The Winners

Drake

On the wings of the first rap beef of the social media age, Aubrey grew a beard, earned street cred and snagged a Grammy nomination. The memes were endless.

Drake vs. Meek Mill
Photo: watchloud.com

Diversity on Screen

From Annalise Keating to The Wiz Live!, we saw strides in diversifying characters, not only for the small screen, but in theaters through films such as Straight Outta Compton and Star Wars: The Force Awakens placed women and people of color in leading roles.

Adele

The British import said “Hello” with her third album 25, which continues to shatter records first established by pop giants *NSYNC and Taylor Swift.

Adele
Photo: www.usatoday.com

The Golden State Warriors

The Splash Brothers led Steve Kerr’s Warriors to their first championship in decades. On the shoulders of Steph Curry, this new Best Coast team continues to dominate a new generation of NBA All-Stars.

Comics 

From Marvel’s cinematic universe to network and cable adaptations, comics and those who love them experienced a renaissance of sorts. It can only get better as DC Comics begins its film phase with Superman v Batman this spring.

The Losers

Meek Mill

His petty attack and lackluster rebuttal against Aubrey Graham unearthed death by social media. Things only got worse as legal woes mounted presenting potential jail time.

Gun violence reform

The public outcry for change in gun laws fell on deaf ears as the victim count rose. Gun control will be a hot button issue come 2016.

The Trail to Election 2016 

From Trump’s stunts to Hillary’s email cache, the road to November 4, 2016 has been paved in unprecedented disarray.  

hillary clinton and donald trump
Photo: www.futureofbusinessandtech.com

Miss Colombia

In what many cast as a ratings ploy, the prematurely-crowned contestant lost out on the honor of being Miss Universe due to human error. Host, Steve Harvey, misread the teleprompter, later announcing Miss Philippines as the winner.

Columbia
Photo: wikipedia.org

Indiana

The Midwestern state garnered national attention for two regressive legislative moves: the Religious Freedom Act, which in part limited rights of same-sex couples; and the banning of Syrian refugees.