Is TikTok good for music? An old club hit has become a viral phenomenon on the platform. But some critics worry about what this means for future generations of artists.
‘Papa, Papaoutai’ takes over internet
Beat revival: Stromae's decade-old French language club hit is taking TikTok by storm, but the trend has sparked a fierce debate over whether viral algorithms are helping new artists or hollowing out the music industry. Glossary
Refrain - A repeated line or phrase in a song or poem, often forming the memorable part; and a verb meaning to deliberately stop yourself from doing something.
Choreography - The sequence of steps and movements in dance or figure skating.
Absentee - A person who is expected or required to be present at a place or event but is not.
Rwandan genocide - During a period of 100 days in 1994, more than 500,000 people were killed during a campaign of mass murder during the Rwandan Civil War. Most of the victims were members of the minority Tutsi group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa.
Esteem - Respect and admiration.
Ludwig van Beethoven - A German composer and pianist. One of the defining figures of Western classical music.
Algorithm - Any set of rules followed by a computer. In the context of social media, “the algorithm” refers to the intelligent AI that learns the interests of the user and presents them with posts that it thinks will interest them.
Afro Soul - A vibrant music genre blending soulful vocals and themes with traditional African rhythms, instrumentation and local languages.