Child's 'cringeworthy' TikTok song parody explodes with popularity: 'This kid is actually talented'

A TikTok Fortnite song parody is going viral because it’s just so … formal?

The fresh take on Estelle and Kanye West’s song “American Boy,” which was posted in its original form in 2018, is sweeping the internet. The original version, a video by CM SKITS called “Let’s play Fortnite!!!!,” is clearly a parody — it’s off-key and exaggerated.

That version garnered 80,000 views, but it didn’t catch fire as a later version did — YouTube user Leviathan uploaded a full-length parody seemingly sung by a child with impressive pronunciation skills in November 2018.

The video, titled “Chug Jug With You — Parody of American Boy,” has more than 2 million views on YouTube.

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Now, why did TikTok user @roughanfeatherstone upload an audio clip of the song to the platform in January 2021? We’re not sure, but we do know that in the past few weeks, more than 40,000 users have uploaded videos using the audio clip.

Social media star and gamer @GeorgeNotFound shared the most popular video using the sound with 11 million views, which can likely be credited with the song’s recent spike.

To be fair, the song is extremely catchy — just a bit “cringeworthy,” as one esports writer said, but hey, maybe that’s why people feel the need to share it. It’s an earworm that demands to be perceived.

Other users commended the song’s catchiness.

“Sounds like if Mr. Clean had a son that could sing,” one user said in the caption of her post in which she lip-synced the song.

“The kid is actually talented,” one commenter said.

“It scratches the brain perfectly,” another wrote.

Another user said she wanted to “kiss this child’s forehead for making such a beautiful parody” in her caption.

“The flow is unparalleled, the pronunciation is clean, the mix is tasteful. Nothing touches this,” a user commented.

No lies there — it’s a certified hit.

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If you enjoyed this story, read more about cringeworthy TikTok artist Nankles.

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