This past month, as you scrolled on your socials, you might have noticed a rise in people posting throwback photos from 2016. It was a decade ago, but it may seem very recent in your memories. So why was 2016 so influential? And why do we laud it for a reason that we can’t quite seem to put our finger on? One of the most simple explanations is that 2016 was one of the last years before the political turmoil that took place in the United States, which continues today. However 2016 was much more than Donald Trump defeating Hillary Clinton — it was also one of the last years before cancel culture dominated celebrity social status, and AI hadn’t begun to infiltrate the arts and music scene.
Many may remember 2016 as a time of great music and songs from their childhood. A huge year for pop music, 2016 saw many artists such as Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj and Beyonce releasing wildly popular albums and songs that dominated radio stations for months. Despite pop dominating the music industry at the time, rap music also flourished during this time. Albums such as Drake’s “Views” and Fetty Wap’s “Fetty Wap (Deluxe),” which was released in 2015 but remained popular for months afterward, won both artists nominations and a win for Drake as the Top Rap Artist at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards. Still, what was so different about music at the time? Many songs released in 2016 were less vocal focused and instead more centered around the rhythm and beat, often paired with EDM backing tracks that added a level of fun to songs that we don’t see today. In recent years, “Sad Girl Music” has been on the rise, eliminating the fun, easy to dance to songs of our youth. Another significant factor of music was how it was streamed, and it was in 2016 that Spotify reached over 100 million users. While this may seem like a simple accomplishment for the app, it actually influenced the way artists created music: they began making their songs shorter in order to capture the attention of listeners within the first few seconds. However we only saw this development affect the music industry after 2016, marking the end of an era.
If there is one thing we can remember from 2016, it was the election. With Donald Trump beating Hillary Clinton, Americans were divided across the nation in a way they had not been before. Both candidates had bad rap sheets, making American voters wary of what side to choose. However, in the end Trump won with 304 electoral votes in comparison to Clinton’s 227, despite her taking the popular vote and making this the fifth time in US history a president had won the electoral college and lost the popular vote. Aside from the election, America had many other things going on, like the continuing water crisis in Flint Michigan worsening the health of residents. It was only in 2016 when the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act was signed, authorizing funding for improvements. On a more positive note, at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, Katie Ledecky broke the 800 meters freestyle world record, and Usain Bolt achieved the “triple-triple” by winning three gold medals for the third Olympics in a row.
While some may remember 2016 for politics or music, most look back and are flooded with memories of the trends, toys and fashion of the time. Seniors Auveen Shafaei and Esther Conrad reminisce on the toys of their youth, both mentioning how they played with stress toys like fidget cubes, slime and stress balls. While kids were preoccupied with fidget spinners and Shopkins, teens during 2016 also had a lot on their hands. Whether that was running from killer clowns, taking part in the mannequin challenge or dabbing after landing a bottle flip, these trends captivated high schoolers in 2016 for months. Aside from toys and trends, the fashion sense of high schoolers in 2016 was very different from what we see now. Chokers paired with a skater dress and jean jacket had a chokehold on teens, right after throwing their hair into a messy bun or braid crown. Makeup during this era was especially captivating, with bold eye designs, heavy foundation and the cherry on top — Kylie Jenner’s “Lip Kits.” After spending hours carefully applying, many teens would open Snapchat, put on the dog filter and post some selfies.
Why 2016 captivates teens today is ambiguous because, after all, wasn’t it just another year? However we can see that it wasn’t just another year: incredible music was made, major political events occurred and the trends were unlike any other we’ve seen before and are still being recreated today. Even if we don’t wear skinny jeans or hit the whip anymore, we’ll always remember how much fun we had, and it’s that sense of nostalgia for a time of good feelings that makes reminiscing on the last decade so bittersweet.
