It’s no secret that Tik Tok has had a huge impact on society and its norms in the past two years. The social media platform has grown tremendously in users and creators of all ages and is even reaching levels of popularity as Facebook and Twitter. Tik Tok has been used for many things such as promoting social awareness, comedy and even an introduction to new music.

Many people are using Tik Tok to learn about new music coming out or staying in touch with ‘the times’ in the music industry. One interesting thing that has happened, though, is the resurfacing of old music into new audiences.

Considering Tik Tok is a new platform, many of its users are pretty young, but they still found a way to bring back the ‘oldies’ that Generation X and Millennials grew up listening to. A few of these artists include Fleetwood Mac for “Dreams” and “The Chain”, Run-DMC with “It’s Tricky”, Ronettes with “Be My Baby” and Boney M. with “Rasputin”.

Fleetwood Mac has made the biggest comeback with two songs being re-popularized by the use of “Dreams” and “The Chain” on Tik Tok. According to CNN, “Dreams” had hit the Top 10 on Billboard’s streaming sound chart in Oct. 2020 because of a viral video on the platform. The video featured a man drinking Ocean Spray while riding on his skateboard with the song playing in the background. The song also reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart back in 1977.

Many of these older songs have become a part of “challenges”, which have become a Tik Tok trend. “It’s Tricky” by Run-DMC was released in 1986 but has become part of a Tik Tok “challenge” and used frequently by Tik Tok creators. The song was popularized in the movie “White Chicks” that was released in 2004, bringing the song light for Millennials and Generation Z. Now, because of the “challenge” using the song, “It’s Tricky” has new light yet again.

Sometimes, the popularity of a song comes unexpected to the Tik Tok community. An example of this would be former Disney Channel stars Aly and AJ’s song “Potential Breakup Song”. A Tik Tok was made of a group of moms lip syncing verses of the song which was off-timed and honestly comedical. After that went viral, many other Tik Tok users were recreating that same video with the song. “Potential Breakup Song” was released in 2007, technically classifying that song as being older. The song gained so much popularity that the artists re-recorded the song, this time to fit an older audience, adding profanities. The new version of the song was released in Dec. 2020.

The resurfacing of older music gives the opportunity for Generation X and Millennials to reminisce on times growing up, because that was the music that they listened to. West Texas A&M University alumni, Cayenne Williams, likes to reflect on the older songs that are brought up on her Tik Tok.

“I like hearing old songs that I forgot about and remembering all of the memories that come with them,” Williams said.