The 'WTF Is That' Song You've Seen All Over TikTok | Screen Rant
One of the most used and enduring TikTok memes is centered around that 'WTF Is That?' song. Here's how the trend got started and where it's at now.
TikTok is arguably the most popular social media app to date and is one of the best avenues to discover new music. Users of the media platform regularly upload entertaining videos that use music tracks as the backdrop. These songs and the artists behind them tend to experience an uptick in track listens, wherever they are available to listen to in full. One such tune gaining significant online traction over the past year is a catchy rap excerpt asking, 'What the f-ck is that?'
Creators who have participated in the popular TikTok meme have used the highly relatable sound snippet to showcase everyday real-life scenarios that range between hilarious and utterly ridiculous, like showing the late effects of taking edibles or catching a larger-than-average-size rat in the house. Viewers of these posts are left with a song they can't get out of their heads and are inclined to either post a TikTok response of their own using the sound or do a deep dive to find out who sang the original.
The song behind the 'WTF is that?' TikTok challenge is entitled 'Who Want Smoke' by Florida rapper Nardo Wick. First released in early 2021, the song's memorable lyrics launched the track into the internet stratosphere, and hilarious videos started sprouting up on TikTok. Streams for the song on various music platforms also started to soar, with over 20 million streams on Spotify and over 27 million YouTube views for its official music video.
The version of the song that is gaining viral status as of late, thanks to TikTok, is a remix of the original that features rappers Lil Durk, 21 Savage and G Herbo. Both 'Who Want Smoke' versions are now tagged as 'Popular' under TikTok's Sounds tab and have over 420,000 tagged videos combined. The TikTok trend is so massive that it even gave birth to other memes, including a fun dance challenge and one where people throw their phones in the air and catch it in slow motion as the song plays in the background.
In Nov. 2021, a controversial TikTok trend that uses Wick's song garnered backlash in at least two high schools. Over 50 students were reprimanded for participating in the 'Who Want Smoke' Cellphone Gun Challenge. Users pretended to hold their cellphones like guns and aimed them at the camera like they were about to shoot, often accompanied by a slow-motion effect. Suspensions were doled out after students tricked faculty members into appearing in edited TikTok videos, dubbing the trend a school threat.
Despite the brief negative blip, the TikTok song is still super popular on the app and the web. The remix track retitled 'Who Want Smoke?? (feat. G Herbo, Lil Durk & 21 Savage' currently has over 73 million streams on Spotify, and the corresponding music video linked in Wick's official YouTube page currently has over 90 million views. TikTok users who want to get on the 'WTF is that' bandwagon can either learn some snappy dance moves to accompany the song snippet, act out a funny scene that warrants the reaction or learn the lyrics to the song to produce an elaborate lip-sync video.
Sources: TikTok 1, 2, XXL, YouTube 1, Complex, Know Your Meme