5.19.2021

TikTok Treats, Week of May 17th

Bella Poarch Makes a Big Debut, UK Drill Hits #1, and More TikTok Stories

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. Recently, the music landscape on TikTok has been eclectic and exotic, with trends using songs by an app celebrity-turned-pop star, a superstar DJ, a collective of foul-mouthed drill rappers, and even a fake band from a Nickelodeon show. Take a look at some of the ways music inspired the creativity of the TIkTok community in recent days:

TikTok has the ability to make a viral hit out of obscurities, and the latest unlikely song to take the platform by storm is “Castaways,” sung by the cast of Nickelodeon kids cartoon The Backyardigans. An undeniable bop, the song has an irresistible Bossa Nova groove and an innocent vibe that begs to be subverted by TikTok’s more sardonic users. With over 155k video creations to date, “Castaways” has inspired indie rock re-interpretations, videos ranking the song’s minimal lyrics, flute covers, and dead-on impressions of schoolteachers during elementary school plays. The TikTok popularity of “Castaways” propelled the song to the top of Spotify’s U.S. Viral 50 chart, prompting at least one TIkTok user to apologize to artists who are charting behind the silly song.
Bella Poarch created the most-viewed video on TikTok in 2020 when she filmed herself lipsyncing to Millie B’s grime hit “M To The B” in 2020 (over 604 million video views). In 2021, she’s raised her game, releasing a song of her own, the gleefully rude and defiant “Build A B*tch,” which has over 880k video creations. Bella relentlessly promoted the song (and its attendant music video) on the app before release, offering a snippet of the song as a TikTok sound and posting videos for her 68 million fans. Bella’s massive army of fans on TikTok helped the song crash into Spotify’s U.S. Top 50 charts and rack up over 50 million YouTube views.
Drill music frequently finds success on TikTok, with tracks like Pop Smoke’s “Dior” (426K+ creations), Sleepy Hallow’s “Deep End Freestyle” (411k video creations) and Dusty Locane’s “ROLLIN N CONTROLLIN FREESTYLE” (193.3K+ creations) taking off on the platform. This week, UK drill is having its own moment with Tion Wayne & Russ Million s‘ “(Body) Remix” (1.2M+ combined creations) dominating TikTok as creators use UK rapper ArrDee’s high-energy verse on the track for a plethora of trends. While some creators are using the sound to reveal how their best friends describe them, others are using it to flaunt their drip with their grandmas. The sound has even inspired a cool rice art video from @ronny.dulk, one of TikTok’s favorite creators and a self-proclaimed “Riceboy.” Taking its success from TikTok to the charts, “Body” recently became the first drill song to ever reach #1 on the UK Official Singles Chart.
Calvin Harris & Disciples‘ 2015 atmospheric house hit “How Deep Is Your Love” arrived during the heyday of festival EDM, an era when DJs commanded crowds eager to let loose. Now, “How Deep Is Your Love” is the soundtrack for a TikTok trend that pays tribute to the carefree dance stylings of white women. When the beat drops, creators try their hand at their favorite moves that they associate with white women at parties, including frequent hair touching, hand raising, dancing to the words instead of the beat, or all of the above. The trend is the perfect outlet for self-deprecation, and with over 180k video creations across multiple sounds, “How Deep Is Your Love” has expanded to include “white boy dancing” and pranks where kids ask their parents to dance to the song and see if they mirror any of the stereotypical moves.
“Never Forget You” by The Noisettes is an under-heralded gem from the UK’s soul revival scene in the late 00s (a scene that birthed Adele, Amy Winehouse, and others). Thanks to TIkTok, however, the 2009 song is getting second life, generating over 418k video creations. In the trend, creators salute people who’ve done them acts of kindness, including actor Matty Cardarapole who showed his appreciation for the kindness of Stranger Things fans. The second trend is a sweetly romantic one, with creators using the song to reveal how they met their partner (at music festivals or and then smash-cutting to a present filled with weddings and babies.
Rising Atlanta rapper Loui has teamed up with TikTok favorite Saweetie for a new lit “Talkin’ Bout” (406.9K+ creations) collaboration that is making waves on the platform. The infectious track samples two viral dance challenge classics, Cali Swag District’s “Teach Me How to Dougie” and Kstylis’ “Booty Me Down,” and has inspired its own viral dance trend on TikTok. The risqué, yet playful dance was choreographed by TikTok creator @4abeyy and has been recreated by fun moms, new friends, and even creators who want to participate in the dance trend while showing us the perfect poses for a hot girl summer at the beach.

Since debuting in March with a one-of-a-kind interview with Demi Lovato, TikTok has continued its Headstream series, which takes fans inside the minds of their favorite artists. Tune in this Friday at 4pm PT/7pm ET to check out country megastar Blake Shelton host a one-of-a-kind stream from his @blakeshelton account. Read more at TikTok’s newsroom: https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/get-inside-the-mind-of-blake-shelton-live-on-tiktoks-headstream

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