It turns out there are a lot of iconic 2014 moments that turn a decade old soon — and somehow feel like yesterday
Believe it or not, 2014 was 10 whole years ago.
One TikToker has rounded up some of 2014's biggest moments with a punchy rap.
It's left many people shocked by how old some of these iconic cultural touchstones really are.
A TikToker's rap going through some of 2014's most viral pop culture and internet moments has many asking the same question: Wait, that was 10 years ago?
Mikey Angelo is a creator with 3.1 million followers who's known for posting raps discussing buzzy topics and summarizing big events across the year. He posted several punchy raps in 2023 rounding up the viral moments everyone was talking about throughout the year, including the controversy around Harry Styles' Grammy wins in February and Elon Musk's widely mocked Twitter rebrand in July.
Angelo's musical creations are popular among viewers, and some have even fondly referred to the raps (perhaps jokingly) as their source of news.
On January 3, he posted a rap looking back at the year 2014, recapping some of the most memorable celebrity and news events from the year.
He put it much more eloquently himself, but here's a complete list of the events he mentioned:
The Jay Z and Solange Knowles elevator fight.
Ellen Degeneres' Oscar selfie.
"Fancy," by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX.
The launch of Musical.ly.
(The original) "Guardians of the Galaxy."
Taylor Swift's "1989."
The popularity of Snapchat, Vine, Tumblr, Twitter, and the Kim Kardashian app.
"Frozen."
"Happy" by Pharrell Williams.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's wedding.
"Anaconda" by Nicki Minaj and "Turn Down for What" by DJ Snake and Lil Jon.
The iPhone 6.
A viral hoax about a man making a NSFW comment live on a news broadcast.
Kim Kardashian's Paper Magazine cover shoot in which she balanced a champagne glass on her behind.
"Chandelier" by Sia.
"The Babadook" movie.
Lorde, One Direction, "All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor, "Bang Bang" by Jessie J featuring Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande, and Grande's "Break Free."
The moment John Travolta mispronounced Idina Menzel's name as "Adele Dazeem" when she performed at the Academy Awards.
Viewers are nostalgic for 2014 culture
Angelo's video has blown up, receiving over 18 million views in under two weeks and thousands of comments as people discuss the most memorable moments described.
A couple of users seemed to wonder what had become of one the biggest internet stars of the year: Alex from Target.
The star of the meme, Alex Lee, became a cultural sensation when a photo of him went viral on Twitter and won him many adoring fans.
Shooting to online fame overnight came at a cost though, as Lee faced online bullying, and his father told the New York Times that Lee's family's personal information was leaked.
Since then, he's dropped off the face of the internet, having deleted all of his social media accounts following a few attempts at sharing his life online, BI reported in 2022.
Proof that @alannapage12 started the #AlexFromTarget outbreak😂😂 @acl163 pic.twitter.com/pqHKOiNxAc
— grayson (@grayson_gurk9) November 3, 2014
Many viewers seemed nostalgic for the overall vibe of 2014.
One comment with over 20,000 likes referred to the culture of that year as "top tier," prompting a conversation about the Ariana Grande fandom of the moment: "you just HAD to be there," one person wrote. Another comment said the internet was at "its peak" between 2012 and 2016.
Others seemed baffled by the level of attention some of these events received. "i really cringe when i think about how excited we were about that ellen selfie," one viewer commented, catching the attention of Angelo, who agreed with the sentiment. The star-studded photo made headlines and broke records, becoming the most retweeted image ever at the time.
Nostalgia-focused content, especially as it relates to bygone eras of the internet, is very popular on social media.
Earlier this year, a photo of an old desktop computer went viral on X, leading many users to look back on the way the internet functioned when they were growing up.
As we enter 2024 it seems people are more ready than ever to mourn the end of what they saw as a simpler time, whether that's before we carried social media around in our pockets or when celebrity selfies dominated news cycles.
Read the original article on Business Insider