Each year, the music world delivers some of the most exciting and not-so-great news. From some fantastic songs that we cannot stop playing to losing a few good talents along the way, it always feels like a rollercoaster of emotions. Whether female rappers are fighting or disturbing artist behaviours, 2018 has given us a lot of moments. The good weighs more than the bad, so we are excited to share our favourite music moments of 2018 with you!

It is an excellent year for crossover collaborations in music from different continents. You get English pop artist Dua Lipa with South Korean girl group BLACKPINK on “Kiss and Make Up” to Drake collaborating with Bad Bunny on “MIA” to sing in Spanish. This is not something new, but there has been an increasing number of these unlikely crossovers happening and we are not mad at it because it breaks down barriers of what each genre are. This trend will only get bigger to allow more artists to be heard and we foresee more happening in 2019. Oh, never forget about Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s first collaboration album Everything is Love too.

View this post on Instagram

Thank you so much to @entertainmentweekly for the honor!!

A post shared by CARDIVENOM (@iamcardib) on Nov 29, 2018 at 10:26am PST

Two of the most prominent female rappers of 2018 gave us the most talked-about public fight incident when Cardi B and Nicki Minaj threw down at a New York Fashion Week party. Despite the commotion, both of them have given us some amazing singles this year, which is more important than any public fight. We were also blessed by the presence of other rising female rappers such as Rico Nasty, Saweetie, Kash Doll, Princess Nokia, Kamaiyah, CupcakKe and many others making waves this year as well. Hopefully by next year, it will be a great year for them to bring back the ‘90s era vibe when female rappers were abundant and widely celebrated.

View this post on Instagram

#Mood : KEKE Do You Love Me ? 😂😂😂 @champagnepapi #DoTheShiggy #InMyFeelings

A post shared by Shoker🃏 (@theshiggyshow) on Jun 29, 2018 at 6:15pm PDT

First, Drake gave us the quirky “Hotline Bling” dance in 2015, then “In My Feelings” quickly become another viral challenge to hit the internet. Social media star Shiggy danced to the hit single first and quickly caught on to become #DoTheShiggy craze. It inspired famous folks like Will Smith, Ciara, DJ Khaled and even J. Hope from BTS to joined in on the fun.

This pop princess is having such an emotional rollercoaster of a year. With the release of her fourth album Sweetener, Ariana Grande was shocked by the news of the passing of ex-boyfriend rapper Mac Miller before calling it off on her engagement to Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson. Despite the dark clouds over her this year, she managed to release an uplifting single “Thank You, Next” from her fifth album that celebrates the lessons each past boyfriends have taught her. One thing’s for sure, Ariana Grande will be treating fans with more fantastic music when she kicks off Sweetener World Tour on a more positive light in March 2019.

From international acts like Drake and Cardi B to K-Pop acts NCT 127 and Super Junior taking the Latin music for a spin, the world was blessed with so many great releases. Whether they are singing in Spanish or not, the influence is undeniable especially during Summer when it’s all that we could be jamming to in the clubs or listen on the radio. 2018 really embraced the Latin culture among the pop culture and it could even find its way into 2019 and we won’t have a problem with it either.

Music plays a big role in making movies sound as cool as it can be. From Bohemian Rhapsody starring Rami Malek about the late great Freddie Mercury from the band Queen to A Star is Born starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga about a struggling artist trying to make it, we appreciate great movies about music that are not just a musical, but actual stories about music artists. The world recognizes the hardships that were also shown in K-Pop group BTS’s documentary movie Burn The Stage that takes us behind the stage of their phenomenal global success. We are here for it.

K-Pop in America

With the recent popularity of Korean group BTS achieving tremendous success in the States, it has opened up many doors for other acts to get their own shine as well. NCT 127 was named Apple Music’s Up Next artist in October, which saw the boys getting plenty of attention especially with their first all-English single “Regular” during this promotional season in Los Angeles. This year also sees BLACKPINK have the highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 charts at the 55th position, which is a first for an all-female K-Pop group. We can’t wait to see what 2019 will look like for K-Pop in America!

the being formally known as Kanye West

I am YE

— ye (@kanyewest) September 29, 2018

Kanye West is now Ye

The man that needs no introduction has announced on Twitter that he will be known as Ye, which is also the name of his album released this year. The world has been calling Kanye West as Ye, so it’s only natural that he would want to be referred to as such. Despite all the questionable politic approaches he has taken this year, the music industry wouldn’t be as exciting without Kanye West in the mix. Sorry, we mean Ye.

What is your favourite music moment of 2018?

COVER IMAGE: Bohemian Rhapsody via TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX

Kevin was the former editor of two music and lifestyle platforms in Malaysia. He is an all-round music enthusiast from the '90's R&B to K-Pop.