Left foot, right foot, levitating
The latest example of TikTok’s unique ability to drive any song—whether new or several years old—to virality, is a trend centered around Dua Lipa’s 2020 song “Levitating.” More specifically, this trend focuses on rapper DaBaby’s feature on a remix of the song, which includes the lines, “Let’s go. Left, foot, right foot, levitating.”
Though Lipa removed DaBaby’s credit on the song in 2021, after DaBaby made several homophobic and misogynistic comments, dozens of TikTok users have begun creating videos of themselves humorously acting out the lines of his rap through a series of photos. For example, as DaBaby says, “Left foot, right foot, levitating,” users briefly flash photos of their left foot, their right foot and themselves mid-jump, timed to the accompanying words of the rap playing underneath.
Related: How TikTok is helping brands tap into trending music
The original video featuring this format, posted by user @l0i816, has amassed over 4.3 million views and nearly 1 million likes in the five days after it was posted. And as other users—both human and canine—have participated in the trend with their own interpretations of the song’s lyrics, Lipa’s song has shot up the list of trending songs on TikTok, currently sitting at number three.
Because the user that kicked off the trend set their video in a grocery store, retailers such as Target are already serving as the backdrop of many other takes on the video format. This makes it easy for brands with brick-and-mortar stores to capitalize on the trend and have members of their social teams, or other employees, perform their own interpretations of DaBaby’s lyrics via a series of photos—the goofier, the better!