Whats Going On TikTok Sound: the Nicki Minaj x 4 Non Blondes Trend

The “What’s Going On” TikTok sound is a mashup: the chorus of “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes (1993) that suddenly drops into the beat of Nicki Minaj’s “Beez in the Trap”. An Ohio college student posting as dj auxlord uploaded it in August 2025. Original format: two people back to back, one sings Linda Perry, the other raps Minaj on the drop. A year on, the sound sits at 5.4 million videos (BroadwayWorld, May 20, 2026). If you want your version to move fast, a few TikTok views right after posting can help the algorithm pick it up.

Where does the “What’s Going On” sound come from?

A 1993 hit and a 2012 rap track

The song everyone calls “What’s Going On” is titled “What’s Up?”. Linda Perry, the singer of 4 Non Blondes, wrote it, and Interscope released it as a single in March 1993. It comes from the album “Bigger, Better, Faster, More!”, out on October 13, 1992. It went to number one in Germany, Switzerland and much of Europe, and reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 (Wikipedia, Charts section). The confusion over the title comes from the chorus, which repeats “and I say hey, what’s going on”, so that is what people type into the search bar.

What does “Beez in the Trap” mean?

The second half of the sound is “Beez in the Trap” by Nicki Minaj featuring 2 Chainz, released in May 2012 on “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded”. It peaked at number 48 on the Hot 100 (The Nightly, November 3, 2025). Minaj explained the title on The Graham Norton Show: “beez” means “I always”, and “the trap” is where you make your money. In plain words, I am always where the money is. The beat is dry and almost empty, the opposite of Perry’s ballad.

The dj auxlord mashup, August 2025

The blend came from an Ohio college senior posting as dj auxlord, who asked Rolling Stone not to reveal their identity. They sped “What’s Up?” up to 150 bpm, the tempo of “Beez in the Trap”, in the djay Pro app, and posted the result in August 2025. The numbers then climbed fast: 400,000 videos on October 23, 2025 (Rolling Stone), more than a million on November 2 (Parade), 3 million on December 23 (Kill Rock Stars press release relayed by Eric Alper), then 5.4 million videos and 15 billion views by May 20, 2026 (BroadwayWorld). Sabrina Carpenter, Demi Lovato and Simone Biles all had a go, and Nicki Minaj posted a photo carousel over it herself.

Linda Perry had never opened TikTok. She joined for the occasion and called the remix “ridiculous in all the best ways”. The band’s official account posted this video, addressed straight to Nicki Minaj:

@4nonblondes

@Nicki Minaj apparently we’ve gone viral? #4nonblondes

♬ original sound – dj auxlord

How does the trend work?

The original format is a two person shot. Two people stand back to back, fixed framing. The first sings Linda Perry’s chorus, then the camera pans to the second right as the beat drops, and they rap Nicki Minaj’s opening line. That is the shot Rolling Stone described on October 23, 2025, and the one Jimmy Fallon and Malala Yousafzai did together (The Nightly, November 3, 2025).

Everything else is a spin on that break:

• The outfit change. Pajamas before, full look after. This one blew up around Halloween 2025 with costumes.
• The couple hard launch: you alone at the start, your partner appears on the drop.
• Your own two sides, or two friends with opposite personalities. The calm part for one, the beat for the other.
• A before and after: messy bedroom, then tidy.

The lyrics at the switch

Perry sings “I wake up in the morning and I step outside”, then “and I say hey, what’s going on”. On that last word the beat lands and Nicki Minaj comes in putting her rivals down, saying they are worth nothing and have nothing to say. That is where you cut. Half a second late and the whole effect collapses.

Another example that did well:

@jlo

What’s up? GUESS WHO! #WhatsGoingOn #FourNonBlondes #fyp @Linda Perry @Nicki Minaj

♬ original sound – dj auxlord

Why is it still working in September 2026?

A sound from summer 2025 should have died months ago. This one is still standing, because the contrast does the work for you: the beat arrives, the image changes, the viewer gets it in a second.

The original song also got a real second life. According to Billboard, “What’s Up?” re-entered the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart at number 13 on the chart dated November 8, 2025, later peaked at number 11, and reached 113 on the Global 200 (Wikipedia). Not bad for a song older than most of the people filming it.

Three dated moments have relaunched the sound since, so you do not have to take my word for it. In early November 2025 the official White House TikTok account posted Donald and Melania Trump on the mashup (Complex, November 5, 2025). Nicki Minaj reacted on X and part of the internet declared the trend over (Primetimer). It was not. On June 2, 2026, The Tonight Show posted a Short with Nicholas Galitzine recreating the meme (Wikipedia). And on June 24, 2026, 4 Non Blondes played the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, their first UK show in more than thirty years, with the whole room singing “What’s Up?” as the closer (Loud Women, June 27, 2026).

September news works in your favour too. Linda Perry and the Indigo Girls open a US tour on September 16, 2026 in Columbus, then stop in Nashville (Ryman, September 30) and Washington (The Anthem, October 4), per BroadwayWorld (May 20, 2026). Perry released “Let It Die Here” in late 2025, a 17 track solo album on 670 Records / Kill Rock Stars and her first solo release in 25 years (Eric Alper, December 23, 2025). The second 4 Non Blondes album is announced for early 2027. Add back to school, which revives every before and after, and Halloween 2026 in seven weeks, the period when the trend peaked last year.

If your video collects TikTok likes in the first hour, it has a better chance of being tested on a wider audience.

How to make your own “What’s Going On” video

1. Find the sound: search “what’s going on” or “dj auxlord” in TikTok. The original is called “original sound – dj auxlord”. Skip the re-uploaded copies.
2. Pick your contrast: two of you back to back, or solo with something that changes on the drop. Outfit, place, person or mood. One change, and a clean one.
3. Film the quiet part: 5 to 7 seconds, fixed framing, normal light. The flatter, the better.
4. Film the beat part: same framing, eyes on camera, 3 to 5 seconds is plenty.
5. Line up the cut: in the TikTok editor or CapCut, place the cut on the “on” of “what’s going on”, right before the first snare hit. Listen twice with headphones before confirming.
6. Write a short caption: one line that sets the scene, something like “Monday 8am vs Friday 6pm”.
7. Post and stay in the app: the first twenty minutes matter, so answer every comment.

Hashtags and the best time to post

The hashtags you see most on the sound: #whatsgoingon, #beezinthetrap, #nickiminaj, #4nonblondes and #whatsup. Add one or two that describe your contrast (#halloween2026, #backtoschool, #grwm) rather than a list of ten generic tags.

On posting time, there is no reliable public figure for this trend. Post when your audience is awake, the “Followers” tab in your TikTok analytics shows their active hours.

If you are building an account on this kind of content, a solid base of TikTok followers gives every new video a first audience the moment it goes live.

What brands and creators get out of it

A brand can borrow the trend easily, because the contrast can be anything. An empty coffee shop at 6am, packed at 9am. The beat does the rest.

The 4 Non Blondes case is worth a look. The band had released nothing since 1992 and did not let the trend pass by: TikTok account, video addressed to Nicki Minaj, London show, tour, album in the works. Perry and Minaj even considered recording their own version, then dropped it because they could not get into a studio together (Vice, November 16, 2025). A trend that lands on you is something you work with, and they worked it fast.