This TikTok trend parodies famous songs with cringe Gen Z slang

Ever wondered about the meaning of “skibidi,” “gyatt,” or “rizzler”? Perhaps it’s a good thing you don’t. You might be better off, enjoying a brain-unpolluted moment offline. I’ll admit, I only caught up with these terms in order to pen this piece somewhat effectively.

This whole paragraph almost feels like a footnote, but let’s dive in. “Skibidi” originates from absurdist humor and a random song, while “gyatt” shorthand for “goddamn” or a man expressing admiration for a woman’s posterior on TikTok. “Rizzler” playfully suggests someone is outstanding at drawing attention. And as for “Baby Gronk” and “Livvy”? Well, that’s another story.

But wait, there’s more: these phrases and many others have birthed a new TikTok trend. In fact, they’ve fashioned a trend that humorously mimics famous songs by rewriting them in nonsensical TikTok meme slang. It’s almost as if TikTok is channeling its inner Weird Al Yankovic, but with insincere and purposefully cringe-worthy renditions. Musically inclined TikTok creators are seamlessly embedding these pretty nonsensical phrases into the songs—and the results are, indeed, quite interesting.

It’s a creative way of turning the mirror on TikTok itself, revealing the platform’s penchant for silly jargon. Below are some recent instances of this comical trend.

Here’s a version parodying Hall and Oates.

Even The Beatles are not spared.

There’s even a parody of the new right-wing folk hero, Oliver Anthony.

This trend has gained significant traction. For instance, a parody of “Hey Ya” earned over three million views, despite the creator’s apparent disgust with their creation.

It’s fascinating to witness young TikTok creators shaping the platform’s slang. Much like any generation, there will come a time when they’ll look back and cringe at their own lexicon. The only difference is that for the TikTok community, this happens in real time.

Frankly, I myself only understand about half of the references, at best, in most of these parody songs. I’m fairly embedded in online culture, so if your For You Page suddenly fills with covers of popular songs laced with lyrics that sound like they were just pulled out of thin air—now you know what’s going on.

Tim Marcin

Tim Marcin is a culture reporter at Mashable, where he writes about food, fitness, peculiar internet phenomena, and just about anything else. You can find him endlessly discussing Buffalo wings on Twitter at @timmarcin.