The (height of the) dab<\/b><\/p>\n
By Ryan Goodwin<\/p>\n
Although technically created and popularized in 2015\u2014thanks to the Carolina Panthers\u2019 Cam Newton\u2014the dab reached its peak in 2016. From Musical.ly videos to political debates<\/a> to songs like Milla\u2019s \u201c#Camdab<\/a>\u201d and iLoveMemphis\u2019s \u201cLean and Dabb<\/a>,\u201d the dab dominated popular culture, drastically increasing one\u2019s odds of getting smacked in the face by someone sneeze-dabbing<\/a>. 10 years have passed, and no dance move since has quite matched the dab\u2019s indelible cultural impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n La La Land<\/b><\/p>\n By Elizabeth Adler<\/p>\n Damien Chazelle\u2019s breathtaking film blends glamour, heartache, and ambition in a magnificent supernova of swirling colors and swelling symphonies. As Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) fall in love, they struggle to navigate their contrasting dreams of creative success in the \u201cCity of Stars.\u201d A magical yet grounded exploration of the precarious relationship between romantic love and personal desires, La La Land took the culture by storm in 2016, earning critical acclaim and winning six (almost seven<\/a>) Academy Awards the following year. Ten years later, La La Land remains a beautiful, timeless ode to \u201cthe fools who dream.\u201d<\/p>\n The Great Clown Epidemic<\/b><\/p>\n By Alex Hwang<\/p>\n In fall 2016, \u201ckiller\u201d clowns began appearing<\/a> near schools or on highways, inducing widespread panic. This phenomenon made national news, inspiring clown hunts and YouTube hoaxes that had a chokehold on middle schoolers nationwide. This strange spike in coulrophobia<\/a> (fear of clowns) marks arguably one of the worst events for the clown industry ever. Have you seen a clown at a kid\u2019s birthday party since?\u00a0<\/p>\n Grace VanderWaal<\/b><\/p>\n By Lucy Montalti<\/p>\n If we knew anyone\u2019s name in 2016, it was Grace VanderWaal\u2019s. When the quirked-up, cursive-singing 12-year-old walked onto the America\u2019s Got Talent (2006-present) stage with a ukulele, thick bob, bangs, and a dream, the internet fell in love as preteens everywhere seethed with jealousy. Her viral audition<\/a>\u2014where her original song \u201cI Don\u2019t Know My Name\u201d earned her the coveted Golden Buzzer from Howie Mandel\u2014was the best thing since Susan Boyle<\/a>, amassing over 100 million views on YouTube and cementing her spot in the 2016 hall of fame.\u00a0<\/p>\n #taylorswiftisoverparty<\/b><\/p>\n By Karcin Hagi\u00a0<\/p>\n The complicated relationship between Kanye West and Taylor Swift burst into flames when West shadily name-dropped the singer in his song \u201cFamous,\u201d saying, \u201cI feel like me and Taylor might still have sex \/ Why? I made that bitch famous.\u201d After Swift made clear her distaste for the lyric, Kim Kardashian came to her then-husband\u2019s defense, releasing an edited and potentially illegal video of Swift seemingly approving the lyric over the phone<\/a>. The hashtag #taylorswiftisoverparty trended on Twitter, signaling the public\u2019s backlash towards Swift. The ordeal temporarily drove Swift off social media, planting the seed for her iconic 2017 comeback, Reputation.<\/p>\n Fidget spinners\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n By Ali Abubakr<\/p>\n Fidget spinners rose to worldwide fame in late 2016, marketed mainly as stress relief for people with ADHD and anxiety (although this was backed by shaky science<\/a>). They swiftly gained popularity through a perfect storm of social media virality and expiring patents<\/a> that allowed for mass production in China. As the toys swept the culture, they even faced bans in schools<\/a>, inspiring many an act of middle school rebellion.<\/p>\n Lemonade<\/b> by Beyonc\u00e9\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n By Joaquin Martinez<\/p>\n Lemonade, which has been recognized as one of the greatest albums of the 21st century by Rolling Stone<\/a>, is undoubtedly the highlight of Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s musical career\u2014and not just because it introduced us to \u201cBecky with the good hair.\u201d The song \u201cDaddy Lessons\u201d marked her first foray into the country music genre, and subsequent backlash from institutions like the Country Music Awards inspired the creation of Cowboy Carter (2024), earning Beyonc\u00e9 her first Album of the Year award at the Grammys almost 10 years later.<\/p>\n Bottomless Pit<\/b> by Death Grips\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n By Quinn Ross<\/p>\n Ten years after the release of Bottomless Pit, we\u2019re still waiting for another Death Grips song that hits as hard as \u201cRing A Bell.\u201d Bottomless Pit is the experimental rap group\u2019s most accessible project, with songs like \u201cWarping,\u201d \u201cEh,\u201d and \u201cBottomless Pit\u201d fitting into more typical rock and hyperpop genres. However, if you\u2019ve seen Season 2, Episode 1 of Atlanta (2016-2022), you may recall Darius nonchalantly blasting an aggressive grindcore song on the radio. That song is none other than \u201cHot Head,\u201d representing the beautiful chaos that is Death Grips.<\/p>\n \u201cPok\u00e9mon GO (to the polls)\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n By Aubrey Butterfield<\/p>\n The 2016 presidential election is infamous for many things, but what time has left behind is arguably the craziest attempt by a politician to appear relatable to their constituency\u2014\u201cPok\u00e9mon GO (to the polls)<\/a>.\u201d The precursor to the summer 2024 brat-coconut tree-existing-in-the-context mania, \u201cPok\u00e9mon GO to the polls,\u201d was a rather confusing tactic by the Democratic Party to undermine then-candidate Donald Trump\u2019s control of the media. Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton\u2019s target audience? Apparently, 10-year-old me, among my Pok\u00e9mon-playing peers. Now, as a Democratic voter, I guess Clinton was playing the long game.<\/p>\n The Brexit Referendum<\/b><\/p>\n By Alexandra Risi<\/p>\n Just 10 years ago, British citizens (or Britizens, if we\u2019re doing that) voted<\/a> to leave the European Union (EU). They didn\u2019t officially leave the EU until 2020\u2014and since then, they\u2019ve experienced<\/a> quite the economic downturn. Despite the hangxiety, Brexit represents a true moment of Brits embracing their #singlegirlera. Yesss girl! You can do this on your own (or at least they thought so). In the land of EsDeeKid, Mary Poppins, and imperialism, people came together to make a decision they would later regret. And if that\u2019s not the motto of 2016, we\u2019re not sure what is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The (height of the) dab By Ryan Goodwin Although technically created and popularized in 2015\u2014thanks to the Carolina…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":719401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5226],"tags":[214841,214842,802,748,9444,2000,299,5187,1699,214843,214844,4884,214845,214846,17337,44626,8733,214847,16,15],"class_list":["post-719400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brexit","tag-214841","tag-bottomless-pit","tag-brexit","tag-britain","tag-dab","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-european-union","tag-fidget-spinners","tag-grace-vanderwaal","tag-great-britain","tag-la-la-land","tag-lemonade","tag-list","tag-pokemon-go","tag-taylor-swift","tag-ten-things-turning-ten","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115954892975683406","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/719401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}