Written by Kayla Stroud, Web Editor

A pop culture fanatic’s shortlist of this past year’s happenings.

Zayn Bids Out

While in the middle of the One Direction’s final tour before going on an extensive hiatus *cough*their breaking up *cough*, band member Zayn Malik decided to dip out. Although rumors of infidelity had been running rampant as to the reason for the sudden departure, Malik reveled in an interview last month that he felt drained, that he was tired of not being able to express himself through the teeny-pop music that they made.

While his former bandmates are attempting to be as diplomatic as possible about the situation (aka not letting their seething hatred show), Simon Cowell hasn’t been quite as nice in his description of Malik’s departure. Calling him mean and unprofessional for his former antics.

I hope for Malik sake that #ZoloZayn is a hit.

Bieber Penis
Justin Bieber’s bank account wasn’t the only thing inflating this past fall. Nudes were recently released of the #Bieberconda and I have to say…not bad. Whether this was some marketing ploy or not, it definitely shoved him back into the forefront of the tabloids.

Taylor and Nicki squash minor beef
From preforming to winning awards to calling out her pastor, Nicki Minaj was quite the busy lady at this year’s VMAs. During her opening performance, always-victim Taylor Swift joined the rapper onstage to perform her hit song Bad Blood. They pantomimed and lip-synched their hearts out, mouthing the words and no sound could be heard. The mic wasn’t on. I’m assuming that this was intentional.

The performance was said to be a sign of solidarity after their minor beef earlier that month where Swift, got all woe is me after Nicki called out the VMAs for not putting her video up for a Video of the Year nomination. Swift thinking Minaj was directing the statement towards her. She wasn’t.

Luckily for Minaj, this “feud” happened AFTER the Bad Blood video came out. I shudder to think what could have been had Swift aimed the proverbial gun at her.

Next Tupac v. Biggie? Hmmmmmm.

Drake Hotline Bling
Hotline Bling had some buzz coming in, but it wasn’t until rapper Drake released the song’s video where

it REALLY made an impact. As soon as the video made it’s way online the memes, gifs, think piece started to flow.

Drake dad-danced his way into our hearts.

He danced in a turtleneck. He danced in a bubble coat. He danced in his overpriced OVO sweatshirt.

I don’t exactly know what I expected going into watching this video but I never imagined watching Cha Cha for four and a half minutes. So, as we send out this overused meme here is a compilation of some of my personal favorite Hotline Bling vids.

The Queen rules 2015
Singer Adele released her first single since going on hiatus after giving birth to her first child. She had all but disappeared from the public eye for four long years. So when it was announced that she was releasing new music this month, it seemed inevitable that fans worldwide would be clamoring for a taste.

Since its release, her single, Hello, has seemingly broken every record known to man. It is expected to roll in one million in its first week. The video accompanying the song broke Taylor Swift’s Vevo single day view count by 6 million views. It also ousted previous title holder Miley Cyrus as the fastest video to hit 100 million views with 100,079,462 in a mere 114 hours.

After being out for only three months, the song has been streamed more than 270 million times on Spotify.

Tickets for the songstress’ upcoming stateside tour went on sale over the past week. According to Vulture, over 10 million fans warred over 750,000 available seats. Ticketmaster claims that this was the most people that the site has ever had to log in at one time.

Craziness.

More artists should take cues from her. Falling off the map for an extended period of time seemed to have only made her popularity grow.

Caitlyn Jenner
Former Olympian Bruce Jenner’s transformation into Caitlyn captivated audiences. During her televised special with Diane Sawyer she announced that she had been in the process of undergoing a sex change operation. That along with her Vanity Fair cover and recent ESPY win pushed her to the forefront of media attention.

Steve Harvey
Even on it’s way out the door, 2015 continues to give us gifts. It just had to go out with a bang.

Someone had the brilliant idea to give game show host, Steve Harvey, the Miss Universe hosting gig. The thing that they neglected to remember? He isn’t a good host.

The main reason people watch Family Feud nowadays is to catch what idiotic tomfoolery comes out of his mouth and his meme-worthy reactions.

So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when during the most pivotal pageantry moment of the year, Miss Universe, Harvey would do what he does best, deliver great television.

Lights dim, dramatic background music queued. The winner is about to be crowned. BUT, in what is now one of the biggest pageant clusterfucks in the past decade, Harvey calls out the wrong name.

Hysteria ensues.