“It was one of the surprises of the season. The group 4 Non Blondes released their first album in 1992 and their wild sound didn’t exactly make them candidates for success. But one song, What happensperformed the miracle: Linda Perry’s fiery voice and her calls for revolution placed the song in all hit lists.” These lines, written by music journalist Diego A. Manrique in this newspaper in 1993, could have been published today. More than three decades after this song saw the light, What happens It continues to be “one of the surprises of the season” and even breaks records, but for different reasons than then. mixed with Beez in the trapby rapper Nicki Minaj, has become the latest viral challenge on the social network TikTok, returning the group, which disbanded after releasing its first and only album, to unusual popularity.
Him trend which today has more than two million publications on the Chinese social network is easy to implement. Two participants are needed: the first pretends to do reproduction with a song by 4 Non Blondes while the second lip syncs to the rap of Minaj’s song from 2012. Some of the most famous contenders include famous names such as Sabrina Carpenter, Joe Jonas, Khloé Kardashian, Malala Yousafzai, Ibai Llanos, Bizarrap, Simone Biles or Jennifer Lopez, who appears singing with Linda Perry herself, the singer of the group. The revolution that this mix has brought to TikTok is such that the band itself has shared a video that brings together the famous faces participating in the challenge between emotion and disbelief. “This song is 30 years old and number one on the TikTok list? TikTok, you’ve given us an incredible welcome,” they wrote, adding the requested amazement emoji.
The group 4 Non Blondes is originally from San Francisco and owes its name, which could be translated as ‘Four Non Blondes’, to the anecdote they experienced while spending the afternoon in a park. When a boy approached them looking for food to feed to the pigeons, his parents – a couple of blond yuppies, they said – scolded him, warning him not to associate with such people. Clarifying that for them “being blond is a state of mind” and also including in the album a dedication to Madonna herself “whom they didn’t know, but would have liked to greet her”, the band began its journey in 1989 composed only of women: the singer, Linda Perry; bassist Christa Hillhouse; guitarist Shaunna Hall and drummer Wanda Day. However, shortly after they broke “what was a political decision” to prioritize musical criteria and the drummer, who would later die of an overdose, was replaced by Dawn Ricardson, while Roger Rocha took Hall’s place.
The group, labeled as alternative rock, rose to fame in the early 1990s, but disbanded after releasing their first and only album, Bigger, Better, Faster, More!, which included What happens and reached number three on the Billboard 200. It was a sudden and unexpected end. The one who continued his musical career was Perry, who became one of the most respected producers and composers of pop hits, writing hits for voices like those of Christina Aguilera (hers is her successful career). Beautiful), Miley Cyrus, Courtney Love or Adele.
However, on May 4th Non Blondes reunited and performed together for the second time since their split in California. Since then, they have returned to the stage on a handful of occasions, reminiscing about the old days and enjoying the resurgence of their popularity. “I channeled that energy, because I want 2025 to be my year. I want to own this year because I feel like I’ve sown seeds everywhere and I’m watching my little trees grow,” Perry explained on the show. The Allison Hagendorf Show.
The blame for this resurgence lies with DJ Auxlord, a psychology student and trained pianist from Ohio who created it mix viral and whose identity he prefers to keep anonymous. “I am amazed at its success,” he assured Rolling Stone. “I find it very fun to mix songs that have nothing to do with each other,” he added, specifying that he can do it with a simple iPad app and that he doesn’t rule out giving his budding success as a DJ a professional outlet. Over his story, presided over by the illustration of a rabbit on plates, the most unexpected mixes accumulate: from HorsegiirL with the Beatles, to Taylor Swift with Charli XCX to Chappell Roan with City Girls.
For her part, Linda Perry herself confessed to the same specialized publication that she found the remix “ridiculous in the best sense of the word” and that thanks to it she was encouraged to use TikTok for the first time. The unexpected union of his most famous song with Nicki Minaj’s rap multiplied the listeners of both exponentially. Although the real winner is the rapper’s song, whose ratings skyrocketed 460% worldwide on Spotify in October; Also What happens recorded an increase of 75%. It may seem that the increase is discreet, but the truth is that ratings had already multiplied the previous month thanks to What’s happeningby Cardi B and Lizzo, who sampled the original song.
The truth is that there are many themes from past decades that are reaching the new generations thanks to the viral challenges of TikTok, the musical dissemination social network par excellence which not only elevates new artists, but also recovers old glories. Among the most recognizable examples are dreams by Fleetwood Mac (1977), resurfaced after a viral video of a user skating; Rasputin by Boney M. (1978), transformed into a world dance challenge; OR Oh no from The Shangri-Las (1964), which became a meme for disastrously comic situations. Also songs associated with childhood nostalgia, such as In the heat of the situation!”since The Backyardigans (2004), he has managed to connect with a whole new audience thanks to the tongue-in-cheek humor of Generation Z. Now What happens adds to the list, making it clear that there are still plenty of opportunities – and videos – to continue “screaming at the top of your lungs” about “What’s going on?”
