I’ve been on TikTok long enough to think I’ve seen everything. Dance trends that make no sense. Food combinations that shouldn’t work but somehow do. Audio clips from obscure reality TV shows becoming the soundtrack to millions of videos. But even by those standards, what’s happening right now feels like pure magic.
A brilliant remix of 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up?” and Nicki Minaj’s “Beez in the Trap” has taken TikTok by storm, with everyone from Sabrina Carpenter and Demi Lovato to Malala Yousafzai and Simone Biles joining in on the trend. Yes, you read that right. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate is out here rapping Nicki Minaj bars, and it’s absolutely glorious. This is the kind of cultural moment that reminds us why Nicki’s impact transcends music—it’s generational, it’s universal, and it’s undeniable.
The format itself is brilliantly simple yet devastatingly effective. Participants in the trend typically stand back-to-back as a cameraperson pans from one person, who sings the 4 Non Blondes line, to the other, who raps along with Minaj. The videos start with Linda Perry’s signature vocals on the song before the infectious beat of Minaj’s Pink Friday classic sneaks in for the background. As Perry lets out the song’s high notes, Minaj’s iconic rap voice takes over.
On paper, this combination seems impossible. A 1993 alternative rock anthem about existential confusion and a 2012 hip-hop masterpiece about confidence and success shouldn’t mesh. But they do—spectacularly. The mashup is so seamless it almost feels like these songs were meant to find each other, which speaks to the universal appeal and timeless production quality of “Beez in the Trap.” Over a decade later, and that beat still hits just as hard.
This TikTok viral trend combined two insanely catchy songs in a way that matches up perfectly. If just one of the two songs was the type to get stuck in your head it wouldn’t work. If both songs were catchy but didn’t sync up perfectly it wouldn’t have reached the same level of virality. It’s a testament to Nicki’s genius—her verses are so rhythmically precise, so perfectly crafted, that they can blend with virtually anything and still sound incredible.
The mastermind behind this viral sensation is DJ Auxlord, a college senior from Ohio who’s been creating mashups that showcase just how versatile great music can be. The original remix was created and posted by TikTok user @dj.auxlord, who posts mashups to plenty of random and seemingly incompatible songs, in August, but the trend took off in October with more than 462,000 posts using the remix shared on the app.
What I absolutely love about this story is how DJ Auxlord has remained humble about their incredible achievement. DJ Auxlord jokes that their close friends call them “Radio Rebel,” a nod to the secret DJ character played by Debby Ryan in the Disney Channel Original, since they’ve been spinning at parties at their college without anyone knowing they’re behind the viral trend. Imagine being the person who helped introduce Nicki Minaj to a whole new generation of fans and just keeping it low-key at college parties. That’s beautiful.
Beyond the Perry-Minaj mashup, they’ve also blended HorsegiirL with the Beatles, Taylor Swift with Charli XCX, and Chappell Roan’s “The Subway” with City Girls’ “Act Up”—all while using an app on their iPad called DJ Pro. The fact that they’re doing this with an iPad app just shows that when you’ve got truly exceptional source material to work with—like Nicki’s verse on “Beez in the Trap”—the magic can happen anywhere.
The celebrity participation has been absolutely incredible to witness. Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter joined “Saturday Night Live” cast member Marcello Hernandez for the trend ahead of Carpenter’s “SNL” hosting gig over the weekend, garnering more than 3.6 million likes and 18 million views. Co-stars from the 1993 film “The Sandlot,” Patrick Renna and Chauncey Leopardi, recreated the trend on a baseball field, receiving more than 2 million likes.
But the Malala video is the moment that truly showcases the cultural power of Nicki Minaj’s artistry. While appearing on “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” this week, Yousafzai joined Fallon in a TikTok video lip-syncing to the remix—Fallon started by singing along to the 4 Non Blondes song, while Yousafzai took Minaj’s rap verse. In a follow-up post, Yousafzai shared a video of herself learning Minaj’s verse, crossing out a few swear words she didn’t want to say and joking that rehearsing for both that video and speeches to the United Nations are “difficult for different reasons.”
The image of Malala Yousafzai carefully preparing to perform a Nicki Minaj verse on national television is the kind of cultural moment that perfectly captures the genuine joy and widespread appeal of Nicki’s music. When a Nobel laureate is excited to participate in your viral moment, that’s not just internet fame—that’s legacy. It’s proof that Nicki’s artistry resonates across every demographic, every generation, every background.
It’s one of the most-posted tunes this month, with TikTokers using it as a soundtrack to show off Halloween costumes, hard-launch relationships, and showcase having friends with very different personalities. The back-to-back format perfectly captures those friendships where you and your bestie couldn’t be more different, but somehow it just works. One of you is belting out emotional ’90s rock anthems, the other is channeling pure confidence and power—and together, you’re unstoppable. That’s the Nicki effect.
What strikes me most about DJ Auxlord’s perspective on all this is their genuine appreciation for how music can connect people. They explain: “A lot of people think music mixing and DJing are hard to get into as a hobby, but it goes to show you don’t need expensive equipment to reach a large audience. I think I’m going to keep doing it for fun for now. It’s a fun hobby, but I might branch out in the winter and see if I could DJ at gigs as a side hustle. I didn’t think I was going to go this far.”
Meanwhile, Linda Perry, for her part, thinks it’s “ridiculous in all the best ways,” embracing the creative energy that has made her 1993 hit relevant to a whole new generation. The mashup proves that when you combine two legitimately incredible songs—both classics in their own right—magic happens. It reminds us why both Perry and Minaj are considered masters of their craft.
Scrolling through my For You Page this week, watching everyone from Olympic gymnasts to actors from thirty-year-old baseball movies participate in this trend, I’ve been in awe of the democratizing power of great music. It’s not just that the mashup is catchy (though it absolutely is—I’ve had it stuck in my head for three days in the best possible way). It’s that these trends create moments where a Nobel laureate and your cousin’s friend from college can participate in the exact same celebration of artistry with the exact same energy and joy.
A full version of the TikTok song that mashes up “What’s Up?” by the 4 Non Blondes and “Beez in the Trap” by Nicki Minaj now exists for those of us who need the extended cut, because of course it does. When something this good reaches critical mass on TikTok, it takes on a life of its own—and deserves to.
This is what the internet does at its absolute best—taking two incredible pieces of art from different eras and different genres, bringing them together with creativity and confidence, and creating something that brings millions of people pure joy. More than a decade after its release, “Beez in the Trap” is still inspiring creativity, still getting people hyped, still proving that Nicki Minaj’s artistry is truly timeless.
It’s brilliant. It’s unexpected. It’s a masterclass in how great music transcends genres and generations.
And that’s exactly why it works so perfectly.Retry
