TikTokers around the world are making homebrewed covers of viral dance songs like 'Savage' in other languages

Palmer HaaschApr 16, 2020, 22:56 IST

Insider

TikTok is known for its dance challenges and capacity to make songs, whether they're old or new, into internet sensations.
Recently, some TikTokers have been covering popular dance songs like "Savage" in languages like Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Spanish.
These covers attract audiences of their own, with hundreds of people using the sounds for their own dance covers.
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TikTok is arguably best known for its litany of dance challenges that have become famous outside of the app itself, making tracks like Doja Cat's "Say So" internet pop sensations. One of the key facets of TikTok's creator culture, however, is a constant recombination and tweaking of sounds, trends, and memes: creators frequently put their own spins on known sounds that end up sparking trends in their own right.

Lately, some TikTokers have been leveraging both of those facets of the app's culture, covering some of TikTok's most popular dance challenge tracks in other languages. Creators work out translations of songs like Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage," Doja Cat's "Say So," or Kesha's "Cannibal" in languages like Korean, Chinese, and Spanish. In turn, other TikTokers use their sounds in videos, performing popular dance challenges to the covers.

One of the earliest examples of this is a Chinese cover of "Savage," posted by TikToker @hobolingling on March 20. While the original video has over 18,000 likes, the sound itself has been used in over 850 videos. While that doesn't quite make it a viral sound — as a comparison, the original "Savage" sound has nearly 15M videos to its name — it's still testament to the fact that that it resonated with people.

The most popular video using @hobolingling's cover focuses on one TikToker's parents as they watch their child perform the dance using the Chinese audio.

Another cover of "Savage" by Chris Park, known by his username @chrispynuggets, has found similar traction on TikTok. He posted a Korean cover of the song on March 23, and since then his original video has amassed nearly 50,000 likes.

"My content on TikTok is usually Comedy/Korean, so it was just kind a 'spark of inspiration' moment," Park told Insider via Instagram message. "At first I did it completely for fun. Like, I did not use any professional equipment. The only thing I used was the voiceover function in iMovie."

The audio that he created currently has over 2000 videos to its name, with the most popular video coming from Kim Isaac, a florist who recently appeared in an episode of "Run BTS!," Korean boy group BTS' reality show. "I was not expecting that many people to be using my sound," Park said. "The moment I even saw 10 people use it, I was freaking out and I also felt proud of myself at the same time."

Covers of "Savage" in languages like Vietnamese, Spanish, Russian, and Hindi also emerged in late March and early April, with some experiencing the same kind of popularity as Park's and @hobolingling's Korean and Chinese covers. A Spanish cover by @claudia.montalvo has been used in nearly 8,000 videos, while @christina.quach's Vietnamese cover has been used in over 800.

For some like Park, creating covers in other languages has become a part of their content. After the first "Savage" video, he's posted covers of popular TikTok tracks like "Supalonely," "Cannibal," and "Say So;" @hobolingling has gone on to Chinese covers of tracks like "Captain Hook" or "Don't Start Now."

"The reason why I decided to make more of these was not only because it did really well on TikTok, but also because I really enjoyed making 'Savage' personally, and a lot of people requested me to do more as well," Park said.

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TikTokers around the world are making homebrewed covers of viral dance songs like 'Savage' in other languages