gutiérrez (a.k.a. Lo Blondo), who was born in Van Nuys but raised in Mexico City. Gutiérrez, along with Fernando Burgos (a.k.a. Oro de Neta) and Bonnz! will undoubtfully give a lot to talk about in the next ten years as well.