9.28.2022

TikTok Treats, Week of September 26th

Rainy Day Vibes, Surreptitious Hotel Encounters, Energetic Beat Drops, and Much More From the World of Music on TikTok

The News:

Each week, the TikTok Treats newsletter gives a snapshot of the state of music on TikTok, touching on trending hits, emerging artists, superstar moves, ascendant memes, and much more. Check out this week’s trends below:

Rising singer-songwriter Montell Fish is a master of generating anticipation for his next move. Earlier this summer, the artist shared a mysterious snippet of a new song, featuring his falsetto vocals singing over distorted stabs of guitar. The snippet for the song, called “Hotel,” generated over 5 million views. Inspired by the passionate response, Montell made “Hotel” a staple of his live shows, where his fans enthusiastically sang along with the chorus–despite the fact that the song hadn’t yet seen an official release. Two months and over 170k total video creations later, “Hotel” dropped on all platforms in mid-September, and the pent-up anticipation fomented by Montell’s TikTok teases led to a massive streaming debut–it generated over 7 million streams in its first week. Two weeks later, “Hotel” crashed Spotify’s U.S. Top 50 chart, where it currently sits at #48, and made a #13 debut on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart.
TikTok creators often bond with one another through shared experiences and similar music tastes. Singer Omar Apollo has the TikTok community in tune with their emotions with his ballad, “Evergreen (You Don’t Deserve Me At All).” Boasting over 303.8k total creations, the song inspires creators to share their relationship status using the text-on-screen feature. Using Apollo’s emphatic lyrics, “You know you really made me hate myself/Had to stop before I break myself,” creators share the sweet nothings they were told by an ex-lover, reveal their desire to give an ex a piece of their mind, and document their journey to healing after a breakup. The song also inspires creators to share their glow-up journeys, including gym and hair growth transformations. Omar Apollo participated in the trend on his TikTok, sharing a montage of his transformation from a teen to an adult. Thanks to a boost from TikTok, “Evergreen (You Don’t Deserve Me At All)” earned a top 20 spot on Spotify’s US Viral 50 chart and garnered him his first ever appearance on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart this week (#62).
The TikTok community often shows their love to their favorite musicians, actors, and influencers through fan edits. JAY-Z and Kanye West’s 2011 hit “No Church In The Wild” and its Frank Ocean-sung chorus has inspired a wave of fan-created video montages that help paint movies and TV shows in a new light. Garnering over 10.6K+ creations, the song soundtracks fan edits from dystopian shows and movies such as Jordan Peele’s Get Out, The Hunger Games, and Squid Game. The trend and the song have inspired some commentary in the fan edit community, as creators share their reactions to certain edits and outline the difference between a good and bad edit.
The TikTok community continues to breathe new life into throwbacks while also introducing creators to songs they may not have heard before. This week, Nashville indie band WILLIS puts creators in the mood for rainy days and fun filters with their 2017 song, “I Think I Like When It Rains” (506.2K+ creations). The piano-heavy track inspired a lighthearted trend of creators attempting to make a heart collage using the heart photo booth filter. The song finds creators sharing videos of themselves enjoying a rainy day with their toddlers and furry friends, using WILLIS’ lyrics, “I think I like when it rains/You told me to go to the light/and what it’s like to feel your pain.” In other videos, the alternative ballad soundtracks presentations of their quinceañera dresses, montages of adventures with their friends, and videos of creators enjoying New York City’s sights.
ENRGY Beats is a mainstay in the Michigan rap scene, known for his wavy samples and hyperactive drum patterns. Thanks to a new trend about a song he produced, Rio Da Yung OG’s “Lean Chronicles,” he’s starting to become a mainstay on TikTok as well. The trend is inspired by the song’s beat drop, in which ENRGY’s “I got so much energy” producer tag heralds a transition from ethereal vocals to heavy-hitting drums. The trend is ideal for those with a pep in their step, like the school marching band who plays on even when the team is losing, or athletes who can’t wait until the season starts, or folks who can’t go to sleep after an ill-timed nap. One creator used the sound to give props to ENRGY for his creative use of a sample from the film Coraline. Providing a boost to Rio Da Yung OG while he waits out a stay in prison, “Lean Chronicles” has over 130k video creations to date, which have helped the 2021 song eclipse the 2 million streams mark on Spotify.
Fujii Kaze is a superstar in his home country of Japan, but TikTok is helping him find a global audience. Already beloved by his legion of fans, the J-Pop star’s shimmering “Shinunoga E-Wa” and its catchy chorus melody is catching on in the broader community, generating over 178.5 video creations to date. The song is a popular soundtrack to Anime fan edits, and accompanied one creator’s mission to style her hair like her favorite anime character. Other creators post piano tutorials to help their fellow fans learn to play the song, or post their own covers on Chakhe or guitar. The TikTok success of “Shinunoga E-Wa” led to a breakthrough in the U.S.–it currently sits at #3 on the Spotify U.S. Viral 50 chart.

Check TikTok’s newsroom for more noteworthy stories: newsroom.tiktok.com

For more info, please contact:
Michelle McDevitt, Annjie Houston, Destiny Riley, T’Keyah Hayes, Audible Treats
Leah Linder, TikTok

The Background:

TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Their mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy.

TikTok has global offices including Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.

Links:

TikTok’s Newsroom: https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us

Check out previous editions of TikTok Treats, a weekly newsletter about the most interesting music happenings on TikTok:

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