Tag: tiktok

Artist Spotlight: Cooking with Lynja

vle 1 Comment

I don’t believe I’ve ever written about a YouTuber/TikTok star/Social media personality before, but there is truly no other than Cooking with Lynja. Her bios explain that she’s “just a regular mom with killer cooking skills,” but watching her cooking videos will have you mesmerized for hours.

I first discovered Lynn Davis through TikTok earlier this year, and her short, quirky, meme-filled videos filled me with delight. As a passionate beginner cook myself, her humorous but helpful videos were a hit to me. I dove into more research to find out about the intriguing Lynja and was even more pleasantly surprised: she’s a retired engineer, an MIT and Columbia alum, and a former long-time employee of AT&T Labs. Now, she films videos with her son Tim.

Lynja and her son began filming videos at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, and have amassed an impressive 3.3 million TikTok followers, 1.25 million YouTube subscribers, and 360k Instagram followers. I think it’s safe to say she deserves the title of “TikTok’s ultimate grandma.” With delicious video tutorials such as homemade whipped cream, lemon pepper wings, and carbonara ramen, Cooking with Lynja is sure to delight any college student or budding chef.

What stands out about Lynja’s brief videos is how much personality and humor can be packed into as little as 25 seconds–her raspy voice, infectious positivity, and top tier pop culture references make the video shine. Kudos to Lynja and her son, they have some seriously amazing editing skills! Give her accounts a look if you haven’t already!

 

 

TikTok Songwriting Trends

Josie Faith Leave a comment

Yes, I know. TikTok is in my blog post title. How very Gen Z of me. However, I think there is something to be said about a trend I’ve been following on the app for the last few months. It’s been super cool to watch, and has taken off quickly in the TikTok community.

The first time I saw a TikTok of someone playing original music, I didn’t think all that much of it. Sure, it was cool, but people post original music on SoundCloud, Youtube, Instagram, etc. I didn’t see how TikTok could do anything more for creators than these other platforms. I think it’s safe to say now that I was wrong.

Since I joined the app in September, I have witnessed songwriters years younger than I am blow up for posting just 15-60 seconds of a song.

I remember scrolling through my For You Page and coming across a video of a blonde girl singing an original song into a microphone. It was a simple video. The lyrics started “I’m mad at Disney, Disney / They tricked me, tricked me / Had me wishing on a shooting star”

Chances are, if you have ever spent time on TikTok, you are familiar with those words. The song blew up big time, and now serves as the audio for over three MILLION videos.

“How can you miss someone you’ve never met / Cuz I need you now but I don’t know you yet” (IDK You Yet Alexander 23)

“Low key f*** 2020” (F2020 Avenue Beat)

“Don’t stay away for too long / don’t go to bed / I make a cup of coffee for your head” (Death Bed Powfu)

“Now I could write 10 songs about 9 ways you ****ed me over” (Never the 1 ROSIE)

“I would rather be distant with you / than feel distant with someone who / is standing in front of me” (Long Distance JORDY)

“Cuz I never meant to fall out of love with you” (Out of Love With You Avery Lynch)

I’m betting you’ve heard at least one of these lyrics before. Each and every one of these songs was written, posted, and born from the TikTok platform. This just goes to show that the world of music is changing RIGHT NOW. The artist ROSIE, for example, posted “Never the 1” on TikTok after her boyfriend broke up with her less than a year ago, dropped out of school a few weeks later, signed with a major record label, and is now recording music for a living. Social media has such power in all aspects of life–and songwriting is no different!

Other notable examples of TikTok music include Ratatouille the Musical–a full musical written/created by TikTok users, Bridgerton the Musical–a musical in progress being written and scored by @abigailbarlowww and @mlebear, song-a-day challenges like the one being undertaken by Vaultboy, and many more super cool projects. If you’re already a TikToker, I recommend checking all of these people out! If you’re not, I still recommend giving at least some of their content a listen! TikTok can be a time-sucking addictive mess, but there is definitely good to come out of the platform.