After months of back and forth, it seems TikTok’s time in America is coming to an end. The U.S. government made the decision, in early 2025, to ban the app across the country, and users are facing the end of an era.
Unless a deal emerges to shift control of TikTok to an American investor or the Supreme Court steps in to save it, it seems TikTok is on its way out. Within days, users across the country could lose access to the app, and one brilliant band has already responded with the perfect outro.
That’s what people are calling TikTok’s latest banger, “TikTok Baby,” which bids adieu to the mega-popular app in gloriously fitting fashion. Overstuffed with pointed humor and wry jokes about the state of America, the song was instantly attributed to comedic musical genius Bo Burnham — but he’s not actually the talent behind the track.
Who wrote “TikTok Baby?”
The band certainly channels a deliciously scathing Bo Burnham energy in their flawlessly timed “TikTok Baby,” but the YouTuber-turned comedian-turned mega-star isn’t actually involved in the release in any way. The band that actually gets credit for delivering the song is On Company Time (OCT), a three-man musical comedy force that’s set to explode in the coming weeks.
They’ve already got a reasonable fan following, but band members Vinny, Luke, and Peter are likely to see a major increase in listeners as TikTok latches onto their humorous goodbye with desperate fervor. Its spreading across the app like mad, in the week preceding TikTok’s probable blackout, and soundtracking dozens of videos — almost all of which give the credit to Burnham.
Its completely reasonable to assume the song came from Burnham, given its general vibe and the stellar vocals that accompany it. Even the song’s actual creators are poking fun at how many people assume its another Burnham banger, and uploading their own videos to celebrate their song’s abrupt rise.
Its actually the brilliant combination of Vinny, a self-described “master of sketch comedy,” Luke, the “tallest of the three,” and Peter, the band’s “sensei of music and comedy,” (who’s also big on energy, FYI) that birthed the fitting TikTok eulogy. Unfortunately for fans of the song, its dominance on TikTok is almost certainly doomed to be short-lived — given the whole ban thing — but its creators are working to secure a spot on Spotify for “TikTok Baby.”
They explained as much in a response to one of their videos, informing listeners that “Spotify won’t let” the group upload their song, which led them to instead upload it to YouTube. It does seem like an official, widespread release is looming, however, since their YouTube description notes that the song will be out “everywhere on January 24.”
That means the world should have access to OCT’s “TikTok Baby” as a nice consolation prize for both the U.S. presidential inauguration and the probable TikTok ban within a few days of both. Just keep an eye on your musical platform of choice on Jan. 24, and look forward to more of the band’s brutal commentary on the sorry state of politics as the U.S. descends into madness.
