There might not be a “song of the summer” this year, but these TikTok hits fill the void

To put it bluntly, the vibes this summer have been completely non-existent. We’ve had Brat summer, Barbenheimer, and plenty of hot girl summers, but there’s something a little… off about this year.

“I Have One Daughter”

We’ve had Ratatoulie: The Musical and Bridgerton: The Musical, but now, it looks like we’re getting Tinder: The Musical. Musician and comedian Luke Holloway has garnered considerable attention for his ongoing series, “Turning Terrible Tinder Conversations into Songs.”

As the name implies, this involves transforming some truly abysmal text exchanges into a catchy earworm — and in his 25th instalment of the series, he music-ified an exchange where a Tinder man couldn’t grasp how many baby daddies a woman’s one daughter had.

This sound went viral, and it wasn’t long before it became a trend on TikTok, with the likes of Lizzo joining in and helping to catapult the song to even higher levels of popularity.

“Nothing Beats a Jet2 Holiday”

Those of us in the UK (hi) know the Jet2 Holiday commercials all too well. We had “nothing beats a Jet2 Holiday” embedded in our skulls way before it became popular. So, it was surprising when the US finally got wind of the commercial and made it the hottest sound on TikTok.

Accompanying the commercial is the song “Hold My Hand” by Jess Glynne, which was released back in 2015. The song has been part of Jet2 Holidays’ commercial strategy since 2016, with the song playing at the departure gates, airports, and even on-board Jet2 Holiday planes.

Thanks to the Jet2 Holiday memes, this song, and Glynn in general, is getting a lot more appreciation.

“Is This Illegal?”

There’s been so much handshaking on TikTok recently, it’s a surprise nobody’s arm has come off. This is all due to the ‘Is This Illegal’ trend, which originated from the PinkPanthress song “Illegal.”

According to Panthress, the song is about meeting a drug dealer and/or a male gigolo, but TikTokers are using it to explore unexpected relationship dynamics as they ‘meet’ everyone from roommates to parents.

Despite only being released this year, it feels like this song is everywhere — and as the trend is still going strong, we won’t be getting it out of our heads anytime soon.

“Milkshake”

No, you haven’t entered into a time warp. “Milkshake” really is the song of the summer. Again. First released in 2003, the Kelis song is something of a Y2K legend — it’s impossible not to love.

The clothing brand released a new commercial featuring the pop group Katseye dancing to a new version of “Milkshake” by Kelis. It’s since gone viral, and needless to say, it went down a lot better than the other jean ads out there right now.

“Punkrocker”

One of the hottest movies of the summer was Superman, which, in addition to lighting up the office, received a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 83%. As we know from the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, we can always trust James Gunn to give a superhero movie a killer soundtrack — and Superman was no exception.

The movie ended with a poignant moment soundtracked by the song “Punkrocker” by Teddybears and Iggy Pop. It ultimately gave the song a resurgence of popularity, as it charted on Billboard for the first time in its history.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Iggy Pop couldn’t be more pleased at the song’s resurgence, saying, “I always thought the track had soul. Superman is the best friend you could have.”

“Sugar on My Tongue”

Tyler the Creator’s “Sugar on My Tongue” is also a hot contender for this year’s summer song. The tune is a hip-hop and electro track from his 2025 album Don’t Tap the Glass — and it’s already been pretty commercially successful, charting at 41 on the Billboard Top 100.

But it really exploded on TikTok. The song has not only been used in over 300,000 videos — it also has its own TikTok dance trend; so we’re really getting back to basics here.

“A Barbershop Haircut that Costs A Quarter”

Sometimes, a piece of content is so good that it goes viral over and over again. This is what happened with the “A barbershop haircut that costs a quarter” trend, which went viral in 2021, 2023, and again in 2025. The sound involves a cast member of a local Newsies performance charismatically singing the line: “A barbershop haircut that costs a quarter.”

Audiences loved it so much, they imitated, remixed, and turned it into brainrot. So, by turning this snippet into a meme, I guess you can say they “seized the day.”

“Party 4 u”

Last summer, Charli XCX dominated proceedings with her album brat — and now, it looks like she might take the crown for song of the summer once again.

This time, it’s “party 4 u” that’s blown up. The song, which was featured on her 2020 album How I’m Feeling Now, is about hosting a party for someone who never arrives. It was already a critical success, but in 2025, the song got a new lease of life as it went viral on TikTok.

The song’s newfound popularity led to Atlantic Records releasing it as a single to play on the radio, and it even got a brand new music video. It just goes to show how impactful TikTok can be when it comes to bolstering an old song’s popularity,

“Manchild”

With Short n’ Sweet, Sabrina Carpenter has become a pop culture force of nature. She’s experienced a meteoric rise from that one kid in Girl Meets World to one of the most iconic pop stars in recent years. From “Espresso” to “Positions,” it feels like all of Carpenter’s songs are meant to go viral. “Manchild” is no exception.

Naturally, the single already has its own viral TikTok dance and has been used in 344,100 TikToks. As controversial as the album cover might be, this hasn’t deterred Manchild from becoming the summer anthem we deserve.

“I’ll Do It”

Saving the best for last? Not quite, but it’s probably one of the stranger songs on this list. Reality show royalty Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt experienced a tragedy at the start of the year as wildfires burned down their home.

However, they were in luck. Montag’s 2010 song “I’ll Do It” was re-released as a single. Thanks to fan support, it instantly went viral. This helped the pair raise money after their fire — meaning that this once-forgettable tune was actually a force for good.