M.I.A.’s ‘Paper Planes’ Back at No. 1 on TikTok Billboard Top 50, ‘Mufasa’ Song Debuts
Written by djfrosty on January 9, 2025
After dropping to No. 2 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 for a week amid holiday-related gains (punctuated by the reign of Wham!’s “Last Christmas”), M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” returns to No. 1 on the chart dated Jan. 11.
The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States based on creations, video views and user engagement. The latest chart reflects activity Dec. 30-Jan. 5. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50.
“Paper Planes” nabs its second week at No. 1 after initially rising to the top of the Dec. 28, 2024-dated list. Its ascension is tied to a dance trend featuring the tune, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2008. It earned 4.2 million official U.S. streams toward the Billboard charts in the week ending Jan. 2, according to Luminate, good for No. 9 on the Hot Alternative Songs chart.
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The song reigns over a previous TikTok Billboard Top 50 No. 1 in Djo’s “End of Beginning,” which roars back onto the tally at No. 2. Djo’s 2022 track exploded on TikTok in early 2024, eventually rising to No. 1 for two weeks in March of that year, though the tune hadn’t appeared on the ranking since July — until now.
Why is “End of Beginning” back? At the end of the song’s first verse, Djo’s Joe Keery asks, “Remember 24?” Though the lyrics in question reference being 24 years old, TikTok users flipped the script to refer to the year 2024, with some instructing viewers to start playing the song at a certain time on Dec. 31, 2024, so that they’d hear “Remember 24?” right as 2025 began.
“End of Beginning,” which peaked at No. 11 on the Hot 100 in March 2024, scored a 25% bump in chart-eligible streams in the week ending Jan. 2, earning 4.9 million listens.
Naughty Boy’s “La La La,” featuring Sam Smith, reaches a new peak of No. 3 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 after leaping into the top 10 for the first time on the Jan. 4 ranking. The song remains driven by a trend featuring two or more people, with one creator lip-synching in the foreground and others dancing or acting out a scene in the background.
“La La La” concurrently debuts at No. 101 on the Billboard Global 200, and it sports a 12% jump in U.S. official streams to 3.7 million in the week ending Jan. 2. The tune peaked at No. 19 on the Hot 100 in 2014.
Three other songs round out the TikTok Billboard Top 50’s top 10, including one chart debut. Sam Austins’ “Seasons” leads the pack, leaping 16-7 after benefitting from an influx of year-end videos in which users recap their styles and looks throughout 2024, among other viral usages.
Tyler, the Creator’s “Sticky” — which features GloRilla, Sexyy Red and Lil Wayne — also makes it into the top 10 for the first time at No. 9, becoming the second song from the rapper’s St. Chroma to reach that region, after “Like Him” peaked at No. 3 in December (it ranks at No. 6 on the latest tally). Its rise comes in its ninth week on the survey, driven by a variety of uses that highlight the song’s different verses from its four rappers, with a more recent one including a dance involving twirling one’s hair to the “grab that mop” lyric.
And at No. 10, “I Always Wanted a Brother” from the new film Mufasa: The Lion King bows as the week’s top debut. The song went viral on TikTok at the tail end of 2024 (the movie was released on Dec. 20, 2024) as users highlighted the way that Scar (voiced by Theo Somolu as a cub) sings the word “brother” (as well as the animation of said singing). It’s since been utilized in lip-synching content as well.
See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here. You can also tune in each Friday to SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio (channel 4) to hear the premiere of the chart’s top 10 countdown at 3 p.m. ET, with reruns heard throughout the week.