If we learned anything in quarantine, it’s that we have all have spent our fair amount of time on the social media platform, Tik Tok. The app has been our source of entertainment since it came into the forefront in the beginning of 2020 where a person can become famous for their content in as little as fifteen seconds. With bars and clubs being obsolete during the pandemic, musicians and creators have started dance craze challenges across social media and has propelled many songs up the Billboard charts from artists such as Megan Thee Stallion, Ariana Grande and more. One artist that has seen success this way already is singer/rapper Doja Cat.
In 2020, Doja Cat’s album, Hot Pink was critically acclaimed spawning several singles including Juicy, Like That and Say So which helped the artist receive her very first number single on Billboard Hot 100 with the assistance of the dance challenge on Tik Tok. In 2021, in the midst of working on her next studio album, one of the album standouts, ‘Streets’ began to receive traction on Tik Tok as it was used apart of a new craze called the Silhouette challenge, in which users would conduct a sexy dance behind a red light filter showing only the person’s silhouette.
The song is a moody, R&B ballad discussing a previous breakup and wanting to rekindle the relationship with her former lover. The track also finds Doja Cat switching from singing and rapping verses, the style she has become known for in her music. One moment I found intriguing in ‘Streets’ was her ability to interpolate the popular video game series, Final Fantasy into her call to get her lover back in the second verse.
The way in which we receive new music is everchanging. There’s so many different avenues artists can get their music out to fans. Whether it’s released during an album’s rollout, planned or unplanned, music listeners ultimately choose the success as we see in Doja Cat’s single, ‘Streets’. After listening to the track, head over Tik Tok and take a look at the dance challenge that propelled the song up the charts.
Streets (inspired by the song of the same name)
It’s 1:27 AM
The only thing fucking
Is you gotta be fucking kidding me
Streets was calling
You love and then you flee on me
Operate like dms
You answer then slid on me
Nothing could compare to the things you did to me
I used to go through some things
I used to give you my everything
Yet you didn’t want just any thing
You wanted us to be a thing
Intangible, materialistic by expression
Couldn’t see the facade by your facial expressions
2018 was a game you was testing
Now in 2021, myself I’m invested
So stop playing these games
Trying to block blessings like you Robinhood
Stock been on the rise, so stop checking on me I’m good