It’s Looking Like Hip-Hop Might Really Lose TikTok
It looks like hip-hop might really lose TikTok now that President Joe Biden has signed a bill that could find the platform banned across the U.S. If that happens, rappers may have to resort to more traditional methods for promoting their music.
TikTok Faces Nationwide Ban If Parent Company Doesn't Sell the Platform
As part of a new foreign aid initiative, U.S. President Joe Biden signed legislation on Wednesday (April 24) demanding that TikTok's China-based parent company ByteDance sell the music-driven social media platform. If the platform is not sold within nine months, TikTok will face a nationwide ban in the United States. In his address following the signing, Biden explained that the legislation is a matter of national security.
"I just signed into law the national security package that was passed by the House of Representatives this weekend and by the Senate yesterday," President Biden says in the video below. "It's going to make America safer, it's going to make the world safer and it continues America's leadership in the world, and everyone knows it."
Read More: Ice Spice and Joe Biden's A.I. Conversation - Listen
Potential TikTok Ban Could Affect the Way Rappers Promote Music
Whether or not the user information gathered by TikTok is detrimental to the safety of U.S. citizens remains an ongoing debate. There's no question that a potential ban placed on the platform will affect the music industry, specifically hip-hop. For the better part of the last decade, TikTok has played a tremendous role in the careers of rappers like Sexyy Red and Toosii, among many others.
In January of 2022, a snippet of Toosii's "Favorite Song" went viral after it was initially uploaded to TikTok. That prompted Toosii to officially release the full version of the track, which ultimately became his most commercially successful song to date. "Favorite Song" allowed Toosii to crack the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for the first time in his career. As for Sexyy Red, her budding rap career was launched into the atmosphere in September of 2023 when her song "SkeeYee" claimed the first-ever No. 1 spot on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart.
Read More: Yes, Hip-Hop Will Survive Without TikTok
TikTok Vows to Fight Potential Ban in the U.S.
In the wake of President Biden signing the bill forcing TikTok to be sold or be banned in the U.S., the platform's CEO Shou Zi Chew vows to keep fighting on behalf of his company in court.
"[The bill to ban TikTok] will take TikTok away from you and 170 million Americans who find community and connection on our platform," Chew says in the video below. "Make no mistake, this is a ban. A ban on TikTok and a ban on you and your voice."
He adds: "Rest assured, we aren't going anywhere. We are confident and we will keep fighting for your rights in the courts."
See Joe Biden explain why he signed the bill that could potentially ban TikTok in the U.S., and what the social media platform's CEO has to say about it in the videos below.
