All hands were up at Mood Ring, a queer bar in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday night, as the viral song “Planet of the Bass" made its full-length live debut.
No one had heard the track in its entirety before — but everyone in the room sang along to the chorus and verse that they knew every word of thanks to its recent infamy on TikTok.
“World premiere, full song!” Kyle Gordon, the comedian behind the song and satirical persona “DJ Crazy Times,” shouted at the crowd, which broke into cheers.
The song, which was first introduced as a musical skit on Gordon's TikTok page, features him and influencer Audrey Trullinger dressed in Y2K club outfits, mimicking the style of Eurodance music videos, as they lip-sync to the tune around the Oculus Center in New York City. In addition to being an earworm of a song, the 1990s club outfits in the video teaser and the nonsensical lyrics — like “Life it never die” and “women are my favorite guy” — have become extremely memeable.
In one week, the video received over 5 million views.
Its success comes as other catchy songs that originate on TikTok, including other summer hits like “One Margarita” by That Chick Angel and “You Wish” by Flyana Boss, takeover the internet
The demand for the full track was so high that the release date for the song has been moved up a week, now dropping online for anyone to stream on Aug. 15. Those at the bar got a sneak peak.
Gordon himself expressed awe at the response.
“It was incredible to see the reaction from a packed house of, presumably, Eurodance fans who all knew the words to a song from a 50-second clip that’s only been out a week," he told NBC News.
Gordon said he didn’t set out to make a “song of the summer,” as some people online have called it. He knew he made a fun song, but did not expect it to blow up like it did. Part of the success, he thinks, is a result of the timing.
“I might have gotten lucky with the Barbie movie coming out because — and this is like three layers out — it’s like people are talking about Barbie, then they’re talking about ‘Barbie Girl’ [by Europop band Aqua], and then when they’re thinking about Barbie Girl, they’re also thinking about Eurodance, generally. And so this kind of fits into the milieu and that’s obviously not something I planned.”
The comedian said he has perfected the “DJ Crazy Times” persona for about a decade. He first shared a clip performing as “DJ Crazy Times” in a song from his college a cappella group’s 2013 album. In it, he makes similar nonsensical ad libs as the ones in “Planet of the Bass.”
The song took about a month to create, Gordon said. He worked on it with writer Brooks Allison and producer Jamie Siegel.
It’s part of a larger comedy album that comes out this fall, which will feature parodies on bossa nova, pop punk and country songs. Many of the tracks will be fuller versions of songs he created and performed for his comedy shows throughout the years.
“I hope people like the other ones as much as this one,” he said. “But I think there are a lot on the album that I have tested either live or, like, online.”
Thursday's show saw a mix of attendees, including Europop lovers who just came to dance, bar regulars and Gordon fans.
Many fans, like Jessie Sanchez, have been impressed by Gordon’s spot-on impression of the stereotypical Eurodance artist.
As a Eurodance lover, Sanchez said he liked the “DJ Crazy Times” character, which had been a Tumblr meme for years.
Sanchez, 28, said the switching of the singers in Gordon’s videos showed a “commitment to the bit.”
Juliette Bellinson and Jordan Popov, both 21, found the song on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, and thought it was funny. The couple made an hourlong trek to the venue to hear it live. Bellinson said the song is appealing because it’s mindless and invites people to just dance.
“I think we need stuff that’s less earnest, just music that doesn’t take itself so seriously. I think it fits in so well with our generational ethos,” said Bellinson.
Popov thought the full song was good, but a bit overhyped. He expressed disappointment that Trullinger wasn’t there in-person.
“I was hoping the girl who was in the music video would be there too. I feel like they were a duo, but it was fun,” he said.
Online, many commenters shared Popov's affinity for Trullinger’s performance. They expressed outrage when Gordon posted another video of the song with influencer Mara Olney.
“WHERE IS BILJANA ELECTRONICA????” several commenters asked in reference to Trullinger.
But the voice of “Ms. Biljana Electronica” is not her. It's actually singer Chrissi Poland. Gordon said his videos with Trullinger and Olney were inspired by the common trope in 1990s Eurodance music videos in which the singers would be replaced by various models.
Aqua also served as one of the inspirations for “Planet of the Bass." Gordon paid tribute to the group by ending his 10-minute set with their song “Roses Are Red,” to the delight of the crowd.
“I wasn’t here for him,” said Anthony Georgiou, 23, who went to the bar to catch hulaHOOP’s resident DJ moistbreezy. “I was kind of scared when I heard that [Gordon] was on the docket, because I didn’t want the party to be interrupted for a kind of joke. But he kept the energy going.”
CORRECTION (August 4, 2023, 9:15 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misspelled the name of Jamie Siegel. It is Siegel not Siege.
