Mashups and remixes remain the building blocks of the viral TikTok sound, and while this week’s sound is newly viral, it’s gotten so popular because it seems to be bridging a generational divide.
The sound
The sound is a mashup of two songs: Ice Spice’s “Deli” andDiddy’s “It’s All About the Benjamins.” Both samples have been sped up, and one of the trends going along with it is people dancing normally on the first beat, then throwing it back on the second, often with the addition of lights.
Many of the videos under the sound have a search bar about a “green dress,” and that’s because a participant in a green dress in @lxurend’s viral TikTok became especially popular after her performance.
It’s definitely a group trend, but some people had enough energy to dominate it by themselves.
North West used to the sound around Halloween, and so did Michael Myers, the Nun and Shrek. it was applied to anxious or excited pets.
The song even made it to an assisted living facility.
Where’s it from?
On Sept. 25, producer @jritt posted the mashup of “Deli” and “It’s All About the Benjamins,” calling it “Benjamin’s Deli.” The TikTok has more than 9.7 million views, and the audio has been featured in more than 689,000 TikToks. It’s now on Spotify, too.
“Ooo that intro finna hurt someone,” said one commenter.
“Deli” was released in summer 2023, and features a sample of a vocal loop by Four4, which is used in the mashup. “It’s All About the Benjamins” was released in 1997, and features a sample of the Jackson 5’s “It’s Great to Be Here” as well as Love Unlimited’s “I Did It For Love.”
Sound off
The @jritt account posted a few other mashups and remixes, but “Benjamin’s Deli” is by far the most popular. And there’s something universal about it: Maybe it’s the bridging of Gen Z and Gen X. In the last week, singer Slayyyter used it, and OR techs danced to it, and horses vamped to it.
Neither Ice Spice nor Diddy has used the sound themselves yet; the latter was busy dressing up as Batman for Halloween, after Warner Bros. allegedly banned him from dressing up as the Joker again.
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