These days, TikTok is a one-stop shop for everything from the latest celebrity tea to a lesson in Black history. Now, millions of people are also turning to the platform to help them learn a little more about their favorite songs, thanks to Jarred Jermaine. The 37-year-old Bay Area native, who calls himself the CEO of music and audio knowledge, has built a massive social media following, including over six million followers on TikTok and three million on Instagram. Followers are obsessed with his seemingly endless database of musical information.
Sussing Out Samples
Jermaine started in the business as a producer making beats for local artists. His passion for music eventually brought him to Los Angeles where he got a job at Power 106, the local urban radio station. He told The Hollywood Reporter he started making content for TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic, when most of the world was turning to social media for entertainment.
“It started in quarantine. It was 2020 and I was just really bored. I was trying to do funny comedy skits first on TikTok. That’s what everybody was doing. But I was like, ‘Bro, I’m not King Bach. What am I good at? I’m really good at music. I hear things really good.’ ” he said.
One of Jermaine’s first successful posts showed followers that Wiz Khalifa’s 2018 track, “Something New,” sampled Zapp & Roger’s 1980s R&B hit “Computer Love.”
The 2020 post has since received over 350,000 likes and inspired Jermaine to create follow-up posts citing other modern hip-hop songs that sampled the classic track. Jermaine says he was surprised to find such a large following who were interested in what he does with his friends all the time.
“People want to know samples? I do this all day in my car with my friends. All right,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “So I just wrote more samples down. I wrote down 50 videos, and then I just did one a day. I haven’t had a day without 1 million views since that day.”
In another popular post, Jermaine shows followers examples of hip-hop and R&B songs that have sampled hits by Luther Vandross.
A Human Shazam
Since its 2002 launch, Apple’s Shazam app has helped people identify over 100 billion songs. But let’s face it, there are some tunes that even Shazam can’t name – that’s where Jarred Jermaine comes in. He has an uncanny ability to help people identify songs they can’t seem to get out of their heads – even if they can only hum a few bars. Followers can tag him when they need his expertise.
Check this out and prepare to be amazed:
“Bros providing a service” wrote someone in the comments.