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The best (and worst) of summer 2016 pop culture

Pop culture was crazy this summer. Here's a roundup of the most memorable moments. 

Pop culture was crazy this summer. Here's a roundup of the most memorable moments. 

This summer has been packed with notable international events, but none have been as memorable and entertaining as the drama in the world of pop culture. Here we exposed a few of the highlights. 

Kim Kardashian

Back in November 2014, Kim Kardashian debuted her Paper Magazine shoot. Kim, her friends and pretty much the rest of the pop culture world thought she broke the internet. Rightfully so, since that seemed to be not only the idea behind the shoot, but an insightful prediction to how the internet would react to the nude photos.

As assumed, the media exploded, because naturally the internet wanted to join the conversation. Kim’s photos for this shoot were everywhere, spread so quickly and so often the world even became a little tired of Kim and her entire empire. So it’s safe to say Kim did break the internet in 2014. 

Or so she thought.

But, as we learned this summer, Kim Kardashian actually broke the internet July 17th, 2016 when she exposed Taylor Swift on National Snake Day. Rumors began to spread from the "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" episode that aired that night. In the episode, Kim hinted that she had the receipts to expose Taylor Swift, but the internet wasn’t certain she really had any information on the situation. Some even thought it was just a ploy to get her and her family more attention.

Previously, Taylor Swift repeatedly claimed, through her sources, that after Kanye West released his popular song "Famous" in April, she was never called about the lyrical content. She even said she urged Kanye to be wary of lyrics with misogynistic content to support her strong feminist reputation.

But Kim couldn't allow her husband be wrongfully painted as the bad guy that abused his lyrical privileges, and especially not by Taylor Swift. So naturally since social media is where most of her empirical content is spread she exposed Taylor Swift with a set of short videos on Snapchat. In these videos Taylor not only approved of the lyrics, but admitted to liking them. She also claimed if someone were to ask her about it, she would respond with her approval of the song. She denied the allegations until the drama disappeared in her notable Instagram post, which particularly swayed my opinion of Taylor.

Justin Bieber

Recently, Instagram has lost a lot of interaction after the deactivation of Justin Bieber’s Instagram, which left the internet and especially the Beliebers in a frenzy. Soon after the deletion of his Instagram, the fans began trending #RipBeliebers, clearly distraught over the entire situation. Admittedly my Instagram feed feels a little lonely without the Biebs posting 10 pictures at once every time he logs on.

Frank Ocean

In addition to the disappearance of Justin Bieber’s Instagram, for years, the world has been wondering where Frank Ocean went.

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Just about every month rumors spread that Frank was finally working on a new album, and that the album would definitely be out soon. The long wait was a total string of disappointments musically, but the memes were pretty great. But recently, Frank Ocean created a live stream where he appeared to be building a staircase. As the live stream went on, Frank eventually debuted new music visually, and titled it “Endless” before finally releasing his album titled “Blonde” to the world leaving both me and internet with mixed emotions pertaining to whether they actually like it or not. After giving it a listen, "Blonde," seems to be a solid album, straying away from his typical sound to provide his audience with something new. I’m still not sure if it was quite worth the wait though. 

"Suicide Squad"

While avid music listeners have been obsessing and waiting for new music from Frank Ocean, DC Comics fans have been avidly waiting for "Suicide Squad," but the critics? Not so much.

"Suicide Squad" had such bad ratings, it basically became the joke of the Internet. While many agreed that "Suicide Squad" was a complete disaster there were a significant amount of fans that were not happy with all the slander.

Jared Leto is also being ripped to shreds by DC Comic fans that have clearly established Heath Ledger has the best and only memorable joker, as they mourn his death all over again. In their minds, Leto is clearly attempting to be something that he’s not while in this role. 

Melania Trump

Similarly, Melania Trump, Donald Trump’s wife, essentially plagiarized an entire speech. She used Michelle Obama’s speech pretty much word for word as her own. The internet quickly caught on, putting the speeches side by side to expose her. Even after she was figured out, she continued to claim the speech as her own. Michelle Obama didn’t have much to say, but Joyce Beatty tastefully shaded Melania Trump by wearing the exact same dress she wore, while giving her plagiarized speech. Beatty claimed that she had no idea Melania ever wore it, and that it was her own original idea. Sound familiar? 

The world of pop culture has been lively this summer, leaving the internet and pop culture enthusiasts like myself in a state of constant confusion and entertainment by the ways in which these celebrities have been acting recently.

We can only wait and see what they do next.

@aIexishinnant

swerve@dailytarheel.com