What is the TikTok song that helps you do homework?

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MemeStatusSubmissionType:Exploitable, Pop Culture Reference, SongYear2020OriginTikTokTagsmario kart, super mario, switch, nintendo, memes, tiktok, studying, school memes, college, high school, study hack, lifehack

About

Studying To Mario Kart Music is a trend on TikTok based on the belief that listening to music from Mario Kart makes studying and doing homework faster and more efficient. The trend took off in October of 2020, and sees TikTokers upload videos and skits of themselves doing homework and studying set to the song "Coconut Mall" from Mario Kart Wii.

Origin

On October 5th, 2020, TikToker ryamistillalive uploaded a video featuring the on-screen caption, "I just took an exam while being recorded and forgot to turn my music off so my teacher now has 1 hour of me working while listening to the Mario Kart soundtrack" (shown below, left). The video gained over 555 thousand views in 16 days, and is one of the earliest mentions of the Mario Kart soundtrack related to studying. On October 8th, 2020, TikToker papyrmoon uploaded a video set to "Coconut Mall" in which she acts out completing 3 weeks worth of late homework to Mario Kart music (shown below, right). The video gained over 335 thousand views in 13 days.


https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/6880348970397207813?lang=en
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/6881331354215173381?lang=en

In the comments section of papyrmoon's video, multiple commenters try to determine why Mario Kart music has this effect. Many claim the music is made to help your brain focus on the game, hypothesizing that it has the same effect on studying.

Spread

On October 16th, TikToker kaitlyncraigen uploaded a video (also set to "Coconut Mall") of herself featuring the on-screen caption, "LISTEN TO MARIO KART MUSIC WHILE DOING SCHOOL WORK ITS SO FUCKING AMAZING I'm literally the biggest procrastinator EVER, i literally can never focus and i think its genuinely fixed me." (Shown below.) The video garnered over 2.9 million views in 5 days, inspiring other TikTokers to try the study hack out for themselves.


https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/6883972003636792578

On October 20th, 2020, TikToker ethandiaz posted a TikTok Duet to kaitlyncraigen's video (shown below, left). In the video, ethandiaz claims to finish a 90-page screenplay in 3 hours by listening to Mario Kart music. The video gained over 979 thousand views in 1 day. On the same day, TikToker mildcurryboy uploaded a Duet claiming to get five pages of notes done in 25 minutes by listening to Mario Kart music, gaining over 925 thousand views in 17 hours (shown below, right).


https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/6885789539588132101
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/6885890594678246661

On October 21st, yahoo! sports published an article describing the trend. The original sound "Coconut Mall (From "Mario Kart Wii")" has been used over 10.1 thousand times as of October 21st.

If you’re anything like me, you listen to music pretty much all day long. I always listen to music when I’m doing homework, especially if it’s somewhere on campus so that I can drown out all other noises. The problem is that a lot of music can be distracting when you’re already struggling to stay focused. That’s why I’ve made this list. These are the songs that I’ve found that are least intrusive. Many of them have no lyrics at all. A lot of them also possess a motivational tone that will help keep you from passing out at your computer. Enjoy!

Best 15 Songs: To do homework to

  1. Jelly 292 –Jimi Hendrix
  2. Ocean –John Butler Trio
  3. Lenny –Stevie Ray Vaughan
  4. Ad Astra Per Aspera –Acceptance
  5. Out of My Mind- John Mayer
  6. For Martha –Smashing Pumpkins
  7. The Birth and Death of the Day –Explosions in the Sky
  8. Waltz Into the Moonlight –Tryad
  9. Catfish Blues –Jimi Hendrix
  10. Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX) –Pink Floyd
  11. Guilty Cubicles –Broken Social Scene
  12. Canon. –Zox
  13. Svefn-G-Englar –Sigur Rós
  14. Red-Eye –The Album Leaf
  15. Myke Ptsyon –Starfucker

Acacia DiCiaccio can be reached at .

When people think about tunes meant to help you study and focus, the first thing that might come to mind are the relaxing tunes of lo-fi beats. But when the clock is ticking and you’ve got an essay due in the morning that you haven’t even started, “chill” may be the last thing you want.

This might explain why, in late October, a TikTok of a woman hunched over a computer as the fast-paced tunes of Mario Kart boom overhead has gone viral, with well over a million likes on the video platform. “My stress levels went [up] but so did my word count,” the caption reads.

@daniellev98

my stress levels went but so did my word count #fyp #school #foryoupage #viral #foryou #mariokart

♬ original sound - Danielle

To be more specific, the song appears to be what plays when you use an invincibility star in Mario Kart. While the item is active, the music shifts to highlight both your newfound power as well as its limited-time status. You are meant to try and make the most of it as fast as you can, which is why it lends itself so well to a stressful situation like pulling an all-nighter or busting out a multi-page essay.

“I’m totally doing this,” the top comment on the TikTok says. “WHY IS THIS SO SMART,” another exclaims.

Consequently, Mario Kart music in general has seen a surge on platforms like Spotify, according to chart trackers. What’s curious is that none of the uploads on any sites, whether YouTube or Spotify, are Nintendo-official. There is now a huge demand for something that the Japanese company is not providing.

The Coconut Mall theme music from 'Mario Kart Wii' debuts at #15 on the US Spotify Viral 50 chart, top new entry.

— chart data (@chartdata) October 23, 2020

On social media, a cavalcade of teenagers are saying that they are trying the method out, or reporting how using Mario Kart music is helping them finish their homework.

“I AM LITERALLY LISTENING TO MARIO KART MUSIC WHILE I DO MY SCHOOLWORK AND TELL ME WHY I FEEL LIKE IM ON ADDERALL RN LIKE IM SO FUCKIN CONCENTRATED IT IS INSANE,” one tweet reads.

“Guys listening to mario kart music while ur working IS SO EFFECTIVE i’ve been doing work for two hours straight & it felt like 30 mins this is magic,” another tweet says.

“I just wrote 600 words out of my 1000 [word] essay in half an hour, this shit really works,” another Twitter user says, in reference to Mario Kart music’s effectiveness.

Most tweets seem to agree on one thing: Mario Kart music helps you put words on the page faster. Are those words any good? Hard to say, but quality may be beside the point when you just want to get a draft on the table.

Polygon spoke to one 19-year-old student, cosplaybysab, who recently tweeted about using Mario Kart melodies to complete a 1,000-word essay for her mythology class. According to cosplaybysab, the ditty helped her write 500 words in less than half an hour.

While many are jumping in on the trend now, for her, Mario Kart’s effectiveness is nothing new — she’s been a gamer long enough to know video game music.

“I’ve actually been using Mario Kart / fast Nintendo music for years and it works for all of my classes really!!” she said over Twitter message. In the past, she says she has also used Kirby music as well as dubstep to get in the right mindset to crank out words.

Related

Cats have mixed reviews on Mario Kart Live

The synergy between video game music and productivity makes sense, as many tracks are specifically constructed to help put players in the zone while doing repetitive in-game tasks. This just happens to be one of the more stressful choices one could make, and accordingly, it’s not a method that works for everyone.

In cosplaybysab’s case, she doesn’t know whether or not her mythology essay got a good grade yet. But she’s very happy that more people are discovering the magic of video game music paired with homework.

“People deserve to get good grades and finish work fast!” she said.

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How do you find out what a song is called on TikTok?

You can search in Shazam while using TikTok, too. Long-press the Shazam button until it says “Auto Shazam is on,” then swap to the TikTok app and play the video you want to identify. If the song is in Shazam's library, it will appear at the top of the screen.
1. Laxed (Siren Beat) by Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo. 2. Savage and Savage Remix by Megan Thee Stallion, featuring Beyoncé

What are good songs to listen to while doing homework?

That magical thing is homework songs..
Ad Astra Per Aspera –Acceptance..
For Martha –Smashing Pumpkins..
Out of My Mind- John Mayer..
Waltz Into the Moonlight –Tryad..
The Birth and Death of the Day –Explosions in the Sky..

How do you get TikTok pick a song for you?

Open TikTok and select the + icon to create a new video. Select Sound at the top of the screen to open the audio menu. Select the song and select the checkmark (Preview a song from within the TikTok audio library until you find a track you like.)