@jazephua,@dollievision, @mrbeandamatematica/Screenshots by NPR

@jazephua,@dollievision, @mrbeandamatematica/Screenshots by NPR

TikTok in 2023 wasn’t nearly girl dinners or cottage cheese inspo.

The annual roundup of the most popular content of 2023 is a sworn statement to the worldwide enchantment of the short-form video. They come from all over the place — like Sean the Sheepman’s sheepherding border collie in Scotland and Kirby Quimado cooking up breadrolls within the Philippines. And here is one other factor about TikToks: Even although there are many serious-minded movies, the most well-liked ones are sometimes goofy and in-your-face with earwormy music.

Of course there are exceptions to each TikTok rule. No creator bought extra eyeballs on a single video than Nydollie Deng with a easy however beautiful make-up routine.

Here’s a sampling of the worldwide TikToks that dominated in 2023.

Nyadollie Deng: viral makeup artist for women of color

The hottest TikTok of the 12 months, with over 500 million views, is a wordless eye make-up tutorial. Nyadollie Deng, who’s recognized as Sudanese by her expertise company (and generally as a Sudanese American), deftly applies pink eye shadow (how very Barbie) to the groove of the pop track “Just the Two of Us.” Her make-up demos are seen as a rejoinder to an trade that doesn’t sometimes think about ladies of shade. And whereas she doesn’t converse In the attention make-up video, she often presents commentary in her different TikToks. Putting on blue blush, she grins and says in American-accented English: “Oh yeah, It’s matching my hair.”

@dollievision Makeup✨ #melanin #blacktiktok #darkskin #makeupvideos #makeuptutorial

Mr. Bean da Matemàtica: Brazilian math professor cosplaying as Mr. Bean

He bears a outstanding resemblance to the goofily uptight British TV/film character Mr. Bean – proper right down to the cheeky mole. Mr. Bean da Matemàtica (as he dubs himself) presents up hacks on easy methods to multiply and divide, scribbling traces, numbers and dots on a whiteboard. We wished to offer an instance but it surely’s so COMPLICATED to clarify in phrases and actually, all you have to do is watch his TikToks! His background music is at all times the infectious digital tune “Dom Dom Yes Yes Remix” by Bulgarian singer Biser King. This does not in any respect look like a recipe for 8 million followers, so give further credit score to Brazilian math professor Rafael Basos.

@mrbeandamatematica #AgoraVoceSabe #matematica #AprendaNoTikTok #math

Jaze Phua: Taiwanese viral video creator and pioneer in CapybaraTok

The capybara is the most important rodent on earth – weighing as much as 110 kilos. So this South American animal has at all times had a sure enchantment. But then the “Capaybara Song” occurred this 12 months, and the capybara grew to become the TikTok creature of the 12 months. The track was created by a Russian blogger who BOUGHT THE MELODY (caps used to emphasise the shortage of creativity), added a chill beat and wrote lyrics which are primarily the phrase “capybara” repeated time and again with the occasional unique lyric like “this animal is really cool.” Over 700,000 TikTok movies use the track. But none can examine to the TikTok by Taiwanese “viral video creator” Jaze Phua, who paired the track with a video of himself balancing tangerines on a capybara’s big head. And what are the large rodents doing in Taiwan? Turns out they’ve change into a vacationer attraction throughout Taiwan with a number of capybara farms and cafes, the place you may feed and pet them.

@jazephua #Capybara #taiwan #rodent #masbro

Gabryell Urlan: Brazilian character artist, dj and bird whisperer

So this Brazilian content material creator places on actually horrible wigs, whistles like a chook, contorts his face and options the occasional Portuguese subtitle in his TikToks. His objective is to some sort of story like what a canine did on the park. His largest hit is a dialog between three birds (all performed by him). Gabryell excels within the fast cuts that TikTok is understood for, like this video that ends with an instantaneous transition to full glam drag. His practically 8 million followers are wiggy for Gabryell.

@gabryellurlan

Vibe Check: Who Got the Keys to My Bimmer?

Okay, get able to be confused. There’s a Jamaican dancehall artist named Beenie Man. In 1997 he launched a success track referred to as “Who Am I.” In 2023, the #SimSimma problem exploded — wherein random individuals movie associates and coworkers as they quote from that comparatively historical hit with the road “Sim simma” and see in the event that they reply accurately with the remainder of the lyrics. (Spoiler alert: If you get challenged, “Who got the keys to my bimmer,” comes subsequent.) Teachers at a Brooklyn faculty largely handed with flying colours. The Toronto Argonauts, Toronto’s soccer workforce, took on the challenge with good humor and fairly good ability — at the very least higher than the Australia males’s nationwide basketball workforce, the Boomers. Beenie Man did not create the problem; the natural magic of TikTok did. But he appears to be driving the wave to one thing of a well-liked revival. This 12 months, Beenie Man launched a brand new album referred to as “Simma” — which has nothing to do with the problem. He stated in an interview that the title sends a message to his followers to “simmer down,” but it surely definitely does not look like a coincidence.

FLI:P: T-Pop hit breaks through to become one of TikTok’s top songs of 2023

While not practically as huge as Okay-Pop, a sub-genre of Thai music referred to as T-Pop has grown in recognition over 2023. T-Pop is not one specific fashion. It’s a large class that features genres like indie, hip-hop and experimental music by Thai artists. One new group had a breakthrough goes by FLI:P. Their hit cowl of the Thai band Vitamin A’s track “มองนานๆ” (roughly which means “Look for a Long Time”) was featured this 12 months in over 9 million movies. (That quantity is not a typo!) TikTok movies abound of individuals breaking into the choreographed dance FLI:P debuted of their video. Lots of the movies present painstakingly perfected routines, however we (and a pair of.6 million individuals) just like the video of a Thai comic busting his horrible strikes in an apron.

มองนานๆ – FLI:P

Your flip: What’s your favourite international TikTok from 2023?

Our weblog focuses on life within the Global South. Do you might have a favourite TikTok from a Global South nation that dropped this 12 months? Please share it with us! We might characteristic your choose on NPR.org. Email your TikTok nomination to goatsandsoda@npr.org with the topic line “TikTok.”

Danielle Preiss is a journalist who studies on international growth, tradition and the setting, with a concentrate on South Asia.