Are you in the right headspace to receive this newsletter? Because I just took a DNA test and I’m 100% ready.
I’m gonna tell my kids this was 2019:
january
How do you like your eggs in 2019? Record breaking? Good. We welcomed the last year of the decade with an egg that broke the internet. If this doesn’t set the tone for 2019, then we don’t know what will. The brainchild of advertising aficionado Chris Godfrey, a stock photo of brown egg became Instagram's most liked photo and was subsequently revealed to be a campaign for mental health advocacy (major internet points). We also welcomed this clapback from former Insta record holder, Kylie Jenner. Who else, sis?!
Don’t worry Egg Gang, it’s only been viewed 45.9 million times.
As @world_record_egg will know, it’s lonely at the top - but that’s where Ariana Grande spent, quite literally, the whole of 2019. 7 Rings, lead track from ‘thank u, next’ (which we’re still not over, fyi) broke multiple Spotify streaming records - as well as becoming the largest ever music debut on YouTube, with 23.6 million views in its first 24 hours - it’s now surpassed half a billion. 🐸☕️prediction: she’ll snatch the Grammy for album of the year. You heard it here first.
february
And the Oscar goes to...Mother Monster herself! After turning her attention to acting this year, Lady Gaga came sensationally into her own. Playing ‘girl next door’ Ally in A Star is Born, she blew us away with her acting prowess and on-screen relationship with Cooper. We can hardly go any further without mentioning THAT Shallow moment at the Oscars. No, YOU’RE crying.
In other news: it takes a lot for our stomachs to turn, but MoMo, a demonic chicken lady with a face that cannot be unseen [tap here if you dare], did just that. Only issue being of course, it was all a hoax - but try telling that to the millions of terrified parents convinced that MoMo had infiltrated Peppa Pig (y’all can come for anything but Peppa). Even pop culture matriarch, Kim Kardashian, publicly pleaded with YouTube to remove all traces of MoMo. It was big. Sort of awkward that the platform couldn’t find a whiff across its channels - but that didn’t stop MoMo becoming a household name. She is as real as we’ve made her.
march
2019 was *the* year of scandal, seemingly permeating every pocket of the internet. March kicked off scandal szn with Jordyn Woods taking her seat at the Red Table to discuss what-would-become one of the biggest celebritea 🐸☕️moments of the year. Such was the internet *drama*, Betches even ran a live feed of responses to the interview, which now sits at a humble 10M views. That’s one way to keep up with the (kinda) Kardashians, we guess?
March wrapped with the release of Billie Eilish’s debut, which we’ve waxed lyrical about here at High Tea (and we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon). Shooting straight to No. 1 on Billboard as well as landing 2019’s second-biggest album (pipped to the post by Ariana, ofc), it was inevitable that Billie would secure her first US Number One with bad guy, finally knocking Lil Nas X off the top spot. Gen Z artists winning here all around.
april
We should probably point out that April was the month Billy Ray Cryus hopped on Old Town Road, which would go on to secure 17 weeks at the top, breaking Billboard’s all time record. The remix earned two Grammy nominations and we think this collab will seal the deal for Best Pop Duo. This country trap anthem will officially go down in 2k19 as the OG ‘meme to banger’. Lil Nas X even admitted promoting the song as a meme for months before it officially took off on TikTok, and with that the Yeehaw agenda was born.
Ever looked at Shawn Mendes and thought “shoe”? In April, we were blessed with “Celebrities as Things” memes, which surprised us by just how hilarious it is to see our pop culture icons as inanimate objects. Zayn Malik as different Nokia’s models takes the biscuit.
may
You’re CANCELLED! We told you 2019 was the year scandal went mainstream. If you’ve made it this far without hearing the phrase ‘Tati vs. James’, then we honestly have to congratulate you on the self-imposed exile. Some context: beauty went colossal this year; valued as a $532 billion industry, it’s unstoppable rise attributed to, in part, the explosion of beauty vloggers sharing their tutorials across YouTube.
James Charles and Tati Westbrook, giants of the beauty community, came to blows over...you guessed it...gummy bears. Such was the virality of this moment, even the New York Times weighed in on the #JamesCharlesIsOverParty, following his demise as he lost 3 million subscribers almost overnight. James’ 41 minute response to the drama, titled ‘No More Lies’ has since been viewed more than 48 million times - if this video was monetized, James could have pocketed a cool $80,000. With the influencer market predicted to be worth $50 billion in 2020, we think we know who the real winners were here...
Our favourite meme of the year also deserves a special mention, it doesn’t get better than this:
june
We welcomed in the start of the summer with (shocker) a White Claw. We know, we’re basic. If you’re not familiar with White Claw (aka “a vegan four loko that went to private school”), it’s the hard seltzer that officially took over in 2019. Accounting for more than half of all hard seltzer sales, White Claw is currently the top growth brand amongst beer and flavoured malt bevs - with sales increasing more than 200% since 2018.
Such is the popularity of the drink with Zs, that it birthed a meme ecosystem of its very own. One thing we do know for sure: La Croix walked so that White Claw could run.
Speaking of Zs, let’s talk about the explosion of HBO’s Euphoria. Aimed at highlighting the Gen Z experience, it ranked as HBO’s youngest skewing original series and the network’s second most social series - only beaten by Game of Thrones (we’ll let them have this one).
Dubbed the Gen Z version of Skins, we fell in love with keeping up with Rue and Jules - played by Zendaya and breakout star Hunter Schafer. Keep all eyes on her in 2020 as we await the second season with bated breath.
july
#POVs pls 🙏🏻. In July, TikTok blessed us with POVs, (Point of View Skits), a different kind of meme to satisfy our insatiable craving for relatable, raw content. Forget Zuck’s mantra of “bringing the world closer together” TikTok’s POVs opened up conversations on humanity, by putting the viewer in the centre of a messy, emotional situation for ultimate immersion of another person’s point of view. The result? See for yourselves 👀
Viral POV topics ranged from school lunchroom politics, to showcasing the heartbreak of what it’s like to live with an estranged parent. No longer just for lip syncs, TikTok showed how its online world instigates real-world conversations on humanity in its purest form.
august
August belongs to Kombucha girl and no one else. Sorry, we don’t make the rules. Second only to Lil Nas X with Old Town Road, Brittany Broski became one of the most pervasive people on TikTok this year. You have to see it to believe it:
The TikTok has since spawned a life of its very own and Zs were quick to capitalise on this moment:
september
2019 has blessed us with so many-meme worthy Greta Thunberg moments, but this one takes the crown. She pulled no punches when addressing world leaders over the climate crisis at the United Nations:
“you have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words,”.
Ouch, put that in your juul and smoke it. The speech even got its own remix from Fatboy Slim. If that wasn’t enough, we were gifted with probably the most gifable moment of the year:
We stan. It’s no surprise that she’s just landed TIME’s Person of the Year. We couldn’t think of a more deserving person to scoop this award.
September also saw the publication of Chanel Miller’s Know My Name and release of Netflix’s Unbelievable - prescient reminders of the continuing #MeToo movement and its fight for justice. Peep The Atlantic’s wrap of the most definition #MeToo moments of the year. We’ll be watching the Women’s March 2020 with eager eyes. The fight isn’t over just yet.
october
No one did more for *the culture* in October than two women on opposite sides of the world. It’s...Wagatha Christie and Kylie Jenner. Ky’s “Rise and Shine” debut was nothing short of spectacular, with Ariana even requesting she sample the (now viral) meme on her track. Jenner’s response? Sure, “as long as I’m in the music video” 💅Can we expect anything less from a “self-made billionaire”, who this year sold a majority stake of Kylie Cosmetics to Coty, in one of the biggest beauty deals ($600 million is no joke) of 2019? She’s come a long way from competing with the Instagram egg, especially if her performance at Justin and Hailey Bieber’s charity event this Friday is anything to go by. Rise and Shine is the icing on the cake for Ky’s best year yet.
As Britain waded knee-deep in Brexit negotiations, Colleen Rooney, from the WAG class of 2006, gave us the light relief we desperately needed. Now nicknamed ‘Wagatha Christie’, Colleen dropped a huge exposé on fellow WAG Rebekah Vardy, who she claimed to have been selling stories to the press. How did she discover the sneak? Instagram Stories, ofc! 🕵🏼♀️Wagatha officially makes the list of best social media hacks of all time.
november
Ok Boomer.
Never have two words instigated such inter-generation angst. This viral turn of phrase was the instantly addictive retort used to dismiss *anyone* speaking condescendingly about Generation Z. It did the rounds in November, catching the attention of a Z entrepreneur, eventually leading to Fox Media (and four others) applying to trademark it. A corp trying to trademark a Gen Z meme? Well...you already know the response 🙄
Billie Eilish (told you we weren’t over it) has come a long way since her humble ‘Ocean Eyes’ beginnings, and her growth - showcased beautifully through a series of interviews with Vanity Fair - is seriously impressive. Graduating from Apple’s UpNext artist in 2017, to being crowned Billboard’s Woman of the Year award (at 17 years old?!) this week, it’s hard to imagine what Eilish can’t do. 2020 watch out.
december
Which came first: the chicken or the egg? It looks like we finally have our answer. 2019 kicked off with a record breaking egg, so it’s only fitting that we end with a viral chicken sandwich. It even had its own hashtag (#chickenwars) and was trending on Pornhub, so you know it’s legit. Popeyes reignited the fried chicken civil war with the return of its immensely popular chicken sandwich - expecting to sell 60 per day, the actual number of sales sat around 1,000. That’s a lot of sandwiches.
Before you scoff, fast food chicken revenue has nearly tripled this decade, from about $17.5 billion to $43.2 billion, up 146%. Popeyes looks set for an aggressive growth path, which might explain why it has been caught up in the media hysteria of 2019’s Art Basel, following the $120,000 banana which, well...is no more.
Can’t put a price on greatness? Think again. 📸 Jim Aborgast
So, how do we recover from this insanity? What’s next? Well, we think the vegan fried chick*n market will be playing catch up in 2020. And we simply love to see it. All eyes on Nuggs for an industry takeover.
That’s a wrap.
2019 blessed us with some of the best internet moments of the decade and we’re stoked that you joined us for the ride. If you’re OG High Tea, thank you for your continued support (we see your tweets 🙏) and if you’ve just recently joined, “hey, how are ya?” Here’s to documenting another year of internet debauchery and all the life lessons these sweet treats bring 🥂, 2020 we see u 👀
ttyl next week for our final dispatch of the year.