Viral songs by Lizzo, Beyoncé, Rosalía compete at Grammy

Songs that have gone viral on TikTok and will also compete at Sunday’s Grammy Awards include Lizzo’s “About Damn Time,” Beyoncé’s “Cuff It,” Sam Smith’s “Unholy” and GAYLE’s “abcdefu”. “TikTok is 90 per cent of the game,” said Adamm Miguest, CEO and founder of Rapid Launch Media, which creates marketing campaigns designed to make songs go viral. Even as the music industry gathers in Los Angeles to celebrate artists and their songs at Sunday’s Grammy awards, the relationship between hitmaker TikTok and music labels is showing signs of strain.

Lizzo

After the success of her major-label, Grammy-winning debut album Cuz I Love You, Lizzo — the self-proclaimed “Queen of TikTok” — came out with more feel-good songs that resonated on TikTok, especially “About Damn Time” and its viral dance by creator duo @brookeandjessie. The song launched 4.1 million combined creations on the platform, topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and is nominated for three Grammys, including song and record of the year.

Beyoncé

Beyoncé stopped chasing the charts a long time ago, but TikTok helped her launch a major hit without a big-budget marketing plan. A dance to “Cuff It” created by @maycsteele and @ogpartyhardy26 pushed the non-single into the singles chart, and eventually gave Beyonce another Top 10 hit. “Cuff It” scored 2.7 million-plus creations and is nominated for best R&B song at the Grammys.

Rosalía

Rosalía’s MOTOMAMI LIVE, which aired on TikTok LIVE last March, was a one-of-a-kind performance of the 14 tracks from the global star’s third album. It drew nearly four million unique viewers across four broadcasts. The video competed for best long form music video at the 2022 Latin Grammys and best long form video at the 2022 MTV Europe Music Awards. Now it’s nominated at the Grammys, competing for best music film.