Buckle up, in a quick recap of the year- we’re diving into some of the key moments in culture in 2024 (not necessarily in chronological order!)
- Ed Sheeran’s India Chronicles: From posing with SRK earlier in the year to performing with Diljit towards the end of it, Sheeran sure found a (lot) of love online!
- Drake vs. Everyone: The feud magnet made headlines, setting the internet ablaze with memes, particularly his beef with Kendrick Lamar.
- Swiftie Mania: Taylor's The Tortured Poets Department broke records, hearts, and the internet!
- Laapata Ladies Shine: The simple, beautiful film won hearts when it was released in theatres, and was later selected as India’s official entry to the Oscars.
- Lights Up North: The Aurora Borealis made several stunning appearances across the northern part of the globe, captivating the northern hemisphere and sparking envy worldwide.
- TikTok’s “Very Mindful, Very Demure” trend took the internet by storm.
- Brat Era: Popularised by Charli XCX’s hit album, “Brat,” the term was EVERYWHERE! Collins Dictionary even announced “brat” as its 2024 word of the year, defining it as “characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude.” Brat Summer was definitely one for the books.
- ChatGPT 4.0 Arrives: AI got smarter—and sassier!
- ScarJo vs. AI: OpenAI also sparked debates when Scarlett Johansson’s voice was used without consent.
- Javier Bardem’s Stilgar from Dune nearly broke the internet with his iconic delivery of Lisan Al-Gaib.
- The Bye Bye Dance: Deadpool vs. Wolverine’s viral moment became meme and reel gold!
- #Melodi Madness: Modi and Elodi memes flooded our feeds.
- BIG DAWGS WAS EVERYWHERE! Hanumankind’s new song put Indian rap on the world map, earning him fans across the world.
- Diljit x Fallon: Our guy Diljit Dosanjh (really living up to his name of winning hearts!) performed his hit songs GOAT and Born to Shine on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon!
- Brat Summer Ends: Fans prepped for Brat Autumn, but the summer vibes lingered.
- Skibidi Toilet Empire: From TikTok to TV, the toilet dance refused to flush away. The controversial animated internet sensation is being developed for TV and film treatment by director Michael Bay and former Paramount Pictures president Adam Goodman.
- Coldplay Tickets = Love: After being notoriously hard to get (some 13 million fans tried to buy tickets for the Mumbai concert alone!) Coldplay tickets became the ultimate romantic flex in India, with people using them to gain brownie points on dating apps!
- Run Club Romances: Love found a new track—literally—with fitness-first dating trends gaining popularity across the globe.
- Diljit’s Tour Dominates: Tickets to his Dil-Luminati tour sold out in seconds everywhere, cementing his global icon status.
- Chill Guy Memes: Internet's chill vibes meme king ruled towards the end of 2024.
- Pookie Tools Launch: The Hawk Tuah girl went from meme, to launching her own bitcoin, to entrepreneur with her new AI-powered dating app.
- Cricket Legends Retire: Rohit Sharma, Kohli, and Jadeja bid goodbye post World Cup win. The iconic meme, “I’m only believe on Jassi Bhai becoz game changer player he is, only one guy Jasprit Bumrah” by Mohammad Siraj after India’s victory at the T20 World Cup in South Africa set the internet ablaze.
- India Celebrates Its One True Love- Cricket: Marine Drive turned into a sea of love for the victorious Indian team.
- Dubai Chocolate Chaos: The internet was dripping with the city’s sweet tooth obsession- a milk chocolate bar with a pistachio cream filling and crunchy knafeh, (a crispy shredded phyllo dough).
- Kevin Hart, Snoop, Kyrie appeared on Kai’s Mafiathon stream as it reportedly shattered the Twitch subscribers record while Raking In Over $3M In Revenue.
- Garfield's Dating Debut: Chicken Shop Date memes starring Garfield left fans cackling.
- Brainrot Named Word Of The Year: The Oxford Dictionary perfectly captured how we consume media.
- Ganji Chudail Rules: Meme queen turned marketing genius slayed the game.
- CarryMinati’s parody of MrBeast, featuring top Indian creators like Bhuvan Bam and Ashish Chanchlani, racked up over 62 million views in 15 days!
- Dua Lipa x SRK: Dua offered us a ‘Dil ka tofa’ when she added verses from SRK’s hit song at her concert. Internet = broken.
- Dating Apps x AI: Wingmen just got an upgrade with AI matchmaking.
- Timothée Crashes Lookalike Contest: Who’s the real Timmy? NYC couldn’t decide.
- "Inside Out 2" broke records to become the highest-grossing animated film in history, and struck a chord with millennials across the world.
- Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson, while a disappointing fight, broke records for betting in a combat sports event.
- Cristiano Ronaldo shattered records, amassing 10 million YouTube subscribers in a single day, solidifying his global influence!
- Luigi Mangione had a polarising presence on online media, with people either revering or chastising him, sparking a bigger conversation about healthcare in America.
That’s it. That’s the drip from Kulfi Collective! Stay tuned for more culture insights, trends and moments in 2025! Happy New Year! 💥
