TikTok celebrates the joy (and frustration) of being home for the holidays
Another year, another season of gratitude. But TikTok celebrates Thanksgiving in its own unique way.
This week, our FYPs were full of Friendsgiving get-togethers and TikTokkers home for the holidays. Thankfully, the tradition of recreating Saturday Night Live's "Back Home Ballers" carries on, even for a new generation.
Back in the day me and you baby, we used to have fun
The latest British rap to go viral on TikTok is a parody from actor Kayode Ewumi, aka Roll Safe. He performed the verse on BBC Radio for its "Fire in the booth" segment. If you're thinking, "Who is Roll Safe?" you're probably already very familiar with his face. He's face has been meme-ified for years.
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The point of his parody is that it's bad; the lyrics are reductive, and the rhymes are obvious. The viral clip isolates the lyrics, "Yo, I'm like back in the day me and you baby we used to have fun until you delivered that baby." On TikTok, the sound has inspired over 123,000 videos.
TikTokkers who are home for the holidays are using the audio to comment on reconnecting with old friends and trying to relate to a past version of themselves. The key lyrics being "back in the day you and me baby we used to have fun." The trend is perfect for the holidays because if you've come back to your hometown, you're bound to run into someone from your past, or have memories of your past self resurface.
For example, @jessicaedwardss posted a video with the text "when u and ur cousin have nothing in common anymore," and @vjpla used the trend to post, "someone from your hometown sliding into your dms as if they didn't literally bully you as a teenager."
We're home for Thanksgiving y'all
Sticking with the Thanksgiving theme, another timely trend is TikTok users recreating the music video for the SNL song "Back Home Ballers." In the original 2014 sketch, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Sasheer Zamata, Vanessa Bayer, Leslie Jones, Cameron Diaz, and Aidy Bryant sing about the luxury of being spoiled by their parents when they come home for the holidays. The song is a timeless classic, and it's uncomfortably relatable.
This trend resurfaces on TikTok every Thanksgiving, as the first lyrics of the song are "we're home for Thanksgiving y'all."
Over the years over 28,000 videos have been made to the sound on the app. And it typically finds people acting out the lyrics of the song, like, "Walk in the door and hand my bag to the valet / In case you're wondering it's my daddy." The trend is popular because it's human nature to be nosey, and of course we want to see where — and how — everyone grew up.
Be honest, when did you arrive to Friendsgiving?
Another Thanksgiving trend finds exasperated hosts comparing the time they told people to arrive for Friendsgiving to the time each friend actually arrives. Similar to other popular friend-group trends — like "who is going to be the drunkest tonight?" — these videos allow us to observe people's chaotic friendship dynamics. And who can't relate to having that one friend who can't be on time if their life depended on it.
TikTok user @natalie.artus posted a video of this trend and garnered over 7 million views and over 1.3 million likes. The guests arrived between 4 p.m. and 5:53 p.m.
What trends will the future bring? Only time will tell. Until then, enjoy your leftovers.
Topics Social Media TikTok
Elena is a tech reporter and the resident Gen Z expert at Mashable. She covers TikTok and digital trends. She recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in American History. Email her at [email protected] or follow her @ecaviar_.
