The pop culture moments we were 'holding space' for in 2024

In June, she dropped “Brat,” an album that defined the summer. That lime green was everywhere, and so was the “Apple” dance. People could not get enough. Even Vice President Kamala Harris embraced its essence when Charli declared her “brat” just hours after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race on July 21 and endorsed Harris. As a nod of acceptance, her campaign briefly changed the background on its X profile pic to lime green.

TikTok has been under fire for years for security concerns. In 2022, President Joe Biden signed a bill that prohibited installing the app on government devices. Just this April, Congress voted to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner ByteDance sells the app by Jan. 19.

She had been releasing music for years, but Roan took off in the spring following the drop of “Good Luck, Babe!” The song rose to No. 6 on the all-genre, multimetric Billboard Hot 100, bringing attention to more of her semi-older hits, like “Pink Pony Club” and “Hot To Go,” the latter of which went viral because of the perky, cheerleader-esque dance that goes along with it.

While she may have lost the electoral vote to Trump, she showed the world a taste of what women can do.

Losing this platform would have a major negative impact, not only on its millions of U.S. users but also on content creators and small businesses that rely on the app for income. According to CNBC, TikTok estimates that just one month of a shutdown would cost content creators and small businesses about .3 billion.

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — 2024 was an attitude. A vibe. A roller coaster that threw the future of a major social media platform into question, gave us all an education in “brat,” and got us up close and personal with a pygmy hippo. Let’s break down some of the gravity-defying “femininomenon” that was 2024.

Charli XCX teased it at the start of the year on social media with a lime-green square and a four-letter word in simple black type. Anticipation was high and fans were ready.

Moo Deng, as she’s known, has done nothing but pull on the heartstrings of everyone since her September debut at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand.

Soon, social media feeds were flooded with “Brat” remix edits of Harris talking about coconut trees, “existing in the context,” dancing, laughing, “livin’ that life” and being her most vibrant self.

The slippery hippo gained so much popularity worldwide that the zoo set up a live stream so people could watch her roll around, drink from a hose and sleep. If only she knew the depths of her impact on society.

But the movie was so popular it became the top-grossing film adaptation of a Broadway musical, beating “Mamma Mia!”

While the jury on that is still out, a verdict on the vibe of the summer (and fall) is in.

And months on, they are still “bringing the boom” — from releasing songs on Spotify to partnering with a popular third-grader from Jersey known as The Rizzler on TikTok, who gained prominence for starting the “rizz face.” Their content even caught the attention of Jimmy Fallon, who interviewed all three of them on his late night show in the fall.

By August, fans crammed together to watch her perform on stage at Lollapalooza, where she’s believed to have drawn one of the largest crowds. And a few months later, she took to a smaller, in-person audience to perform on “Saturday Night Live.”

And, of course, we can’t recap the year without mentioning the movie adaptation of “Wicked.”

Also featured on a star-studded “SNL” season was an adorable pygmy hippopotamus, portrayed by cast member Bowen Yang.

It was hard to escape. From radio stations to bars and restaurants, “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” from Pennsylvania’s own Sabrina Carpenter were everywhere, but so were “Midwest Princess” Chappell Roan’s hits.

By leaning into the vibe, Harris gained the attention of younger voters and entered the November election with high confidence, garnering support from Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion and Taylor Swift, to name a few.

The strange interviews of Ariana Grande (Glinda) and Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba) that circulated before the film’s release had people questioning a lot of things, like what “holding space for ‘Defying Gravity’” means.

And this is only the first half. Part Two is expected to drop in November 2025. So maybe take this time to figure out “what shoes to wear” and how you’ll “fix your hair” for the next viewing session.

And we certainly can’t forget TikTok sensations Kip and Bob. The two blew up in October from a promotional video for Cherry Hill’s Public Library. While they didn’t land a spot on Fallon, they did reel in a lot of traction for the library.

So what’s in store for TikTok? It’s still uncertain. As of Dec. 27, President-elect Donald Trump urged the Supreme Court to pause implementation of the law that would ban the app or force its sale, arguing he should have time after taking office to pursue a “political resolution” to the issue, according to The Associated Press. The court is set to hear arguments in the case on Jan. 10.

The app has given a spotlight to many creators, locally and nationally, like Costco Guys A.J. & Big Justice (originally from New Jersey), a father-son duo who rate Costco food items with either a “boom” (meaning it’s excellent) or a “doom” (I think you get the gist).