One of the hottest tracks on TikTok this summer is, unexpectedly, a 22-second Petey Pablo hip-hop beat remixed with a years-old audio clip of JD Vance – now former prez Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick – declaring, before his loyalties changed, that he was “a never Trump guy“.
The song has been used in over 8,500 TikTok videos since two independent music producers created it in July.Supporters of vice-prez Kamala Harris have seized on it, wagging their fingers and swinging their arms to it, some hoping to create its official dance. It was also reposted by @KamalaHQ, the campaign’s official TikTok account. Videos with the sound have racked up more than 40 million views overall, according to Zelf, a social video analytics company focused on TikTok.
In response to the TikTok video, Taylor Van Kirk, a Vance spokesperson, said: “Cringe”.
The “never Trump guy” song was created by Carl Dixon and Steve Terrell, two 34-year-old music producers. Dixon and Terrell saw the footage of Vance’s comments in a post on the Harris campaign’s TikTok account that compared them with newer footage of him expressing support for Trump. The two found Vance’s manner of speech “sort of melodic in a sense”, Terrell said. Dixon said, “We were like, what if we put this to a catchy beat?” The process took three hours, they said.
Their video started with footage of a member of the Harris campaign staff saying, “So this is really who Donald Trump chose as his running mate?” A different voice then says, “Drop the beat”, after which a sample of Petey Pablo’s “Freek-a-Leek” plays, remixed with Vance saying, “I’m a never Trump guy” and “I never liked him.”
Sasha Khatami, 24, from Virginia, came across the song on TikTok in July. “I don’ think people are sharing their opinions any more. They’re making TikTok dances,” she said. Khatami, whose earlier posts got between 300 and 1,000 views, made up a dance to the “never Trump guy” song – and was thrilled to see her post rack up hundreds of thousands of views. Since then, she has performed the dance in front of iconic locations and has been tickled to see other users perform their own version of her shimmy.
The song has been used in over 8,500 TikTok videos since two independent music producers created it in July.Supporters of vice-prez Kamala Harris have seized on it, wagging their fingers and swinging their arms to it, some hoping to create its official dance. It was also reposted by @KamalaHQ, the campaign’s official TikTok account. Videos with the sound have racked up more than 40 million views overall, according to Zelf, a social video analytics company focused on TikTok.
In response to the TikTok video, Taylor Van Kirk, a Vance spokesperson, said: “Cringe”.
The “never Trump guy” song was created by Carl Dixon and Steve Terrell, two 34-year-old music producers. Dixon and Terrell saw the footage of Vance’s comments in a post on the Harris campaign’s TikTok account that compared them with newer footage of him expressing support for Trump. The two found Vance’s manner of speech “sort of melodic in a sense”, Terrell said. Dixon said, “We were like, what if we put this to a catchy beat?” The process took three hours, they said.
Their video started with footage of a member of the Harris campaign staff saying, “So this is really who Donald Trump chose as his running mate?” A different voice then says, “Drop the beat”, after which a sample of Petey Pablo’s “Freek-a-Leek” plays, remixed with Vance saying, “I’m a never Trump guy” and “I never liked him.”
Sasha Khatami, 24, from Virginia, came across the song on TikTok in July. “I don’ think people are sharing their opinions any more. They’re making TikTok dances,” she said. Khatami, whose earlier posts got between 300 and 1,000 views, made up a dance to the “never Trump guy” song – and was thrilled to see her post rack up hundreds of thousands of views. Since then, she has performed the dance in front of iconic locations and has been tickled to see other users perform their own version of her shimmy.
Source : Times of India
