TR.BIZ: 10.30.25

From Aphex Twin on TikTok to Ms Rachel's politics, this is your late-mid-week check-in 💫

Welcome to The Trend Report: Business Edition™, a midweek look at top stories, trends, and more of what’s happening online and off by Kyle of The Trend Report™. Today, we’re talking bloodless fish, silly word trends, the new Rosalía, and more.

👀 Trend Watchers, I: Why does TikTok love Aphex Twin?

Every few months, Aphex Twin trends on TikTok. Two are happening now: first, based on the “Korg Funk 5” video is a backwards trend by @sayessence, which Charli XCX did. likely solidifying the movement; second, a (Dagestani? Kazakstani? Russian?) kebab maker has become the dancing dude face of an Aphex Twin mashup set to people dancing in lines. This builds on things like the “fart” remix of Richard James’ “Alberto Balsam” from a few years back and his “QKThr” becoming a permanent platform staple, which all inspires an obvious question: why does Aphex Twin keep trending on TikTok? Is it because his fanbase is bigger than we (I.) think? Is it the novelty of his sound? I feel like it’s all of these things, but I wanted to ask an expert: Philip Sherburne, who I know I’ve been fanning out with as of late but he’s been in the electronic music trenches way longer — and I wanted to get his take. “I guess I’d ask to what extent something turning up in a TikTok video actually counts as ‘appealing to,’ rather than just being more grist for the content mill,” he shared by email, which is a valid point. “But in a broader sense, I do think you’re right, Aphex certainly has far greater name recognition than scads of artists who make similarly challenging music. I think a lot of it probably just comes down to branding — he’s well known at this point, and that sort of reinforces itself.” This is true, which may relate to why someone like Björk trends every few months too. “Also, he’s a known trickster, and even younger TikTokers who don’t know the ‘90s rumors about him driving a tank or living in a bank vault have probably osmosed that there’s more to him than meets the eye,” he added. “It is a really good question, though — why should a song like ‘Avril 14’ be so widely beloved (aside from it being my birthday, of course), so far beyond the usual ambient circles? Again, I feel like a lot of it is self-reinforcing, some nebulous combination of fame, name recognition, and algorithmic buoyancy.” All good points, as it feels like his music is where some nostalgia chickens come home to roost: someone who was the blueprint for very modern sounds like Aphex Twin is now reappearing when the entire landscape sounds like him, hence a growing Gen Z fandom. It’s also reassuring that his music breaks out over pop slop, proving not only his genius but that so much of TikTok music is fat that doesn’t last. A blessing, particularly paired with the kebab Aphez guy being a potential new Ibiza Final Boss, as Philip so wisely observed. We’ll see!

👀 Trend Watchers, II: Our silly word economy

Labubu, Lafufu, sybau, 6-7, chopped, chunc, chungus, Tralalero Tralala, Trippi Troppi, rizz, Rizzler, rizzmas: what started as a very Millennial silly word trend from the late 2010s into the 2020s — “Ghia’s buying you your first Ghia cocktail at bar CouCou” — has been swirled together with the Gen Z product machine and the Gen A meaningless machine to mean every word now has to be slightly onomenopoetic and ridiculous enough to transcend in culture, proving a point I made years ago that words have become fashion items, yielding an economy of silly words that have to become earworms to stick to modern culture and to successfully move products. “I just say it because it feels good in my body and annoys you,” I said on this week’s 🦿HIP REPLACEMENT🦿, in reference to 6-7 and skibidi. “Labubu would not be as popular if it wasn’t as fun to say,” Kaley Mullin added, which is very true: all of these words embody what they’re saying, inserting a vibe into language, further emphasizing their trend sex appeal. “I think the internet is so fascinated with gooning not just because it’s a funny word…but because it represents something essential about the way we all live today: we’re all gooners,” Aidan Walker said of the act on TikTok, alluding to another reason why that culture has taken off. If you’re looking to brand anything or get an idea out there, make it sound fun, make it an ear worm, and make it ridiculous. No words should be serious to succeed now.

📲 Tech Talk: No more babies online