You may have noticed a number of TikTok videos of people performing German rap songs on their For You page recently.
Well, this isn’t actually a rap, but a German tongue twister that musical comedian Bodo Waltke and his friend and content creator Marti Fischer decided to transform into.
Last December, the two posted a two-part video about a woman named Barbara and her rhubarb cakes, which rhymes with “Barbara Labarba,” or “Barbara’s Rhubarb Bars.”
Like any good tongue twister, it becomes more complex and intricate as the story progresses – and, as Waltke discovered, he can turn it into a catchy rap.
The translated lyrics look like this: “In a small village there lived a girl named Barbara, who was known in the area for her delicious rhubarb pie.
“We called her Rhubarb Barbara because everyone loved eating Barbara’s rhubarb pie so much.”
Then, in March of this year, Australian TikTokers Stephanie and Christina (@steph_who___ and @Christina Stasii) posted a video of themselves dancing and costumed to the rap song inside a public toilet, and the song It attracted even more attention and received 16.6 million views.
“POV: I’m stuck on a song I don’t understand all the time” was displayed on the screen.
They then posted another video repeating their dance routine, which also went viral with 18 million views and sparked a new dance trend.
“We’re theater kids, so we looked like this. We did this 30 minutes before the performance,” Stefani later explained in another post, adding that while it was actually stationary, other mentioned the confusion where people thought the pair had copied them.
“I appreciate people who message me and say, ‘I stole your dance and we went to the same bathroom,’ but I assure you it’s okay because we’re actually the same person.”
Approximately 29,000 videos have been created using this sound, including American influencers Austin and Marides Terenko (@cost_n_mayor) and actor Casey Stroh (@kaycstroh).
Waltke and Fischer also participate in the dance trend to the rap in a video that has over 22 million views.
“Thank you @Stephanie and @CHRISTINA STASII for coming up with such amazing choreography for our song, and especially to everyone around the world who dances to this song. A phenomenon!” Waltke wrote.
“@Marti Fischer and I are already working on the sequel…!”
Earlier this year, Universal Music Group (UMG) contract renewal discussions with TikTok broke down, resulting in UMG removing the artist’s songs from the platform, which led to songs like “Barbaras Rhabarberba” going viral. This may perhaps explain why.
On May 1, UMG announced that it had signed a new licensing agreement with TikTok, bringing the artist’s music back to the platform.
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