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Just as TikTok has accelerated the clothing trend cycle, the weekly top 40 is now too slow to document current music habits. Now, the charts are replaced by the endless cycle of songs, mash-ups, and sounds routinely adopted then dropped by users on 2021’s most downloaded app.

Following the immense escalation of users in just one year (almost double the amount between 2019 and 2020), TikTok’s chokehold on the music industry has manifested into more than just streaming figures. The app has a unique ability to assign microscopic periods of the pandemic with their own soundtrack, separating moments of an era that otherwise exists as a blur. Beabadoobee’s ‘Coffee’ recalls the early days of Covid when staying indoors was still a novelty, while Mike Posner’s ‘Please Don’t Go’ punctuated the days of lockdown three. 

Devoid of genre rules and largely unswayed by marketing campaigns, TikTok’s next viral song could just as easily be the current Number 1 as a forgotten B-side from 20 years ago. Everything from red-carpet interviews to reality TV moments from 2011 are devoured and modified into jingles when met with the creativity of TikTok teens. So if the For You Page is the charts for Gen-Z, these are the top 5 songs currently defining this speck of internet history.

Taylor Swift - Enchanted

@_mayasimonee

1 am in the parking garage

♬ Enchanted Taylor Swift - Kaylen

Despite Taylor Swift’s efforts to re-record her masters before the owners can access further monetary gain, she’s seemingly always one step behind the algorithm. First, it was the sudden re-emergence of ‘Wildest Dreams’ that saw Swift scramble to release her version. Now, ‘Enchanted’ from 2010’s Speak Now is being revived for an audience too young to recall its original debut. This may be partly due to the discourse surrounding the song’s alleged subject: Adam Young of Owl City (who even recorded his own version in response, including the lyrics ‘Taylor I was so in love with you’… It really happened). Regardless, Swift’s ability to write a dazzling and catchy bridge pre-dates the race to the top of the TikTok algorithm and is paying off a decade on… though there’s no doubt she would have preferred the spotlight be entirely on Red right now.

Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under

@itssissysheridan

National SA Hotline +1(800-656-4673). YOUR EXPERIENCE IS VALID.

♬ Seventeen Going Under - Edit - Sam Fender

Two trends coincide under this song. In the first, users edit an old photo or video next to a present-day clip of them miming “..but I would hit him in a heartbeat now”, glowing up in the span of five seconds. The second sees reflections of those who’ve overcome trauma or wrongdoing, trading Fender’s aged confession of teen fury for their own.

Strangely though, many videos consist of American teens complaining of the song’s increasing popularity as they felt attached to its imagined obscurity. There are even a few voicing their surprise that it’s a recent release and not an 80s pop song, perhaps a result of the Springsteen influences. But, if there’s one mainstay on TikTok it’s false nostalgia and fortunately for Fender, his dreamy music videos and anthemic choruses make him a master of that.

Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek

@zactokz You WILL wait 🤨 #theywerehere #firstttt #mmmwatchasay #chipotletok #theythems #queertok #gaytoks ♬ hide and seek - jebiflyah

12 years since Jason Derulo utilised it for the chorus of ‘Whatcha Say’, a new fragment of Imogen Heap’s ‘Hide and Seek’ has reached viral status. The bewitching lyric “they were here first”, exists as this week’s internet punchline, evidencing Gen-Z’s bizarre humour. Notable captions include “when I’m at chipotle and someone tries to cut in front of my non-binary friend”, and “when someone asks me why I didn’t report the lizard and frog infestation in my dorm to university housing”. A far cry from Heap’s original nuanced lyricism about her parent’s divorce, but giving new life to the song nonetheless. 

Silk Sonic - Smokin Out The Window

@a.ttis Reply to @notslimrealshady ♬ Smokin Out The Window - Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak & Silk Sonic

The long-awaited debut album from Silk Sonic no sooner arrived than it made its mark on TikTok - unsurprising given that it’s drenched in personality and filled with quotable one-liners ideal for six-second lip-sync videos. And, as Doja Cat found during the Summer of Say So, a song with a trend attached is endlessly more profitable. This one sees users creating transformation videos, collapsing as Anderson .Paak croons “not to be dramatic but I wanna die”, only to reappear at the line “this bitch got me paying her rent”, in full glam. The ideal dose of 70s groove plus lyricism that encourages the imagination of creators means ‘Smokin Out The Window’ was simply destined for virality.

Nimco Happy - Isii Nafta (Love You More Than My Life)

@iamcardib

Listen we try 😩😂😩Should we do more tiktoks?

♬ Isii Nafta (Love You More Than My Life) - Nimco Happy

Somali singer Nimco Happy is the latest to be catapulted to overnight TikTok stardom. Following the app’s initial discovery of ‘Isii Nafta’, the five-year-old song has been remixed, lip-synced, and endorsed by every A-lister imaginable - from Drake to Cardi B. A love song with a chorus that switches between Somali, English, Arabic, and Swahili, Happy’s heartfelt lyricism echoes her values of peace and love - a refreshing addition to anyone’s feed. In the past month, Universal Music signed Happy, officially releasing the song and ensuring she can finally profit from the influx of streams. Her newfound international recognition is a true testament to the power of TikTok and a reminder that in this era there’s no way to predict when or where the next big song will come from.

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