All The Pheelz: Afrobeats, Batman, and More TikTok Music Stories

TikTok creators made videos about their favorite new film, created new dances, and discovered future hits in genres like folk-pop, hip-hop, and Afrobeats. Take a look at the trends that made TikTok tick this week: 

• This weekend, the TikTok community, like much of America, rushed to the theater to see The Batman and watch Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader. The ever-musical TikTok community expressed their love of the movie through songs that bring the film to mind. One such song is the new “Batman” theme by composer Michael Giacchino, who’s appropriately dark ambiance stands in for the hero himself. With over 33,000 video creations to date, the theme is the perfect soundtrack for defying gravity, worrying about Batman punishing your minor infractions, and far-out theories about the film’s star. Other creators take a moodier route, appropriating Nirvana’s classic “Something In The Way” (7.5k video creations), which was used in a trailer for The Batman to explain the dark, glum, or thoughtful moods they feel after seeing the movie.
• Recently on TikTok, creators have been strutting their stuff to the tune of Brazilian superstar singer and songwriter Anitta’s groovy, Spanish-language track “Envolver” (183.8K+ creations). The sensual “Envolver Challenge” is sweeping through the platform and putting everyone’s upper body strength to work. There’s almost no place that the TikTok community hasn’t set their strength and dancing skills to the test, with TikTok creators trying the dance out everywhere from the mall to underwater. In the comfort of their own homes, moms-to-be have even put their spin on the dance. Anitta herself has been actively engaging with the sound on her own account, providing her 15.9 million followers with a detailed tutorial for the dance challenge and duetting some of her favorite creations under the sound. 
• Some days aren’t always the easiest for users of the TikTok community, and singer Em Behold can relate to those not-so-good days. Previously previewing her “Numb Little Bug” song on the platform, the Los Angeles native shared a transparency moment with her TikTok followers about what her bad days feel like. Now boasting over 163K+ creations since its official release last month, the true-to-life song lyrics resonate with creators who are fed up with their stressful lives. The emphatic line, “Do you ever get a little bit tired of life,” inspires creators to share the phrases they’re tired of hearing from men, detail their struggles as a tall girl, and recommend tips for dealing with burnout. The song continues to grow beyond the platform, with over 39M+ Spotify streams and a 14-spot jump on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart this week. 
• Houston, TX rapper Monaleo first captured the attention of the TikTok community when she dissed her ex on her 2021 song, “Beating Down Yo Block” (611K+ user-generated and platform-generated creations to date). Now, she’s setting the tone for Women’s History Month with her song, “We Not Humping” (43.5K+ creations). The rejection song inspires creators to do a dance by creators @ariannaflowers and @anelableu. Some TikTok users show off their best twerk moves with their mothers, others use the song to soundtrack their weekly accomplishments. Monaleo also used the sound on her TikTok page, celebrating her second viral song on the platform with a dance of her own. 
• Pheelz, one of Nigeria’s most prominent producers and a rising vocalist, has a hit on his hands thanks to TikTok. He’s collaborated with Fireboy DML, Akon, Mr. Eazi, and more, but he’s scored a new hit alongside Wizkid collaborator Buju with “Finesse,” a soothing, yet invigorating new Afrobeats banger. Teased on Pheelz’s TikTok page in the weeks leading up to its March 3rd release, the song started to take off on the platform as the soundtrack to the “Folake Challenge,” a dance created by @iam.anyta, who helped the song generate over 27k video creations since February 24th (with enthusiastic assistance from Pheelz himself). Since the song’s DSP release last week, the official audio has racked up over 12k video creations, providing the perfect background for creators to talk about their trips to exotic locations like Malta and The Maldives, and soundtracking a nurse’s eventful day off. With over 1.5 million in just 5 days on Spotify, where it is currently the top song in Nigeria, “Finesse” is sure to be a global hit soon enough. For his own part, Pheelz was all smiles last week when he showed his fans another way to dance to the song and performed the new hit at London’s O2 Arena.
• From Brooklyn to Chicago to the UK, drill music continuously makes its presence felt on TikTok, with many major moments over the past year. Ready to step up to the plate for his own shine in the UK drill scene is Liverpudlian rapper Hazey, with his hit track “Packs & Potions” (271.5K+ creations) making waves on the platform in recent weeks. Since the clip of the rising drill star rapping the song in a cypher took off on TikTok, the track has sparked creations from TikTok users who feel like dancing when they hear the song, who have found the key to peace, and even from the Champions League. Hazey has even used the sound to rap the tongue-twisting lyrics with his crew and to let fans know about the release of the song’s remix.

Today, TikTok has announced the launch of SoundOn, an all-in-one platform for music marketing and distribution, designed to empower new and undiscovered artists, helping them develop and build their careers. London is TikTok’s own promotion and music distribution platform, enabling artists to grow their fanbases, harness their creative voice and get their music heard worldwide. The platform allows artists to upload their music directly to TikTok and begin earning royalties when that music is used. London pays out 100% royalties to music creators in the first year and 90% after that, and provides a range of promotional tools and support.

Read more information on Sound On at TikTok’s Newsroom: https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/sound-on-the-new-platform-for-tiktok-music-marketing-and-global-track-distribution

Source: Audible Treats and TikTok