by Corey O’Neill
Sorry to break the news to you all, but summer is over. With the calendar officially showing September, The Recorder would like to take a quick look back at the biggest pop culture moments of Summer 2016.
The most talked-about event this past summer was the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games. The U.S. dominated this year’s games, finishing first place with an astonishing final metal count of 121, 51 more than China, who took second place.
The U.S. Women’s Olympic Gymnastics Team won the hearts of us all. The Men’s Basketball Team won their third consecutive gold metal and Michael Phelps proved his greatness once again.
Phelps’ teammate Ryan Lochte had a successful Olympic games, although his performance was shadowed by his now infamous fabricated robbery story.
In movie news, Disney released the highly anticipated “Finding Dory” and shattered the box office. Fans of the original “Finding Nemo,” regardless of age, were more than satisfied with the sequel.
Another highly anticipated summer release was DC’s “Suicide Squad,” starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie. Although not well received by critics, fans tried to defend the film. In the end, everyone can agree that Jared Leto’s Joker needed more screen time.
It was a big summer for music. Popular bands such as Blink-182, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Radiohead all had successful releases. It had been a long wait for fans of these bands to hear new music. However, fans of Frank Ocean may be the most patient ever. Ocean toyed with fans all summer long, teasing continual release dates. Everything he hinted was followed with an empty promise. Outraged fans tweeted their anger. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he released two full-length albums. The virtual album entitled “Endless,” as well as the LP “Blonde,” both were critically acclaimed and fans instantly regretted turning their backs on Frank.
This summer has gone exceptionally well for Drake. His album “Views” topped the charts for nearly the entire summer. He capped off the summer by professing his love to Rihanna in front of millions.
Kanye West had an interesting summer to say the least, with his irregular album release and his odd tweets about his financial problems. In May, he was a guest on Ellen and gave a speech that left everyone scratching their heads and questioning what they had just watched. He followed the interview up with the release of his music video for the song “Famous” in June. The video features what appears to be the naked bodies of celebrities, including Rihanna, Donald Trump, Ray J, and Taylor Swift, that Kanye claims influenced his career. Swift, who is mentioned in the song, was not happy to be featured in the video.
It’s going to be tough to top this past summer. Good luck, summer of 2017!
