Jason Derulo Apparently Thinks He Made TikTok Popular
“It wasn’t until I started to introduce other things that it became the app that it is today.”
TikTok is a pop cultural mainstay. There’s a new viral trend and song taking over the platform every week, and that catchy strategy keeps users on an endless scroll. For your TikTok obsession, you might have to thank Jason Derulo — heavy emphasis on might. Recently, the singer credited himself for transforming TikTok into the influential app it is today.
On Dec. 18, Derulo appeared on the YouTube channel for the sneaker store Kick Game. He reminisced about the time before TikTok officially became the singular app it is today. In the early days, TikTok had a sister app: the lip-syncing platform Musical.ly, which existed from 2016 to 2018.
Around the 14-minute mark of the video, Derulo said he was introduced to the platform during its Musical.ly days by his niece and nephews. He then joined the app, which was heavily used for dance challenges at the time. Then, in August 2018, Musical.ly morphed into TikTok, according to The Verge.
During the pandemic, Derulo said it took him a while to figure out what content performed best for him. “I had fun with [TikTok], honestly. I was like, ‘Let me start posting other sh*t.’ I tried to post a photo, that didn’t work. People was like, ‘What the f*ck is this?’ Then I started to post random story-like videos. That didn’t work,” Derulo said.
Derulo then found a new lane on TikTok which was posting “fun” content like outrageous skits, comical pranks with his now ex-girlfriend Jena Frumes, and videos part of the FoodTok craze. Most notably, Derulo said his TikTok personality helped elevate the platform to be more than just a dancing app.
“I was like, ‘Okay, this is a moment where I can be a leader and do something that’s totally different on the app,’” he said. “I think it changed the app forever because TikTok used to be just a dance app, and it wasn’t until I started to introduce other things that it became the app that it is today.”
It’s not hard to believe why Derulo gifted himself this title. He did join TikTok in its early stages and now boasts over 56 million followers. However, crediting himself for the app’s transformation and success is a bit much. There are so many creators on TikTok that helped push the app’s notoriety to what it is today — including Derulo’s.
