By Lillian FlexMami Ahen
Somewhere between the season’s changing, Trump’s election win and the social pandemonium that ensued when Kylie Jenner proclaimed that 2016 was the catalyst for “realising things”, we’ve found ourselves with only days to recalibrate and digest before the new year.
As we tap our metaphorical opal card and aboard the train of life for another revolution around the sun, what better way to pass the time than with an extremely skewed recount on the most crucial moments of 2016 – as told by a person who has also realised things (arguably before Kylie Jenner).
MIKE BAIRD CARKED IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA, AGAIN
He cemented himself as a core antagonist and the primary barrier to relieving the stifling parameters surrounding lockout laws. In spite of this tyrant’s behaviour, thousands of passionate punters still stood in solidarity virtually and in the physical at a number of lockouts rallies.
Earlier Viral Artist and Local Ledgie Scott Marsh decorated the walls of the infamous Lord Gladstone with an ever-topical mural depicting Mike Baird, complete with a kebab and glass of wine in hand at 1:31am. Complete with a #CasinoMike hashtag, the artwork stole headlines and the hearts of many.
Baird managed to snap a selfie with the mural and soonafter the artwork was removed. Months later the aforementioned image resurfaced on National Graffiti Removal Day, Mikey took to Facebook with a snide remark, we responded with uproar and the cycle continues.
Since then, lockout laws have been slightly relaxed and plenty are debating whether it’s enough or purely an insult disguised as reparation.
THE EMERGENCE OF MORE DIVERSE AUSTRALIAN HIP-HOP
Over the last few years, trends within hip-hop have come and gone and in that time Australia has cultivated a new wave of diverse tastemakers. With production and bars to rival the best, Aussie hip-hop has evolved in and transformed into a diverse genre that refuses to limited or defined by the constraints of general perception.
Debunking quintessential narratives and the expectations of the sound locals should produce, below are a few of the most hype tracks of 2016.
24 KARAT KEV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAVEN4Tl5T8
Viral Australasian rapper, purveyor of the finest sneakers, pioneer of the soy milk shoey; 24 Karat Kev disrupted the status quo to present us with a relentless racial pride album. This track was a refreshingly apt take on the current political climate in Australia, swapping out think pieces for awe-inspiring lyrics lacing braggadocio with measured fact. It’s a hard balance, but man he got it done.
KIMCHI PRINCI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHI2CLcyFlI
Poetess, Rapper, Princi and frequent Slim Set collaborator; Kimchi Princi is a solid testament to the validity of drive, passion and creative integrity. She’s a lyrical machine who’s sonic catalogue highlights topics from consumerism to the perils of being unapologetic artist in 2016, she’s indicative of the future of hip-hop internationally. The bars speak for themselves and every person who’s felt some kind of way about internet culture and growing up in a cross-cultural family.
BLESSED
The ever-nourishing side-project from Sydney emcee Miracle, Blessed, dropped this genre-defying heater during the later half of 2016 and my expectations for greatness have been exceeded. This powerful track which emotively recounts the insanity of tumultuous relationships, features powerful, layered production (he produces his own music), introspective lyrics and riffs that make you want to call the one that got away and pour your heart out. It’s that deep.
SLIM SET
With Atro on the beat, Dev on the mic and truth in every bar, the two have taken the best elements of grime and their own credible finesse to create a sound that’s quintessentially them. Comparable to none, the fruits of their creative partnership s proof of the content your playlists have been missing. Having landed support for Cali rapper Antwon, do yourself a favour and press play.
MANU CROOK$
Hard-hitting hooks, expert production and a sound that makes you want to smack that repeat button and vibe out. This triumphant track is a next level roast to fake, phoney fringe friends who loiter around you to jack your energy. He’s currently sitting in the Top 100 on iTunes Charts amongst industry hitters like Flume and Kid Cudi, and has earned himself a Zane Lowe Beats1 Worldwide Premiere. If that’s not incentive to get across Manu Crook$’ content then I don’t know what is.
FRANK OCEAN DROPPED A NEW ALBUM
No one was ready for the widespread bedlam surrounding the release of ‘Blonde’. Critiques and praise clouded the Internet like the media coverage after #SydneyStorm.
The Guardian touted it the album as an abstract atmospheric beauty, while The Telegraph described it as messy, pompous and pointless exercise that didn’t live up to the hype. While I refuse to actively listen to the album until my expectations have lowered to sub zero, I’m not the most appropriate person to comment on the creative genius of this body of work. What I can attest to is that 1 album and mixtape release doesn’t warrant a 4-5 year wait on your next body of work.
This buzz surrounding Frank Ocean as a visionary first, musician second resulted in self-sabotaging over-hyped, self indulgent comeback that ostracised one of his biggest fans: me. For that, I’m salty, bored and bumping Channel Orange instead.
THE RIHANNA X JULIA GILLARD COLLABO
I covered this topic in an investigate piece for Life Without Andy but if you, like most, struggle to consume long form content, here are some cliff notes I prepared earlier.
Around Late September, an image surfaced of #RihannaNavy matriarch @badgalriri, Julia Gillard and an extraneous man, shoulder-to-shoulder posing for a press photo. My initial reaction was to disregard the image because I thought it was a doctored photo for laughs. I was wrong. While this encounter didn’t result in a Gillard for Puma SS16 collection, it did bring forth the announcement of Rihanna’s new title as celebrity ambassador of the Global Partnership for Education, which has Gillard as its chairwoman.
It was perhaps the wildest cross industy collab until Wednesday December 14 when Kanye was was filmed posing for press shots for a bizarre meet and greet with Donald Trump to discuss ‘multicultural issues’ i.e. ‘bullying, supporting teachers, modernising curriculums and violence in Chicago’.
VIRTUAL SMARTPHONE GAME PANDEMICS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lntXKowvHqo
We started off the year with intentions to eat well and exercise more, but instead we downloaded Miitomo, Nintendo’s first smartphone app that singlehandedly blurred the lines between Facebook acquaintances and real people – with the intent to figure out how well you really know your ‘friends’ by sparking “one-of-a-kind” conversations.
What this really means is that the Internet gifted us with another outlet for instant gratification, highlighting the fascinating psychology of self-portrayal in simulated life. If you didn’t download it solely to accessorise your Mii, then you fell off.
As expected the hype died and in it’s place we downloaded Pokemon GO. It’s just like a treasured momento from childhood, except it came to fruition this year as a digital health initiative masked as a location-based augmented reality app. Okay, so I made up the health initiative bit, but come on, it’s 2016 and they’re trying to get you to leave the comforts of your safe spaces to participate? Insane.
It proved it’s worth by proving to be more popular than Tinder at its launch in July, but then lost a third of its daily users by mid-August. How’s that for a fad? What started as a debatedly innocent app went awry when rumours of security breaches via permissions, in addition to be a contributing cause to a slew of armed robberies and worse, death.
