First and foremost, TikTok has always been a dancing app. Don’t forget, it originally started as a merger of popular 15-second dance app, musical.ly. Now, we have hourlong videos and numerous legal dramas, but things weren’t always this complicated. The latest viral sensation takes us back to this simpler time in internet culture.
The sound
@rafa_martinez0297 Let’s dance let’s dance // #emmastone #ryangosling #barbie #leonardodicaprio #emmastoneedit #edit ♬ original sound – speaka
As music plays in the background, a triumphant Emma Stone declares: “Get up here! Let’s dance, let’s dance.”
Then the video cuts to pop culture icons boogieing away, including Baby Groot, Leonardo Di Caprio, Mr. Bean, and even her former co-star Ryan Gosling (who was in full Kenergy mode).
The video, which was posted on April 7, is a mere 12 seconds long—but still managed to amass a huge 79.8 million views.
At that point, a TikTok reaches its pinnacle: It surpasses viral status and becomes a bona-fide legend. A fancam hasn’t popped off this much since that Pedro Pascal edit.
Where’s it from?
@fameisoverated The original emma stone ‘lets dance’ clip #emmastone #letsdance ♬ original sound – fameisoverated
In 2012, La La Land and Poor Things star Emma Stone presented the Academy Awards. More specifically, she presented the Best Visual Effects category with Ben Stiller.
As it was her first time presenting the ceremony, Stone says she wanted to make it one to remember. And one idea was she had was a musical number. She said: “I can just pull someone up from the audience and have them dance with me. Oh my God Jonah [Hill]. Get up here! Let’s dance, let’s dance.”
Cue Jonah Hill silently shaking his head from the audience and telling her to cut it out. And in case you were wondering, the answer’s “Yes, this is the source of that one GIF of Jonah Hill politely declining.” At least the exchange has reached its full potential, meme-wise.
Sound off
@monicamooresmith5 *emily stone #letsdance #arizona ♬ original sound – SPAZN
Emma Stone asked us to dance, and the internet answered tenfold. Since going viral, the clip has been edited and re-edited into dozens of different fancams, with many of them surpassing millions of views.
Other creators are using the sound to create their own dances or to perform their best Emma Stone impression. To date, the sound has been used in hundreds of thousands of TikToks, and shows no sign of slowing down.
Now you can watch our That One Sound from TikTok column on YouTube! Subscribe to our channel and keep an eye out for new episodes every Wednesday:
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