You may not know his name, and you’ve never heard his voice, but you’ve probably seen his face.
It’s the same one staring out at you in hundreds of TikTok and Instagram videos that have been viewed billions of times. But unlike most social media stars, Jarred Jermaine has earned his internet celebrity performing an essential cultural service: He breaks down modern music to its DNA, uncovering samples, interpolations and too-close-for-comfort homages in today’s Top 40 hits.
He’s since widened his scope to help followers identify elusive songs and shed some light on the songwriting process. But his bread and butter remains sample detection. With more than 6 million followers on TikTok and 3 million on Instagram, it’s a talent that has clearly found a massive and appreciative audience.
Jermaine caught up with The Hollywood Reporter to explain just why samples and interpolations are so prevalent in pop music, vent about Lady Gaga‘s angry fan army and tip us off to Gen Alpha’s emergent musical tastes.
Hi, Jarred. It’s funny to finally hear your voice. Where do you live?
I live in L.A. — North Hollywood, to be exact. But I’m from the Bay Area. I have a background in music. I produced for about 20 years, making beats and recording people from the Bay. I moved here 13 years ago to pursue music, but it kind of took a different direction. I got into radio working at Power 106, which is the urban radio station here, and that’s how I met people and got my feet wet with LA. I’m almost 38.
How did your work in what I call “pop music forensics” come to be? It’s a lot of detective work and you’re really breaking things down to their essential elements. But that’s so much of what music is now — little familiar pieces Frankensteined together.
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.” So I tried 20 videos, breaking things down, pointing out samples. They all failed, got 200 views. Then I did one that I thought was pretty dumb. But in that one I did the pointing thing, because I knew it was coming. It was really for editing purposes. The next day, I had 500,000 views.
What song was it?
It was Ty Dolla $ign and Wiz Khalifa’s “Something New” — “Baby, come give me something new…” They sampled this song from Zapp & Roger called “Computer Love.”
And so you’ve struck oil on TikTok. What happens after you do that?
I was just laughing because I’m like, “Really? People want to know samples? I do this all day in my car with my friends. All right.” 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.
You do a lot of pop. Is that because it will get the views or do you really like pop?
I’ve always liked pop. Looking at me, you might think I’m more hip-hop. But I like all music and I gravitate towards pop a lot.
I admit I only recently learned what interpolation was. I guess it was when the Beyoncé album Renaissance came out. I looked the word up, and I was like, “Oh, it’s like a sample, but you’re playing it.” What have you observed about where music is going these days? What has your detective work uncovered?
I feel like people are sampling and interpolating more than ever now. Every song has something in it that’s from some other song. I don’t feel like I’m the cause of it. People love when a song has a sample in it. I think [songwriters and producers are] aware of that. When you put in a sample or an interpolation, it is an automatic hit. It’s like, [singing] “I’m blue Da ba dee da ba di … I’m good, yeah, I’m feelin’ alrightI…” It’s just a cheat code.
I think what they used to call it are “hooks.” These are the things that get stuck in your head and make you want to keep going back to the song. So what are the rules in terms of having to pay for samples and interpolations?
Man, it’s like a slippery slope. It’s easier if you interpolate it, because you take their melody and you just redo it. You have to pay less money. You just pay a license and clear it. If you use a sample, the actual audio of their stuff in your song, you have to give them bigger amounts for publishing and stuff.
So that’s why interpolation has become more popular. I remember when Beyoncé’s “Energy” came out and Kelis’ “Milkshake” was interpolated in it. And Kelis kind of freaked out about it, and then the song popped up again on streaming and the interpolation wasn’t there anymore!
I remember that. I actually did a video on it. Kelis was hella mad at it, and then she was cool with it. I was like, they did something behind the scenes. Some money was exchanged.
I noticed you’ve been videos latey with Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” saying it sounds like Siouxie and the Banshees’ “Spellbound.” I can sort of hear it, but I could also see the argument that’s it’s similar but not a copy. People do sue over this stuff, right? Are you getting involved in any of that?
They do sue but no, I’m not getting involved. A lot of people DM me about these things, so I feel like I want to be the people’s voice of what they hear. I had 50 DMs pointing out the same thing, and I’m like, “All right, I hear it.” There’s a mad-world similarity in that song. Her fan base has attacked me like crazy. They went in on me, posted me on Twitter, hating on me. But yeah, it just sounds similar. I’m sorry. I don’t have anything against Gaga or anything like that.
And what do you do when a fan army turns on you? They can be vicious.
There’s nothing you can do. It’s like a million people versus one person. There’s nothing you could do.
There’s a thing you do where someone hums a song, not knowing any words or the title or even the tune all that well, and you figure out what song it is. It amazes me! There was one with a girl trying to sing a song she heard in yoga class that had me on the floor laughing.
I hear it just from having a wide scope of listening to music. Sometimes people already figure it out in the comments, too. I found that it’s fun. There’s a huge market for that. We got Shazam and Google and Spotify and all that stuff to help figure songs out. But people can’t always hum it accurately enough for the algorithm. That’s the thing.
What’s your take on Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” what has to be the biggest single in years?
First of all, I think it’s cool that [“Not Like Us” producer] DJ Mustard has such a massive hit. He had a run in 2014 as a producer. That he’s back bigger than ever is cool. I like the beat and I like Kendrick. I just do find it funny that there’s so much beef when both of them have millions of dollars. Personally, I’m like, both of you guys have a hundred million dollars-plus. What are you guys arguing over, man? But it is good for hip-hop, I think.
And are there any new earworms you could share with us, or fun discoveries you’ve made?
I’m discovering that Gen Alpha now is acquiring a music taste. They’re the youngest generation. I only know this because I have a Snapchat that I post on. It’s just funny. The songs that they like are all kind of — you could just tell a young song from an older generation song.
So what’s their taste? I’m fascinated to know.
There’s a song called “Sigma Boy.” It is just hilarious. These two Russian girls singing, “Sigma Boy, Sigma Boy, Sigma Boy.” I’m like, “What the heck?” It’s so funny. I’m studying every generation. I’m like, “This is what they like. Really?”
That’s hilarious. I remember when I was younger, t.A.T.u. were two Russian girls who had a hit with, [singing] “All the things she said, running through my head.” That is such a good song.
I love that song.
I love it, too. Maybe every generation has their Russian girls.
[Laughs.] Probably.
So you do this full time now. This is your gig, these videos?
Yep.
And you get paid through TikTok through views, or how does it work?
Yeah, I get a little bit of TikTok money. My management team gets me deals sometimes with brands like Bose. And then also record labels sometimes have a new song and they want me to promote it.
They turned Shazam into a game show. Are people trying to get you on TV or stuff like that? Or are you just keeping in your little webcam window and doing what you do best?
Actually haven’t really got lured into any TV appearances or anything like that. I feel like it looks like I might be AI or something. Some people don’t think I’m a real person — and it is cool. I’m not offended by that. I like getting to the music, you know what I mean?
There’s something addictive about it. I just stare and wait for you to stick your finger up. It’s really fun talking to you and congratulations. Keep up the good work.
I appreciate you reaching out, man.
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