After propelling Lil Nas X into the spotlight earlier this year, Tik Tok may be on the verge of its second star-making moment with Blanco Brown.
Have you heard of #GitUpChallenge? If not, there is a good chance you are not a Tik Tok user. Based on “The Git Up” by fast-rising artist Blanco Brown, the #GitUpChallenge tasks music fans to create a dance video using the song as their soundtrack. Tik Tok user HarveyBass is largely responsible for creating the challenge, so we might as well take a look at his video first:
Tik Tok’s ability to influence pop culture at large was proven earlier this year when Lil Nas X took the Billboard charts by storm with “Old Town Road.” The song, which has since gone on to be the number one song in the country for ten consecutive weeks, initially rose to popular because Tik Tok users could not stop making videos using the material. The song grew so popular, in fact, that radio station programmers across the country began ripping the song from YouTube to place it in rotation.
“The Git Up,” much like “Old Town Road,” was largely overlooked upon its initial release. The song was quietly dropped on streaming services May 3, which was preceded by a Soundcloud debut in late April. The song did not take off until it gained the attention of Tik Tok users, and it did not begin to find viral success until the HarveyBass clip above started to spread outside the video-sharing platform in early June.
Since that happened, “The Git Up” has been gaining traction online, as well as at terrestrial. The song has accrued more than 2.7 million streams on Spotify to date, which makes it nearly 20x more popular than Brown’s second most-streamed track on the service. There’s another 2.3 million plays on YouTube, as well as millions more on other streaming platforms.
As of this week, “The Git Up” has also entered the Billboard charts, coming in at No. 16 on Country Digital Song Sales (4,000 downloads sold) and No. 38 on Hot Country Songs.
Call it the “Old Town Road” effect, but Brown’s decision to combine the popularity of country and hip-hop while also delivering what is essentially a new “Cha Cha Slide” may have created a monster that will be inescapable at weddings, proms, etc. for years to come.
A glance at Google trends reinforces the song’s growing popularity:
A glance at trends on YouTube does as well:
The only question that remains is where the track and Blanco Brown go from here? Unlike “Old Town Road,” Brown’s “Git Up” is a song made to make people dance. It’s not intended for casual listening (despite being incredibly catchy). Longevity will depend mainly on radio play and the embrace of club DJs around the world.
Regardless, for now, it seems Tik Tok is about to have another moment in the spotlight. Brown’s presence on the charts solidifies the platform’s ability to shift and shape pop culture, so now one must wonder who will be next. Will another country-rap track work? Will tastes evolve to give another emerging genre a chance? Only time will tell.
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