TikTok Treats, Week Of August 10th

A Weekly Roundup Of Interesting Music Stories From the World of TikTok

• According to Billboard, the biggest streaming gainer of the week was "Mood Swings," by the late Pop Smoke and Lil Tjay. As usual, TikTok was a major driver behind the song's rising popularity. A deeply melodic slow jam defined by the vocal interplay between the two rappers, "Mood Swings" has generated over 1.1 million video creations on the platform. The song inspired a trend that comments on the contrast in each rapper's voice and lyrical approach--Tjay with the sweetly innocent tenor singing about his boo, and Pop Smoke's gravelly bark singing about something much less wholesome. Videos soundtracked by "Mood Swings" have commented on code switching, mass extinction, and even math.
   
• Platinum-selling singer Charlie Puth is one of TikTok's most active, creative, and popular musical accounts on TikTok (6.5 million followers). The artist spends most of his time flaunting his otherworldly musical ability, showing off his piano skills, teasing unreleased music,  and remixing viral TikTok hits, including the trending sound "Mi Pan." He even verged into TMI territory in the name of science last week, when he posted a video of his recent drive-thru COVID-19 test. Puth's TikTok displays a goofy and charming side of his personality that might not come across in his music and traditional interviews, and offers fans a behind-the-scenes look at his unique artistic process.
   
• Originally released as an unofficial single in 2015 by Bay Area rapper IAMSU! before finding its way onto Sacramento native Mozzy's 2018 album Gangland Landlord, "Famous (I'm The One)" is one of the year's least likely TikTok success stories. The song inspired a popular trend centered around the entrance of guest rapper Dej Loaf, as couples, friends, and relatives used the song as an opportunity to reverse gender roles. "Famous" has inspired over 1.4 million video creations on TikTok, and propelled the single into the Top 20 of Spotify's Viral 50. 
   
• Another surprising success on TikTok? "Toy," a hyperactive dance-pop single by Israeli singer Netta. Though she's a multiple-time contestant in the Eurovision song contest, Netta hadn't crossed over into the American music scene until TikTok got ahold of "Toy," seizing upon its frenetic, stuttering pre-chorus and making it into a meme. With over 601k video creations, TikTok users have turned to "Toy" to show off their chicken-related comedy sketches, to advocate for saving TikTok, and even to describe the plot of Toy Story.
   
• Nepalese-American singer Curtis Waters' single "Stunnin" ft. Harm Franklin is one of the top trending TikTok songs of the summer. A breezy pop-rap song about looking your best, “Stunnin” is the perfect soundtrack for impromptu fashion shows, many of which illustrate how users would dress as characters in their favorite TV shows. Earlier this year, Curtis uploaded several videos of himself and a few friends dancing to his new song (“dancing to my song everyday untill it goes viral tbh”) and by mid-April, Curtis had the makings of a viral hit--but the song hadn’t even been officially released. After releasing the song in mid-May, the song quickly gained traction on streaming services, and by late June, the song generated more than 700k streams per day on Spotify. Now, the song has over 55 million Spotify streams, reached the Top 20 of Spotify’s viral chart, and inspired over 1.1 million video creations of TikTok.
   
• TikTok's favorite bassist is Blu DeTiger, a teenaged virtuoso who built a massive following with her bass covers of trending TikTok songs. In just the past week, the NYC native racked up over 500k video views on effortlessly funky covers of DJ Khaled & Rihanna's "Wild Thoughts," Clairo's "Bags," and more. Blu’s TikTok success has helped jumpstart her own career--released in April, new single “Figure It Out,” a laid-back R&B-influenced pop jam, caught fire on the platform, generating 465k video creations, including two by influencer Dixie D’Amelio (35 million video views on the first). Now with over 11 million streams on Spotify, "Figure It Out" started trending again last week as a mashup by @goalsounds (17k video creations), combining Blu's hit with Dixie's debut single "Be Happy."