In her delightfully cheeky Verizon Super Bowl industrial, Beyoncé swore to do one factor: Break the web. As the industrial demonstrated, she couldn’t—at the very least not within the literal sense. Instead, after the industrial 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 method to turning into TikTok’s viral dance music of the yr.
This was at all times going to occur. Pretty a lot every thing Beyoncé does—each album drop, each outfit—goes viral. That’s why her Verizon industrial didn’t appear to be a shallow try and astroturf hype. Moreover, “Texas Hold ’Em” is a giant pop-country crossover monitor, 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 effectively 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 motive “Texas Hold ’Em” is at present the backing monitor to almost 134,000 movies with thousands and thousands of collective views. The music is boot-scootin’ its manner onto TikTok at a time when a variety of music has been muted on the platform following a dustup between TikTok and Universal Music Group.
Back in January, after the 2 corporations failed to come back to phrases on a licensing settlement for UMG music, the huge document 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 gave the impression to be a complete 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 lady 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 isn’t a doubt that viral dances create the type of hype that results in music streams, album gross sales, and radio play. Beyoncé has no management over the TikTok/UMG state of affairs (most likely), and he or she had no manner of understanding whether or not their licensing dispute would nonetheless be ongoing when her new music dropped (once more, most likely), however its existence has paved the best way for her new music to be one of many greatest issues taking place 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.