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As 2024 comes to an end, the music and pop culture landscape witnessed some of the most captivating moments in history, proving once again why the entertainment industry remains a powerful force in shaping discussions.
With Kendrick Lamar's record-breaking single Not Like Us dominating social media to Sean "Diddy" Combs being arrested over allegations of s*x trafficking, the internet was left buzzing with highly entertaining developments across realms of pop culture.
From Diddy's arrest to The Eras Tour: Recapping 2024's most iconic pop culture moments
As we move into 2025, this end-year recap will revisit some of the most notable pop culture events that dominated headlines, inspired social media trends, and had everybody, from fans to critics, buzzing online.
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From celebrity arrests to generational milestones, the following 12 pop culture moments made 2024 an unforgettable year across the entertainment and music landscapes.
1) Sean "Diddy" Combs arrested over s*x trafficking charges
On September 16, music mogul and producer Sean "Diddy" Combs was arrested in New York following several allegations and lawsuits accusing him of multiple criminal charges. Diddy being taken into custody was a notable pop culture moment as public opinions were seemingly divided over his innocence.
The rapper is currently being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, with prosecutors charging Sean Combs with multiple federal crimes, including s*x trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
While Sean Combs has maintained his innocence and denied all the claims, which include allegations of bribery, s*xual assault, arson, kidnapping, and more, the rapper is currently scheduled to face trial on May 5, 2025.
2) Taylor Swift makes history with The Eras Tour
After receiving multiple Grammy nominations and delivering her chart-topping TTPD album, Taylor Swift made pop culture history this year after The Eras Tour grossed over $2 Billion in ticket sales. The tour became the highest-grossing concert run in history.
The Eras Tour lasted a whopping 632 days, starting on March 17, 2023, and ending on December 8, 2024. It closed out her 21-month concert run at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, Canada.
Over 10 million fans attended Taylor's world tour, a pop culture milestone as the acclaimed singer performed 149 individual shows. She also released a Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour film, which added close to $261 million to the total revenue generated, whose net income surpassed records previously held by Coldplay.
3) The Hawk Tuah meme coin
After going viral on TikTok earlier in the year, Haliey Welch, popularly known as the "Hawk Tuah Girl," has become one of the biggest pop culture figures for 2024. She went on to start a podcast called "Talk Tuah" while garnering a massive fan following across social media platforms.
While the pop culture influencer-turned-entrepreneur's success is notable, Haliey made headlines this past month after promoting her meme coin, which many are claiming to have been a "rug-pull," i.e., a scam where developers abandon a cryptocurrency after withdrawing all the funds, leaving investors with defunct tokens.
The controversial cryptocurrency, $HAWK, was first announced and launched on December 4, seemingly inspired by her viral moment in June earlier in the year. The value of the coin initially skyrocketed, reaching a market cap in the hundreds of millions, before crashing only a few minutes later.
On December 20, the pop culture figure released her first official public statement regarding the $HAWK incident on her official X account.
"I am fully cooperating with and am committed to assisting the legal team representing the individuals impacted, as well as to help uncover the truth, hold the responsible parties accountable, and resolve this matter," she stated.
4) Kendrick Lamar brings together the West Coast
After dominating the year with chart-topping singles and highly entertaining diss tracks released during his historic back-and-forth with Drake, Kendrick Lamar performed a one-off concert on June 20 called "Ken & Friends: The Pop Out Concert."
The live show was held at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, and was filled with notable pop culture moments that entertained thousands of attendees. Millions were also watching the show unfold on Amazon's livestream of the event.
From performing Not Like Us multiple times to revisiting older hits from his catalog, the Ken & Friends show was a highly entertaining pop culture event. The concert was also hailed for bringing various factions of the West Coast together on stage for the first time.
Artists like YG, Tyler, the Creator, ScHoolboy Q, Dr. Dre, Roddy Ricch, Tommy The Clown, and more graced the stage during the concert before coming together for one final play through of Not Like Us, which was previously performed five times in a row.
5) Lil Durk arrested over "Murder-For-Hire"
On October 24, Chicago rapper Lil Durk was reportedly taken into custody on his way to catch a private jet to Italy. His arrest comes more than eight months after he engraved his name into pop culture history after winning his first Grammy award for All My Life in February.
The rapper was reportedly charged with murder for hire, with prosecutors alleging that Durk issued a bounty on rapper Quando Rondo via his record label Only The Family, as retaliation for the murder of King Von in 2020.
Lil Durk is currently in federal custody, facing additional charges of carrying and using firearms, including a machine gun, conspiracy, and possession of firearms in a crime that resulted in death. He was denied bail on December 12 and will remain behind bars until his trial, scheduled for January 7, 2025.
6) Donald Trump's assassination attempt
While the pop culture landscape was still reeling from the intensity of the 2024 rap beef, the United States presidential election was in full swing, dominating social media, with Donald Trump campaigning across the country as he looked to secure his second term in office.
On July 14, while speaking at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump survived an assassination attempt after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at the President, hitting him in the ear.
Although Secret Service agents shot and killed Crooks on-site, the assassination attempt took the life of 50-year-old Corey Comperatore. Former president Joe Biden would later back out of the election on July 21, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement.
On December 5, Trump was announced as the winner, resulting in his second term in office after previously losing his re-election bid in 2020. The 47th President of the United States is set to be sworn into office on January 20, 2025.
7) Major nominations from the 2025 Grammy Awards
Given that the Grammys are considered one of the biggest pop culture events of the year, the announcement of next year's nominations, released on October 31, caused quite the spur online.
With the 67th Annual Grammy Award Ceremony less than two months away, the following artists received the highest number of nominations, leading many to believe they would take home multiple awards at next year's music award ceremony:
- Beyoncé - 11 total nominations for her recent album Cowboy Carter.
- Kendrick Lamar - 7 total nominations, many of which are for his No.1 diss track Not Like Us.
- Billie Eilish - 7 total nominations for her third studio album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT.
- Charlie XCX - 7 total nominations for her sixth studio album BRAT.
- Post Malone - 7 total nominations for his sixth studio album F-1 Trillion.
- Taylor Swift - 6 total nominations for her 11th studio album The Tortured Poets Department.
- Chappell Roan - 6 total nominations for her debut studio album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
8) Tyler, the Creator's unique 'Chromakopia' album rollout
Marking his third consecutive No.1 album, Tyler, the Creator's eighth studio album, Chromakopia, released to streaming on October 28, was a massive pop culture event for hip-hop in 2024.
Fans were unaware of the project's oncoming release until the rapper revealed the official teaser on October 17, later confirming that he would be dropping his highly anticipated project on a Monday rather than Friday, intentionally avoiding the industry standard for new music drops.
The project performed exceedingly well, being termed one of the largest hip-hop album debuts for 2024, holding the No.1 spot on Billboard 200 for three consecutive weeks.
"I think we should put music out again on Tuesdays, instead of Fridays. I think it's a lot of passive listening, at parties or people get the time to the gym, so they're not really listening. And people on the weekends just wanna chill and hang out, so they're not really listening." - Tyler, the Creator stated during a 2023 interview with music journalist Nardwaur.
9) Drake 100GB Data Dump
This past August, Drake surprised fans after hosting a new website titled "100 Gigs For Your Headtop," featuring extensive BTS footage, with some clips dating back to the creation of his 2016 album Views.
The website included 100GB worth of footage, stored under 40 individual folders, which featured tons of B-roll video footage from tours, recording sessions, music video shoots, and more. The website also hosted three new tracks, namely:
- IT'S UP (Feat. Young Thug x 21 Savage)
- BLUE GREEN RED
- HOUSEKEEPING KNOWS (Feat. Latto)
These records were later uploaded to all major streaming platforms on August 30, 2024, resulting in Drake trending across pop culture media outlets on X and Instagram.
10) Young Thug pleads guilty in YSL RICO trial
While the YSL RICO Trial has dominated the pop culture and music landscapes for over two years, the label's CEO and rapper Young Thug was finally released from the case after taking a non-negotiated guilty plea deal.
Following his arrest in May 2022, the YSL rapper was released from custody after presiding Judge Whitaker commuted his potential 5-year prison sentence to time served. Her sentencing comes after Thug pleaded guilty to six out of the eight charges against him and his record label, which have been listed below:
- Participation in criminal street gang activity - guilty
- Violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act (x3) - guilty
- Possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony - guilty
- Possession of a machine gun - guilty
- Street gang leader - no contest
- Conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) - no contest
11) Liam Payne's untimely passing
The pop culture and music world were shocked at the news of former One Direction member Liam Payne's untimely passing on October 16.
According to reports from the incident, Liam tragically passed away after falling from the third-floor balcony of his hotel room in Bueno Aires, Argentina, succumbing to internal and external traumas induced by his fall.
Prosecutors and authorities claimed that Liam's autopsy report revealed traces of "alcohol, cocaine, and a prescribed antidepressant" within his system in the moments before his death.
12) The 2024 Beyoncé Bowl performance
On Christmas Day, the NFL live-streamed two major games, Pittsburgh Steelers vs Kansas City and Baltimore Ravens vs Houston Texans, on Netflix as part of their reported $150 million deal with the streaming giant. During halftime at the Baltimore vs Texas game, Beyoncé commanded the center field with an electric performance of some of the biggest hits from her Grammy-nominated eighth studio album Cowboy Carter.
Marking one of the biggest pop culture and sport cross-over events, Beyoncé put up an entertaining show, dubbed "The Beyoncé Bowl," produced by Parkwood Entertainment and Jesse Collins Entertainment. The singer performed alongside artists like Shaboozey and Post Malone and also brought out her eleven-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy, during the closing performance of her NFL Halftime Show.
Other notable pop culture moments for the year include Pharrell Williams releasing his feature film with LEGO (Piece By Piece), Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre dropping the sequel to 1993's Doggystyle, and the viral Moo Deng meme.
