People aren’t saying 2016 was objectively better. They’re saying it felt lighter. Fun moments existed, they were shared, and they were even slightly stupid.

2026 Is the New 2016?

I was listening to BBC Radio 1 the other day in the kitchen. If, like me, you are a nostalgia addict then you’d love the throwback programmes that Radio 1 does. All the songs we listened to at 2am are played while you’re putting on laundry at 10am. Different timestamps, same shaking hips and head bopping… but I digress. 

The throwback du jour was 2016. 

Who were the huge artists of 2016?

Justin Bieber. Drake. Zara Larsson. The Chainsmokers (look out for a separate blog post for these guys later!)

There were some major bangers being played and I was inspired to hop onto Spotify to look up a 2016 playlist. And damn what a list it was. 

Fetty Wap, famously out of prison this month (January 2026), released his debut album with some absolute choons on it- Trap Queen debatably being the most famous (yes, yes, it was technically out in 2015 but it was on the 2016 album. Sue me.)

Major Lazer- a rolling group of DJs and not just 1 guy as I previously thought- championed a distinctive sound, mixing a surprising amount of trumpet material into dance beats. The people loved it. After the success of their 2015 song Lean On (the most streamed song of its era), the path was paved for the summer dance hit Cold Water with Justin Bieber.

Before Lo-Fi, There Was Tropical House

Before lo-fi had a chokehold on being the “inoffensive background music to study/focus to” genre, there were the casual beats of tropical house.

Set to videos of rich Instagram types jumping off yachts in the Mediterranean, tropical house was a mix of calypso, reggae and slowed-down pop hits- ultimately very inoffensive. It was a sign of the times; long free playlists on YouTube were the way to consume music.

I have fond memories of board gaming with my friends on Friday nights with a casual tropical house mix in the background and a can of Strongbow Dark Fruits in hand. It was the sort of music that went well with the ‘I’m still young and hanging out with friends but not really clubbing anymore’ scene (or as I called it, getting older).

So Why Is the Internet Saying 2026 Is the New 2016?

As you well know, I love basking in the music of yore but that isn/t the reason for this blog post. 

See, somewhere along the line of my nostalgia searching, Instagram algorithms (as they are) must have clocked my interest. Soon enough, content started appearing telling me 2026 was the new 2016.

Kylie, Branding, and the Return of 2016 Aesthetics

In the latest season of The Kardashians (Season 9, watchable on Disney +/Hulu), Kylie Jenner is filmed doing her promo for her King Kylie Collection . It’s a throwback to her 2016 Tumblr era, referencing her username. The packaging is, um, very 2016.

Jokes about Snapchat filters aside, Kylie was a major trendsetter in 2015. Remember the lip kits that sold out in minutes thanks to her social media hype? Here we see the pattern again: Kylie creates a product, and the internet follows.

Now, I’m not about to argue that Kylie Jenner is responsible for the current ‘2026 = 2016’ internet theory… but she’s certainly in the mix.

What Are People Actually Missing?

So what are people craving? What was so special about 2016? 

The same guy was president in the USA, culture was still a right old mix on the internet…

The key thing to remember here is that people aren’t saying 2016 was objectively better. They’re saying it felt lighter. Fun moments existed, they were shared, they were even slightly stupid.

2016, the Classroom, and Surviving Trends

2016 was the year I started my teacher training and it was a damn lesson in patience. 

It was the year of bottle flips, fidget spinners and dabbing. To survive a period, I needed to not only teach my lessons but create policies on these trends:

• If I managed a bottle flip, all other bottles went away.
• Fidget spinners were fine on desks and in hands, but I reserved the right to play with them too at any time.
• I’ll dab with you if you get full marks on something. No less.

Virality was more of a shared experience than it had been in a decade previously. Suddenly both my mother and I, two different generations, could compare notes on whether we thought the dress was black and gold or blue. (I was camp gold). 

It was low stakes. Collective. Unserious.

Quick Instagram break. Follow me for these vibes:

When Algorithms Changed the Mood

Fun moments still exist, TikTok trends are testament to this, but now there is much more algorithmic trench warfare. What battlefield you are on is dictated to you by your metrics and how much advertisers are willing to punt content in front of your eyes. 

In this regard, it’s easy to rose-tint a time when the algorithm wasn’t so shamelessly aggressive and you didn’t lose your friends’ updates in the mire that is 2026 social media. 

We weren’t curating personas yet. We were just posting.

A Hinge Year

For me, 2016 sits right on a hinge. My responsibility free days were passing. I was starting something that would define the rest of my adult life- teaching. It was a year that promoted a nostalgic vibe with more chilled out music and the overuse of the ‘Rio de Janeiro’ on Instagram. It was the year I stopped being such a party girl* and started being a working grown-up with responsibilities. (I believe the millennial phrase would be #adulting, but even I have my nostalgic boundaries.)

While I know the current trend is selective in its use of facts, I’m glad 2016 is culturally in the spotlight. It has lots of things that are good to remember.

* For Party Girl posts please see:

• Why David Guetta’s Cheesy 2010s Dance Music Worked (And Still Does)
• 2011 Club Music Revisited: Rihanna, Calvin Harris, and the Anthem That Stuck
• Why Kesha’s Tik Tok Became a Cultural Phenomenon; 2010 to 2025