Australian rapper Masked Wolf finds himself at #8 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Astronaut in the Ocean,’ a song he initially dropped back in 2019.
Why is it in the top ten in May of 2021, you ask? Thank TikTok.
TikTokkers the world over have used the song’s chorus to soundtrack videos of weddings, parkour, water-sports, and even welding.
Jennifer Lopez posted a clip of herself dancing to the track in a yellow bikini, proving that at 51 she’s still hotter than anybody half her age.
The social platform has brought plenty of attention to Masked Wolf, but not all of it is positive. I see quite a lot of hostility toward the song in the YouTube comments, coming from people who are sick to death to hearing it in their feed. TikTok giveth, and TikTok taketh away.
Astro-naut
[Chorus]
What you know about rollin’ down in the deep?
When your brain goes numb, you can call that mental freeze
When these people talk too much, put that shit in slow motion, yeah
I feel like an astronaut in the ocean, ayy
What you know about rollin’ down in the deep?
When your brain goes numb, you can call that mental freeze
When these people talk too much, put that shit in slow motion, yeah
I feel like an astronaut in the ocean
[Verse 1]
She say that I’m cool (Damn straight)
I’m like, “Yeah, that’s true” (That’s true)
I believe in G-O-D (Ayy)
Don’t believe in T-H-O-T
She keep playing me dumb (Play me)
I’ma play her for fun (Uh-huh)
Y’all don’t really know my mental
Let me give you the picture like stencil
Fallin’ out in a drought
No flow, rain wasn’t pourin’ down (Pourin’ down)
See, that pain was all around
See, my mode was kinda lounged
Didn’t know which, which way to turn
Flow was cool but I still felt burnt
Energy up, you can feel my surge
I’ma kill everything like this purge (Ayy)
[Bridge]
Let’s just get this straight for a second, I’ma work (Yuh)
Even if I don’t get paid for progression, I’ma get it (Uh, get it)
Everything that I do is electric (Ayy)
I’ma keep it in a motion, keep it movin’ like kinetic, ayy (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
[Verse 2]
Put this shit in a frame, better know I don’t blame
Everything that I say, man, I seen you deflate
Let me elevate, this ain’t a prank
Have you walkin’ on a plank, li-li-li-li-like
Both hands together, God, let me pray (Now let me pray), uh
I’ve been goin’ right, right around, call that relay (Masked Wolf)
Pass the baton, back and I’m on
Swimmin’ in the pool—Kendrick Lamar, uh (Ayy)
Want a piece of this, a piece of mine, my peace a sign
Can you please read between the lines?
My rhyme’s inclined to break your spine (Spine)
They say that I’m so fine (Fine)
You could never match my grind (True)
Please do not, not waste my time (Wolf)
[Chorus]
What you know about rollin’ down in the deep?
When your brain goes numb, you can call that mental freeze
When these people talk too much, put that shit in slow motion, yeah
I feel like an astronaut in the ocean, ayy
What you know about rollin’ down in the deep?
When your brain goes numb, you can call that mental freeze
When these people talk too much, put that shit in slow motion, yeah
I feel like an astronaut in the ocean
Meet Me In Montauk 
While I certainly get why the J Lo TikTok has gone viral, I don’t really get why the chorus of this song is so popular or so frequently used on all these other TikToks. I’ve heard parts of other songs that are much more cleverly used in that format.
Must be tough to be a deejay anymore with all the power you once had to be a hit maker taken from you in the most democratic fashion imaginable. That TikTok catapulted Lil Nas X to fame is cause for celebration. I’m sure there are thousands (hundreds of?) hoping to find a way to make the platform work as effectively for them. Gotta love it.
What even is an astronaut in the ocean. This man’s got a solid flow and clearly shows his lyrical dexterity here, but I kinda hate this song for some reason. Perhaps, it is just how overused it’s become on TikTok