ARTISTS OF TIKTOK

A Glimpse at

Artists on TikTok

If we try to define 2020; it’s overwhelming to think of everything that has happened. So, let’s not... Instead, let’s lay back on our favorite comfortable surface and get to scrolling. After all, some of the greatest accomplishments in music for the last year came because of our tendency towards that same endless scrolling.

Before the pandemic, TikTok boasted 800 million monthly users. The pervasive social media app now has more than 1.1 billion active monthly users. There are many artists who boosted their followings through the app during the pandemic, these are our favorites.

Salem Ilese, who gained immense popularity for her viral hit “Mad at Disney,” started with 1,757 followers and 31.7k likes in August 23, 2020. Less than a month after that, she surpassed 1.1 million followers and 8.6 million likes, and now has over 2.4 million followers in 2021! Salem’s skills in production and singing keep growing, as do her account and repertoire. With a writing credit on a recent release from TXT (Tomorrow By Together), a popular South Korean group, Salem’s impact continues to expand internationally. This May, Salem released her (L)only Child EP. It is refreshing to see that even with her rising stardom, Salem includes a healthy dose of humor, self-awareness, and humility in her videos. @salemilese

@lunaliband

Luna Li went viral in March of 2020 and has continued to create soothing, expertly crafted covers and songs since then. In her videos, she is often seen playing electric guitar, violin, or harp. The way each song is played with finesse and skill makes it easy to see why her account has over 25k followers and 179k likes. Hannah Bussiere, the classically trained multiinstrumentalist behind the Luna Li image, is broadening the scope of what it means to be an Asian woman in indie pop. With numerous performances on Japanese Breakfast’s upcoming tour this fall, I hope Bussiere’s authentic message will continue to gain momentum.

Valley is a Toronto-based band consisting of four members: Michael Brandolino, Alex Dimauro, Kara James, and Rob Laska. Since their first TikTok in February of 2020, the group has reached over 31k followers and 524k likes on the platform. With a collaboration invitation for their single, “Like 1999,” the group went viral, and they only seem to be gaining traction. At the beginning of June, the group released a new single “SOCIETY,” which details their disdain for the formulaic methods of making pop music. In the past, they toured with The Band Camino and Lennon Stella, and this fall they will be hitting the road to open for COIN.

Lubalin is another Canadian TikTok-er that really blew up over the last year. Many know the “Turning Random Internet Drama Into Songs” series that he began posting in December of 2020. His impressive musical chops can be witnessed in his earlier videos, too. The virally successful artist says that although the finished product of a TikTok is less than a minute, the creation process has “boosted [his] production skills and [the] speed of production.” With a recent collaboration featuring Jimmy Fallon (and Alison Brie), Lubalin seems to have carved out a niche for himself. His adroit skill for creating quirky, comedic music is more than worthy of the 3.1 million followers and 27.1 million likes he has garnered thus far. When not making hilarious video snippets, Lubalin spends his time making beautifully produced songs like his newest release, “Double Helix,” which came out at the end of May.

@thisisvalley

@lubalin

While 2020 feels for many like a liminal experience, it is comforting to think that it was not a complete record scratch of a year: music changed medium. Many popular artists like Lizzo, Jason Derulo, and Megan Thee Stallion gained an even bigger following thanks to TikTok. People with smaller followings in music were able to grow, too, as did people outside of music. This past year cannot be defined in one article, video, or song, but I am grateful to see the way people learned to redefine themselves. To the people who took time to share, create, educate, and grow: I cannot wait to see what you do next.

Article by Marisa Graham