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TikTok’s Influence on Music Isn’t Exactly Wholesome

According to Wired, fans of TikTok influencer Leah Halton are campaigning to make a video of her lip-syncing to YG Marley’s “Praise Jah in the Moonlight” the No. 1 most-liked video ever on TikTok.

Now, at first glance, there’s not much wrong with Halton’s video—or with the video she’s trying to outperform (singer Bella Poarch lip-syncing to Millie B’s “M to the B”). Both videos are, at least superficially, not nearly as bad as some of the other content you might see on TikTok.

However, when you begin to consider the other content these creators post, parents have quite a bit to consider.

Poarch, whose success on TikTok launched her music career, has written numerous profanity-laden, albeit catchy songs. And Halton is just about what you would expect from a 20-something social media influencer: a fan of filters, makeup tutorials and often-revealing outfits. So think of “M to the B” and “Praise Jah in the Moonlight” as a little like potato chips: consume one, and your children might want to go for more. But these influencers’ bags of videos can be very problematic indeed.

And this isn’t the limit. If you check out the lyrics of “M to the B,” your jaw is liable to drop. As popular as the song is, it’s about as crass and offensive as it gets. And that’s where TikTok’s influence on music becomes a problem.

Billboard—as in the Billboard Hot 100™, the preeminent music chart system for North America—now has a chart exclusively to track what’s popular on TikTok. But when the songs topping that TikTok chart aren’t exactly wholesome, how should parents respond?

As of this week, Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” stands at the top of the TikTok Billboard Top 50. Other chart-toppers include Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” and Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather.” Now, if your kids only ever listen to the snippets of those songs trending on TikTok, you might not have anything worry about. But if they’re already grabbing at potato chips, these singers might be carrying bags you don’t want them ripping open.

What’s popular on TikTok or Instagram or YouTube or any of the other social media platforms is often a direct reflection of culture—particularly teen culture. So when your kids are looking for new music, it’s not too far of a stretch to say that they probably search for what they’ve heard on TikTok.

And while there may not be anything particularly titillating or special about the TikTok videos making these songs so popular, there could be problems with other content posted by the same creators or with the full lyrics of the songs they’re using.  And discerning parents should raise some red flags since that content isn’t exactly wholesome.

Emily Tsiao

Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.

2 Responses

  1. It’s disturbing that TikTok has influenced so many things in less than eight years.

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