Masked Wolf had TikTok’s most-popular songs globally in 2021

TikTok put the chaos of 2020 behind it to gather more than 1 billion users to its platform this year. Many were glued to clips soundtracked by Masked Wolf and The Kid LAROI.

The breakthrough Aussie acts were among the top-trending stories to emerge on TikTok this year, with both impacting the global top five most-popular songs on the short-video app.

Masked Wolf’s ‘Astronaut In The Ocean’ was the alpha in the pack, soundtracking 17 million TikTok videos, according to the streaming platform’s year-in-numbers report.

It’s a sweet reward for the Wolf (real name Harry Michael) whose 2019 song found new wings and flew into the Top 10 in the U.S. and Australia after it went viral on TikTok, earning the rapper and producer/songwriter Tyron Hapi induction into APRA AMCOS’ The 1,000,000,000 List.

Masked Wolf went on to score ARIA Award nominations for Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist, Best Artist, Best Hip Hop Release (presented By Menulog), Song of the Year (presented by YouTube Music) and Best Video (presented by YouTube Music.

Meanwhile, Sydney-raised, Los Angeles-based star The Kid LAROI had a TikTok hit on his hands with ‘STAY’, his collaboration with Justin Bieber, which has been used in nearly 9 million videos.

LAROI (real name Charlton Howard) has enjoyed a year to remember, bagging No. 1s in the U.S. and Australia, along with ARIAs, APRAs and NIMAs, and earning a nomination for the 2022 Grammy Awards.

The Kid LAROI

TikTok unpacked its year in numbers during a virtual briefing Monday (Dec. 6), hosted by Matty J and Lee Hunter, GM for TikTok ANZ.

What a difference a year makes.

In 2020, TikTok was in the crosshairs when then-U.S. president Donald Trump used his office to fire up his MAGAs, and start a countdown to sell the China-owned business into American hands or eliminate it.

That process had CEO Kevin Mayer looking for the exit, noting, in the most diplomatic of terms, how the political environment had “sharply changed.”

Once a rogue, TikTok has since established an affiliate in Sydney and gone legit with a raft of content arrangements.

Just last month, the streamer struck a multi-year music licensing deal with APRA AMCOS.

TikTok’s favourite songs of 2021.

Australia:
“Astronaut in the Ocean” – Masked Wolf, @zaraliang
“STAY” – The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber, @luckythirteenz
“Paparazzi” – Kim Dracula, @kimdrac
“SEND IT” – Hooligan Hefs, @rohanbrown06
“Fly Away” – Tones and I, @pollyannask8

Around the World:
“Astronaut in the Ocean” – Masked Wolf, @jayprehistoricpets
“Beggin'” – Måneskin, @therealmaneskin
“Adderall (Corvette Corvette)” – Popp Hunna, @justmaiko
“SugarCrash!” – ElyOtto, @zuro_xuro
“STAY” – The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber, @luckythirteenz

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.