TikTok’s 2021 Music Report: Megan Thee Stallion Tops Usage by Catalog for Second Year

Megan Thee Stallion reigned supreme over TikTok’s year-end music report for the second year in a row, topping their list of artists with the most usage by catalog.

“Cognac Queen,” “Thot Shit” and “Cry Baby” were just a few of Stallion’s songs that kept her at No. 1 this year, sparking many a dance challenge and transformation video. Right behind Stallion is Doja Cat, whose songs “Kiss Me More,” “Get Into It (Yuh)” and “Woman” made major waves on the app. The top 10 artists are as follows:

1. Megan Thee Stallion
2. Doja Cat
3. PoppHunna
4. Olivia Rodrigo
5. Cardi B
6. YungManny
7. Soulja Boy
8. Drake
9. Kevin Gates
10. Coi Leray

Beyond showcasing music’s top artists of today, TikTok also proved this year that it has the power to bring oldies back in style. Thanks to mash-ups and remixes, TikTok brought back songs like Boney M’s “Rasputin,” George Michael’s “Careless Whisper” and Bill Bev Devoe’s “Poison.” Here are the top 10 classic tracks that blew up on TikTok in 2021:

1. Boney M, “Rasputin” (1978)
2. Van McCoy, “The Hustle” (1975)
3. Billy Joel, “Zanzibar” (1978)
4. George Michael, “Careless Whisper” (1984)
5. Salt-N-Pepa, “Whatta Man” (1993)
6. Run DMC, “It’s Tricky” (1986)
7. Bee Gees, “More Than a Woman” (1977)
8. Grover Washington and Bill Withers, “Just the Two of Us” (1980)
9. Bell Biv Devoe, “Poision” (1990)
10. Earth, Wind & Fire, “Let’s Groove” (1981

TikTok also created a category for songs that aren’t new, but aren’t quite classic, dubbing those tunes “comeback tracks.” The majority of these songs hailed from the early to mid 2000s, with artists ranging from Destiny’s Child to Reba McEntire. As TikTok’s music report points out, these tracks were often used on the app as a show of nostalgia, whether that was to celebrate graduation or pay tribute to a late loved one. The top comeback tracks are listed below:

1. Destiny’s Child, “Bills, Bills, Bills” (1999)
2. MKTO, “Classic” (2013)
3. Kid Cudi, “Day N Nite” (2009)
4. Britney Spears, “Gimme More” (2007)
5. Noisettes, “Never Forget You” (2009)
6. Mike Posner, “Please Don’t Go” (2010)
7. Dr. Dog, “Where’d All the Time Go?” (2010)
8. Lukas Graham, “Mama Said” (2015)
9. Justin Timberlake ft. Timbaland , “SexyBack” (2006)
10. Reba McEntire, “I’m a Survivor” (2001)

When it comes to TikTok’s global top songs of 2021, the result is a mix of new and established artists. As has been proven in the past two years, TikTok is more than capable of fostering music’s next big stars, and several of their songs made it onto the top 20 of the year. Masked Wolf’s viral hit “Astronaut in the Ocean” takes the No. 1 spot, with breakout rock band Måneskin’s “Beggin'” right behind. See the rest of the top 20 below, which also includes Megan Thee Stallion, the Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber and Cardi B:

1. Masked Wolf, “Astronaut in the Ocean”
2. Måneskin, “Beggin'”
3. Popp Hunna, “Adderall (Corvette Corvette)”
4. ElyOtto, “SugarCrash!”
5. The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber, “Stay”
6. Oliver Tree, “Life Goes On”
7. Erica Banks, “Buss It”
8. YungManny ft. Flo Milli and Sada Baby, “Clap for ‘Em”
9. Megan Thee Stallion, “Cognac Queen”
10. Cardi B, “Up”
11. Yuna, “Lullabies”
12. Dhruv, “Double Take”
13. Stromae, “Alors on danse”
14. Los Legendarios, Wisin and Jhay Cortez, “Fiel”
15. MC Davi, MC Pedrinho and MC Don Juan, “Bipolar”
16. Rauw Alejandro, “Todo de Ti”
17. Internet Money, “His & Hers”
18. Boney M, “Rasputin”
19. Hoang Read, “The Magic Bomb”
20. DJ Luke Nasty, “Might Be — Remix”

The top genre in the U.S. on TikTok was hip-hop/rap, with pop and dance/electronic falling close behind. From there, R&B/soul, indie/alt, Latin, rock, soundtrack/film/tv, country and comedy followed. Speaking of hip-hop, half of the top 10 tracks in the genre are by women — a welcome stat in the often male-dominated field. See the top 10 U.S. hip-hop tracks below:

1. Popp Hunna, “Adderall (Corvette Corvette)”
2. LPB Poody, “Batman”
3. Kayla Nicole ft. Taylor Girlz, “Bundles”
4. Megan Thee Stallion, “Cognac Queen”
5. Coi Leray, “Twinnem”
6. Cardi B, “Up”
7. Erica Banks, “Buss It”
8. Playboi Carti, “Punk Monk”
9. $ilkMoney, “My Potna Dem”
10. YungManny ft. Flo Milli and Sada Baby, “Clap for ‘Em”

As TikTok users know, part of what makes the app so entertaining for music lovers is getting to see a different side of artists through their personal accounts. TikTok compiled the most viewed artist accounts on the app, and unsuprisingly, Lil Nas X took the cake (we may be biased, but he did make a pretty groundbreaking video at our Hitmakers event last week). Lizzo and iHeartMemphis followed suit, with Jason Derulo close behind in the No. 4 spot. Find the top 10 most viewed artists below:

1. Lil Nas X
2. Lizzo
3. iHeartMemphis
4. Jason Derulo
5. Oliver Tree
6. Coi Leray
7. Selena Gomez
8. Charlie Puth
9. Billie Eilish
10. Benny Blanco

Read more of TikTok’s year-end music report here.