It’s these parts of 2024 we’ll miss and remember the most.
Related: 15 Pop Culture Moments From 2023 That Deserve Its Own College Class
And just like that, 2024, is over. The fireworks have lit the night sky and New Year’s resolutions are currently being planned as we take stock of the past year and prepare for the new year ahead. But whether you’re fresh off a successful 2024 or would rather move on to what’s next, there’s no denying that 2024 was still a memorable year, especially in the pop culture department.
In an era where brain rot and AI increasingly permeate every aspect of life, the past year proved that nothing beats the power of popular culture driving narratives. When all is said and done, there’s a good chance some of these moments will find their way to a college class sometime in the future. Let’s take one final stroll down memory lane for some of our favorite pop culture moments of 2024.
THE 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS
With the athletic feats, moments, viral athletes, memories, and memes, the 2024 Paris Olympics had it all. Social media was alive and thriving during the 2024 Olympics with one iconic moment happening after another. But our highlight of the Olympics was of course the 22 Filipino athletes who proudly represented the country, as exemplified by the historic two gold medals Carlos Yulo bagged in gymnastics.
BUDOTS GOES VIRAL (AND GLOBAL)
Baby you’re filipino this is not how you dance to budots https://t.co/hauVMojguQ
— iya ★ (@hotmessjunk) July 29, 2024
Budots is a staple of Filipino pop culture. But 2024 was the year it went global. On social media, especially on TikTok, the electronic dance music created by Sherwin Tuna, commonly known as D.J. Love or Lablab, was everywhere as Filipinos developed a newfound love for the dance. In particular, budots had a moment with foreigners who turned it into the next big social media dance trend set to the track Emergency by DJ Johnrey. Who would have guessed among all the possible trends to go viral last year, one of the biggest would be budots?
SCREENSHOTS AND IG STORIES ARE WHERE IT’S AT TO GET THE TEA
(1/2) Sharing the full context in the hopes of bringing clarity and closure to the issue.
— BJ Pascual 🏳️🌈 (@bjpascual) December 25, 2024
I sincerely apologize for addressing this during the holiday season, as I understand it’s a time for celebration and togetherness.
Thank you for your understanding… pic.twitter.com/xfQxGg7z32
In 2024, if you wanted to get the hottest tea, it wasn’t on the tabloids but on IG Stories. The year proved that if you wanted to get people to talk, all you had to do was spill the tea and a bevy of screenshots on social media.
That was how the world learned about the Anthony Jennings and Maris Racal cheating issue when Anthony’s ex-girlfriend, Jamella Villanueva, dropped the receipts on her IG Stories in real-time (during the same night that South Korea entered a short-lived Martial Law, mind you). It was also through screenshots and IG Stories that most of the drama between Denise Julia, BJ Pascual, and Killa Kush played out with all sides dropping receipts and screenshots that had social media debating.
ANIK-ANIK DISCOURSE GETS SOCIAL MEDIA TALKING
anik anik lover pero hindi nag-iipon ng tickets ng bus https://t.co/IzKlYaoOtN
— vico blanco (@vicotinamide) November 1, 2024
Certain aspects of Filipino culture have always been a touchy subject whenever they’re co-opted by the upper echelon of Filipinos. Case in point: anik-anik. With the rise of collectibles in the past year such as Labubu, more (and richer) Filipinos suddenly got into collectibles, which eventually bled into discourse on how Class A and B Filipinos were taking the spirit of anik-anik without really knowing what it means. FYI, anik-anik is not just some trend on social media. If there’s one thing we’re taking from this, it’s that anik-anik is so much more than just dolls and toys worth thousands of pesos.
POP GIRLS HAD AN AMAZING YEAR
Female pop stars always have an amazing year every year, but their influence was particularly potent in 2024. From Charli XCX finally getting her flowers and blessing us with Brat Summer, Chappell Roan’s monstrous breakthrough, Sabrina Carpenter ruling the charts with checky bangers, and new albums from many of our pop faves like Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Dua Lip, and more, 2024 was a bountiful year for female pop stars. Even unexpected artists like Addison Rae rose to the ranks as potential new pop girls on the scene.
BINI TAKES OVER THE WORLD
If there’s one Filipino artist who’ll look back on 2024 with fond memories, it’s probably BINI. BINI didn’t just become the girl group of the moment, they became the girl group of the year with a rise in popularity that Filipino pop culture hasn’t seen before. The eight-member girl group tapped into virality to be a certified smash hit and turned 2024 into the year of BINI.
THE MOOD OF 2024: VERY DEMURE, VERY MINDFUL
@joolieannie #fyp #demure ♬ original sound – Jools Lebron
The memes were memeing in 2024. From saying “Eyy”, thanking Beyonce, reminding ourselves that queen never cry, telling divas a girl was behind them, and more, social media had its fair share of viral and trending memes and words. But no social media moment arguably took over pop culture quite like the demure trend. It started thanks to trans content creator Jools Lebron sharing her look for work, describing the look with the now immortal words “Very demure, very mindful”. Just like that, a social media sensation was born that eventually became Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year for 2024.
PINOYS MAKING THEIR PRESENCE KNOWN IN K-POP AND GLOBAL POP
Filipinos used to represent a small slice of foreign K-pop idols considering how much Filipinos love Hallyu culture. But that isn’t the case anymore as more and more are we seeing Filipinos make their mark on the global pop scene. Following HORI7ON’s debut in 2023, 2024 gave us more Pinoy idols to stan, notably UNIS’ Elisia and Gehlee and KATSEYE’s Sophia. And with even more Filipinos waiting in the wings for their eventual debut (JL, we’re looking at you), K-pop and global pop are getting a taste of Filipino talent.
UNEXPECTED TEAM-UPS
Did we see these collaborations coming? No. But are we glad they were manifested into existence? You bet. 2024 had its fair share of unexpected collabs that you’d only expect to find on fanfic but were actually real. Some of our favorites were Joshua Garcia and Julia Barretto’s love team revival in the film Un/Happy For You, an Alden Richards and Kathryn Bernardo reunion in Hello, Love, Again, and the Janella Salvador and Win Metawin team-up in Parallel Skies.
MOVIES STILL PROVING THAT THEY CAN DRIVE THE POP CULTURE CONVERSATION
Who says movies are no longer popular? While the industry has gone through some big changes since the pandemic, that doesn’t mean cinema has lost its pull on pop culture. Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine were the must-see cinematic events of the year while Hello, Love, Again broke local box office records. The Wicked press tour alone was the stuff of legends while films like Challengers and The Substance fueled the Gen Z meme machine. Movies did that, and they’ll continue to do that for the years to come.
NEWJEANS V HYBE AND ADOR
2024 was no slouch when it came to K-pop news that shook the industry, such as Seunghan returning to then leaving RIIZE and Taeil being removed from NCT for his abhorrent behavior. But no news had K-pop stans talking as much as NewJeans and their battle against HYBE and ADOR. Throughout the year, the K-pop girl group’s disputes against their former company escalated, which eventually culminated with NewJeans leaving ADOR to pursue activities independent of their former label. The saga isn’t over yet, but regardless of the outcome, you can’t deny that NewJeans helped push discourse on treating K-pop idols right.
THE 2NE1 REUNION WE’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR
Ever since 2016, fans have waited with bated breath for the moment 2NE1 would finally reunite. While they’ve had a few appearances over the years, most notably at Coachella 2022, we never really got a genuine comeback from the group. That is, until now. What was once a rumor became a reality as CL, Park Bom, Dara, and Minzy reunited for their long-awaited reunion world tour, which included two sold-out shows at MOA Arena.
LOOKALIKE CONTESTS WENT VIRAL (AND NOT JUST IN THE PHILIPPINES)
You’d be surprised by some of the things people went crazy for in 2024, such as celebrity lookalike competitions. It began with a Timothee Chalamet lookalike competition that went viral on social media and quickly spawned different entries for stars like Jungkook and Zayn Malik. In the Philippines, meanwhile, It’s Showtime brought back their popular Kalokalike segment to viewers’ delight. It just goes to show that these lighthearted experiences are just what society needed in a very testing and tiring year.
MOO DENG AND PESTO TAKE OVER THE INTERNET
moo deng is a lifestyle icon and i need all of yall to get onboard:
— House ⚔️ gf haver (@mrmatthouse) September 11, 2024
– inexplicably moist at all times
– slightly blurry in most photos
– probably screaming or sleeping
– round pic.twitter.com/VtgOPf1PAS
If you were chronically online in the past year, chances are you heard about the two baby animals that broke the internet: Moo Deng and Pesto. Moo Deng, a baby pygmy hippo living at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Si Racha, Thailand, captured the world’s attention as a perpetually moist, screaming, yet lovable diva who could do no wrong (well, maybe except vote for the US president). Pesto, meanwhile, was on everyone’s feeds, and not just because he was the only king penguin chick living in Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium in Melbourne, Australia. Pesto was an absolute unit with his fur and unusually large size. He basically was a big baby, and we loved that for him.
EVERYONE’S NEW FAVORITE GAME? DRESS TO IMPRESS
@dtionroblox 🏖️🌴🙈 @submiscy #DressToImpress #Roblox #Summer ♬ Attention – 250 Remix (Instrumental) – NewJeans
From your younger siblings to casual gaming besties, it felt like everyone was playing Dress To Impress in 2024, and honestly, we don’t blame them. While the multiplayer dress-up game was released in 2023, it was in 2024 that the game became a viral sensation, becoming the hottest new video game of the moment. Millions logged in on Roblox just to play the game and live their fashion icon fantasy as it felt like Project Runway, America’s Next Top Model, and RuPaul’s Drag Race rolled into one.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
2024 makeup challenges that had us serving our best makeup transformation, Olivia Rodrigo’s first concert in the Philippines, Running becoming the newest favorite hobby of Gen Z, Jen Barangan and her 0.5 flash recording, The Willy Wonka Glasgow Experience, Healing my inner child discourse going viral, The return of Goin’ Bulilit, Liza Soberano goes Hollywood, That UST 7/11 photo, The Chocolate Hills resort issue, iShowSpeed in the Philippines, Chinese model Ye Hao and the heat stroke photos seen around the world
Continue Reading: 11 Breakout Stars From 2024 We Loved Seeing Winning
