Sheeeesh. 2022 was one hell of a year. What better way to sum it up than GIFS (there are probably better ways but shuddup) ? GIFs are awesome for expressing emotions/moments that are indescribable and for when you can’t decide between a photo or a video.
We had Chris Rock getting rocked by Will Smith, new music from the best of the best, the Warriors returned to Auckland and then Samoa took over Auckland.
This is the year that was 2022 summed up with GIFs.
January
2022 kicked off with our brief taste of freedom at the end of 2021 being shut down once when Aunty Cindy pulled out the red light on us. Not the best way to start the year but we got through it.
February
Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Dr Dre and Eminem delivered a show for the ages at this year’s Superbowl Halftime show. Delivering classic songs of theirs while 50 Cent hung upside down and looked like the man while doing it. What a performance.
March
Will Smith took over the world in March when he strode on stage and delivered ‘The Slap’ to Chris Rock’s unsuspecting face. The fallout and media coverage were immense, it would not be possible to leave it off this list.
April
In April we started learning a whole lot more about the slap. Chris Rock spoke out, Jada Pinkett Smith was seen laughing and we were all still talking about it, refusing to keep Will Smith’s name out our mother fkn mouths.
May
Kendrick Lamar treated us in May with his fifth studio album ‘Mr Morale and the Big Steppers’. One of, if not the, best rappers in the game breaking his five-year silence is worthy of a GIF this year.
June
One month after K Dot dropped, we were treated to another legend breaking album silence. The Queen B herself Beyonce Knowles released ‘Renaissance’ which has been on repeat since.
July
COVID meant we couldn’t see the Warriors have their year in person for years. That is until June 2022 happened and the Warriors returned to Mt Smart stadium. Although it wasn’t their year (next year right), there’s nothing like screaming ‘Let’s Gone Warriors’ with a bunch of other fans.
August
In August Whittakers changed the name of their dairy milk flavour to the Te Reo translation ‘Miraka Kirimi’. A lot of people got pissed off, we covered that and it turned into a bit of a big conversation about Te Reo. All from some chocolate.
September
In September we lost Coolio. The artist behind one of the greatest songs of all time ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’, as well as the underrated ‘Fantastic Voyage’.
He was also big on educating the next generation about climate change as well as being a spokesperson for asthma sufferers, as both his children had it. RIP.
October
Early October gave us one of the biggest and weirdest stories of the year, cops dressing up as window washers in South Auckland. They missed the Halloween mark by about 3 weeks and were roasted for a long time.
November
Manu Samoa absolutely took over the Rugby League world during their historic run to the final of the world cup. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson shouted them out, every second car in Auckland was flying the flag and nobody wanted them to lose to Australia.
We also need to shout out our Black Ferns this month for winning the Women’s Rugby World Cup in Aotearoa and creating a whole generation of women’s rugby fans in the process.
December
We do want to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. And thank you for being part of the Mai whānau this year.
This last GIF, however, has to be an ode to Jarome Luai for dropping one of the most out-of-line best-man speeches for his mate Brian To’o. He has since apologised via Instagram but DAMN, it was bad. So, this GIF is what had to be going through everyone’s head as Luai was up there talking.
