Several Canadian artists, including Drake and Avril Lavigne, have made TikTok’s most popular songs of 2020 lists.
Drake’s “Toosie Slide” topped the list for the ten fastest songs to reach one billion video views on the platform. Canadians Curtis Waters, 437Aiden and Tate McRae made the list for TikTok’s 15 most notable new artists that made their mark on the platform this year.
“The ways in which artists use TikTok to connect with fans and shape the soundtrack of our lives is inspiring, and it’s exciting to recognize so many Canadians on this list. TikTok is the perfect platform for the world to discover the vibrant, diverse, and talented Canadian music scene,” said Adam Burchill, the head of music at TikTok Canada, in an emailed statement.
Interestingly, a few old songs from Canadian artists came back into the spotlight through several TikTok trends throughout the year.
Simple Plan’s “I’m Just A Kid” was the soundtrack for a popular trend on the app and made TikTok’s popular throwbacks list. Similarly, Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” and Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous” also made the list after being used for popular trends that took off on the app.
TikTok also notes that The Weeknd’s live event on the platform was also one of the most successful at-home virtual events of the year and drew in two million total views and raised over $350,000 USD (about $447,000 CAD) for the Equal Justice Initiative.
As someone who spent a fair amount of time on TikTok this year, it was pretty great to see some popular Canadian songs get recognition on the app.