6.9.2021

TikTok Treats, Week of June 7th

The City Girls Fire Up the “Twerkulator,” Young M.A. & Lil Durk Make Their Presence Felt, and the Backyardigans Are Back…Again

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. This was a hip hop-heavy week on the platform, with rap songs from both sides of the pond catching fire. But part of the beauty of music on TikTok is the fact that a catalog hit or novelty song can capture the community’s imagination just as easily as the latest charting hit. Check out what made TikTok tick this week:

Miami rap duo City Girls are masters of body-moving music, so it’s no wonder that they’re a favorite of the TikTok community. They’ve been trending on the app with their new single “Twerkulator,” which they teased on TikTok with the #TwerkulatorChallenge, racking up tens of millions of video views before the single was even released. Last week, City Girl J.T. announced the beginning of #CityGirlSummer with a video that showcased a new TikTok filter inspired by the song, and “Twerkulator” seems to be heating up along with the weather.
The surreal, boundary-pushing sense of humor of Adult Swim resonates with the TikTok community, and TikTok users have used a new trend to show their love for the network. The soundtrack for this trend? Rapper/producer Vano 3000‘s remix of “Time Moves Slowly,” a 2016 song by jazz trio BadBadNotGood with Future Islands frontman Samuel Herring. Vano’s remix pitches up the original, soups up the drums, and sets the kind of cloudy, but propulsive vibe of songs used in Adult Swim’s classic bumper ads. Since Vano posted a video of himself chowing down on fast food while vibing to the song, the sound has racked up over 195k video creations, most of which saw creators using text on screen to voice their favorite bits of wisdom, to cry over spilled popcorn, and to lament the state of their wardrobe. Even Adult Swim itself hopped on the trend via their own TikTok account. Vano has loudly voiced his appreciation for the fans who helped #vano3000 (212 million views) and #adultswim (1.1 billion views) into viral trends and promised more music to come in Summer 2021.
It’s not surprising that TikTok goes crazy over BTS or Olivia Rodrigo, but it’s much harder to explain the community’s affection for The Backyardigans, a music-heavy Nickelodeon children’s series. Just weeks after “Castaways” unexpectedly became TIkTok’s top trending song (over 950k video creations and a #1 spot on Spotify’s U.S. Viral 50 chart), the Nick Jr. crew is back with “Into The Thick Of It,” an innocent anthem about charging headfirst into the unknown. With over 45k creations to date, the song is the perfect soundtrack for taking the plunge, whether into a suspicious-looking swimming pool, into a bowl of food before it cools down, or a coop full of defensive chickens.
Fresh off the success of his viral verse on the #1 UK Official Singles Chart hit “Body (Remix)” (1.4M+ combined creations), UK rapper ArrDee is having another viral moment with his new song “Oliver Twist.” Steadily becoming an avid TikTok user, ArrDee began teasing the drill track on his page a couple weeks ago and encouraged his fans in the TikTok community to get involved with the sound in their own way. TikTok creators happily obliged, as the sound has garnered over 124.3K+ creations so far and has soundtracked everything from different fashion looks to days in the lives of video vixens, as well as the times when it’s tempting to take advantage of online stores’ payment plans.
Young M.A. is having a major moment on TikTok with her 808-heavy, braggadocious “Hello Baby,” a collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Fivio Foreign. Racking up over 135K+ creations, the sound has inspired TikTok users to share their tattooing process, their trips to islands, and their unbreakable bond with black clothes regardless of weather. Young M.A. has taken to her own page to display an animated version of herself as she uses the sound. The sound has even made its way to TikTok favorite Coi Leray’s page, as she showed the track some love.
Only The Family and Lil Durk’s “One Mo Chance” (44K+ creations) isn’t an inherently funny song, but it’s providing the inspiration for the newest comedic trend on the app, with the repetition of Lil Durk’s high-pitched, expressive “Give me a chance, give me one more chance” line leading the way. Flipping the heartfelt line into a lighthearted trend, TikTok creators are using the line to personify their belongings that need more attention or to comically plead for another chance at something to the people in their lives. “One More Chance” is proving to be the perfect sound for shoes going unworn in favor of Crocs, failed tests of loyalty, and unpredictable first job mistakes.

This Friday at 4pm PT/7pm ET, breakout star Coi Leray will host the next edition of Headstream, a TikTok LIVE series that takes fans on a creative journey inside the minds of their favorite artists. Coi’s Headstream is merely a small part of TikTok’s Black Music Month activities, which includes forthcoming lives from Rico Nasty and T-Pain. Check out TikTok’s newsroom for more details: https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/join-us-in-celebrating-black-music-on-tiktok-with-alicia-keys-her-coi-leray-tpain-and-more

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