From 'Anti-Hero' to 'About You,' here are TikTok's most viral songs of the year (2024)

There's perhaps no social media app that has a greater influence on music right now than TikTok, so it only makes sense to define the year through the songs we can't escape on our FYPs.

Here are the best TikTok songs of 2022. If you just got these out of your head... Sorry!

"Sunroof" by Nicky Youre & dazy

TikTok's most popular song of the year goes to "Sunroof" by Nicky Youre & dazy. It's one of those TikTok songs that isn't limited to a singular trend but is the go-to tune for any video. The track was released at the end of last year, and it has soundtracked a whopping 8.9 million videos. You might be surprised by how many times you heard it this year.

"So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings" by Caroline Polachek

The 2019 song had its moment back in January when TikTokkers brought Polachek's "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings" choreography to the platform. It's an uncharacteristically easy TikTok dance, which allowed Polachek's reverberated vocals to dominate the app for several weeks.

"We Don't Talk About Bruno" from Encanto

Remember the death grip Encanto had on pop culture in February? Nothing is more representative of Encanto's success than the viral hit, "We Don't Talk About Bruno." The song rose to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and soundtracked just shy of a million TikToks. The track was not only the go-to song for children and parents, but the Encanto jam also inspired its own trend.

TikTokkers isolated the most dramatic part of the song where the cast transitions from singing, "Like the grapes that thrive on the vine/ Óye, Mariano's on his way" to "He told me that…" To follow this trend, users typically posted two clips. In the first snippet, they tried to get something done, then in the second, they walked slowly into the room as something inhibiting them from completing the task at hand. The walk itself was inspired by the choreography in the musical.

"Major Bag Alert" ft. Migos by DJ Khaled

Major bag alert! Major bag alert! This 2017 banger had its comeback thanks to a TikTok trend in which users posted about (mostly exploitative) situations where people or corporations raked in a lot of money set to this DJ Khaled track featuring Migos. The trend is funny and critical of the ways individuals and companies make their money. An example is @jacimariesmith's video that reads, "Mommy bloggers when they get pregnant again."

The Reading Rainbow theme song

The most obscure song that popped off on the clock app this year is the theme song from Reading Rainbow, a popular PBS educational show that aired from 1983 to 2006. Users isolated the portion of the song that goes, "Butterfly in the sky / I can go twice as high," and paired it with a confusing sentiment. To top it off, TikTokkers who engaged in this educational trend accompanied the audio with the Space Filter, which duplicated their face and placed it in — you guessed it — space.

"Just A Cloud Away" by Pharrell Williams

TikTok reminded us that "Happy" isn't the only upsettingly catchy Pharrell song from the Despicable Me 2 when "Just A Cloud Away" went viral on the platform in March. The groovy song didn't soundtrack any particular trend, but rather briefly became the song of the moment on our FYPs.

"As It Was" by Harry Styles

As much as it physically pains me to call a Harry Styles track a TikTok song, the popularity of "As It Was" on the platform is undeniable. "As It Was" has been used in over 2.5 million TikToks since its release on April 1, and the platform will never be the same as it was.

"First Class" by Jack Harlow

No other song caused quite the tizzy that Jack Harlow's "First Class." The Louisville rapper teased a 13-second snippet of the song a week before its release, and it quickly became the most anticipated song on TikTok with 50,000 TikToks being made using the track in that initial tracking period. "First Class" owes its success to a genius sample of Fergie's "Glamorous" and Harlow's unabashed charm.

Unfortunately, the TikTok's love of "First Class" didn't guarantee Harlow's album, Come Home the Kids Miss You, any critical success. It received a 2.9 rating from Pitchfork.

"About Damn Time" by Lizzo

Lizzo's "About Damn Time" was a strong contender for song of the summer. The upbeat track took off on TikTok thanks to its infectious beat and a fun dance created by @jaedengomezz. "About Damn Time" has been used in a whopping 3 million videos since its release in April.

"Jiggle Jiggle" by Duke & Jones and Louis Theroux

This wasn't a song until TikTok made it one. The "my money don't jiggle jiggle" audio is an Autotuned snippet of British American journalist Louis Theroux on Chicken Shop Date with Amelia Dimoldenberg. In the original Chicken Shop Date clip he's remembering a rap he wrote for an episode of Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends in 2000. Music producers @dukeandjones got a hold of the clip of Theroux and leveled it up by adding Autotune and backing music as part of their "Adding auto tune to random videos" series on TikTok.

The clip exploded in popularity, and Duke, Jones, and Theorux have since released it as a single. The track is currently the soundtrack to over 6.6 million videos.

"Material Girl" by Saucy Santana

For the gworls who like the finer things, "Material Girl" took over TikTok with its catchy hook and MUA-turned-rapper Saucy Santana's charismatic vocal delivery. It's the audio you use when you want to flaunt your wealth and financial savvy — in whatever form that takes, from showing off your designer bags to shopping on a budget while looking fabulous. So far, more than 1.2 million videos have used the song, and Santana is now gracing the covers of Teen Vogue and PAPER.

"Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" by Kate Bush

Who knew all Stranger Things needed to get back into mainstream public consciousness would be a key Kate Bush needle drop during a poignant scene in the Upside Down? And now Bush is running back up those charts and all over our FYPs — as she should be! — thanks to a TikTok trend that finds users recounting their "Vecna songs," or the tracks that would save them from the show's current Big Bad.

"L$d" by Luclover

"L$d" is the second most popular song of the year on TikTok with over 7.5 million videos to its name. Its death grip on the platform began in July with a mega-viral dance. While you might not have known the name of the song until now, you'll definitely recognize its striking opening. For a hint: It's the song that goes, "Double cup styrofoam pour it up and she look bad in the Maybach truck, bubble butt."

"CUFF IT" by Beyoncé

May 2022 forever be known as the year Beyoncé joined TikTok and saved the summer with her release of Renaissance. It's virtually impossible to not dance when hearing any of the album's 16 tracks and, of course, its groove was documented on TikTok. "CUFF IT" became the overwhelming fave with over 2.2 million videos.

"BILLIE EILISH" by Armani White

With over 2.9 million videos, "BILLIE EILISH" is 2022's go-to transition song — used in everything from OOTDs to room decor reveals.

"About You" by The 1975

The highly anticipated 2014 Tumblr revival finally came to fruition in October when three Tumblr greats — The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, and Taylor Swift — all released new albums within a week of each other. The 1975's atmospheric track "About You" quickly became the theme music for moody montages of Doc Martens, city streets, and quotes about getting older on TikTok. The track also ushered in several weeks of The 1975's frontman, Matty Healy, dominating the platform, as fans came together to share concert footage new and old of the British performer. True to its lyrics, "There was something about you that now I can't remember..."

"Anti-Hero" by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift talked her talk and went viral. Midnights rounded out the year in music, and Swifties gobbled up the album and its exhaustive promo. TikTok took a particular liking to first single "Anti-Hero", in which Swift sings painfully relatable (and catchy) lyrics about facing your inner-critic. TikTokkers immediately began posting why they, like Swift, are the problem in their own lives.