In her delightfully cheeky Verizon Super Bowl business, Beyoncé swore to do one factor: Break the web. As the business demonstrated, she couldn’t—a minimum of not within the literal sense. Instead, after the business ended, she did one thing else: She hacked the web, dropping two new songs, “Texas Hold ’Em” and “16 Carriages,” the previous of which is already on its option to changing into TikTok’s viral dance music of the yr.
This was at all times going to occur. Pretty a lot the whole lot Beyoncé does—each album drop, each outfit—goes viral. That’s why her Verizon business didn’t seem like a shallow try and astroturf hype. Moreover, “Texas Hold ’Em” is a giant pop-country crossover observe, and its fast banjo riffs (from maestro Rhiannon Giddens) and lyrics about whiskey and taking it to the ground are excellent for line dancing. Line dances, which lend themselves to enjoyable mimicry and interpretation, naturally do properly on social platforms. It would have been weirder if TikTok hadn’t been flooded with new dances within the week after the music dropped. (If you’re searching for the video that greatest exemplifies this development, try this chart-topper from performers Matt McCall and Dexter Mayfield after which simply comply with the sound on down, down, down.)
Inevitability, although, isn’t the entire cause “Texas Hold ’Em” is at present the backing observe to almost 134,000 movies with tens of millions of collective views. The music is boot-scootin’ its manner onto TikTok at a time when quite a lot of music has been muted on the platform following a dustup between TikTok and Universal Music Group.
Back in January, after the 2 firms failed to come back to phrases on a licensing settlement for UMG music, the large report firm pulled songs that it owns the rights to from TikTok, together with cuts from artists like Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish. That means any video utilizing music from these artists now performs with out sound. Beyoncé’s music is distributed by Columbia/Sony, a UMG rival, so “Texas Hold ’Em” now sits at Number 5 on TikTok’s Viral 50 listing.
Now, like a shiny holographic disco horse, Beyoncé is atop the social internet. When she introduced her new album, Act II, and dropped “Texas Hold ’Em” and “16 Carriages,” the web was in a tizzy about the truth that Beyoncé was making what seemed to be an entire nation album, a continuation of the country-infused “Daddy Lessons” from 2016’s Lemonade. (“She coming to put the cunt in country!!” went the replies on the @BeyLegion X account. “‘Daddy Lessons’ reloaded!” went one other.)
On Tuesday, “Texas Hold ’Em” made Beyoncé the first Black girl to debut at primary on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. The music has at present been streamed almost 20 million occasions.
TikTok sounds don’t rely towards Billboard chart rankings, however there is no such thing as a doubt that viral dances create the sort of hype that results in music streams, album gross sales, and radio play. Beyoncé has no management over the TikTok/UMG scenario (in all probability), and he or she had no manner of realizing whether or not their licensing dispute would nonetheless be ongoing when her new music dropped (once more, in all probability), however its existence has paved the best way for her new music to be one of many largest issues occurring with music on the platform proper now. No doubt it might’ve hit these heights regardless, however with much less competitors, there’s nothing holding it again.