Welcome to This Week in TikTok Music, where we dig into trends, viral songs, and whatever else the algorithm has decided is sticky enough to camp out on your feed. With more people discovering music through TikTok than ever before, and viral clips capable of pulling an obscure ’90s song straight back onto the Billboard Hot 100, it feels worth pausing to ask the simple question: what the hell is going on over there?

So let’s dive in, get weird, and see what we find together.

baileyrp

Show me all the tech!! Gear flexing isn’t new, but it still makes for endlessly fascinating content. I remember first clocking this with guitar pedals, specifically the first time I saw J Mascis live. His pedalboard was absolutely unreal, and just as captivating as the riffs themselves was watching him stomp, toggle, and unlock an entire universe of sounds in real time. That same spirit has carried into a new generation, and a new genre, of musicians.

Today, it shows up in layers of micro-samplers like the Korg Volca Sample or the Teenage Engineering PO-33 KO, stitched together to create lo-fi, dreamlike glitch pop. Some artists even use a Nintendo DS as an instrument. As a ’90s kid, these setups often look like my childhood bedroom when all my cousins were over, Game Boy link cables stretched across the floor so we could all play Pokémon Red together. Imagine that scene, but with someone playing guitar in the background and a glitchy anime GIF dancing along to the beat.

There are a handful of artists on TikTok building this sound and its aesthetic, but baileyrp is clearly leading the charge.

@baileyrpmusic comment dances for the cat to do, i’m thinking pinegrove shuffle next #newmusic #indie #songwriter #fyp #artist ♬ original sound - bailey

She knows the tech, can absolutely throw down on guitar, and has clean, expressive vocals that call to mind Fiona Apple. Sonically, her work lives somewhere between Imogen Heap, The Postal Service, and Goldfrapp, while also pulling in Minecraft-esque digital textures that wouldn’t feel out of place on an Aphex Twin record.

Last year, she released her debut album _Everything, followed by a reimagined version. The single “Gimme More” is a standout, perfectly showcasing her range and confidence, summed up best by her own caption: “wait guys i lowkey ate this take up…”

@baileyrpmusic wait guys i lowkey ate this take up…. #indie #songwriter #teenageengineering #electronicmusic #fyp ♬ original sound - bailey

It also looks like baileyrp is gearing up for a new album. Her bio currently reads “halo february 13th,” and a steady stream of recent videos suggest something is imminent.

@baileyrpmusic haloooo 😇😇😇 #newmusic #indie #songwriter #electronicmusic #fyp ♬ original sound - bailey

As someone who only dabbles in glitch pop, I’ll admit I never fully understood the instrumentation behind it. I assumed most of it lived inside software. Her videos quickly correct that assumption. Seeing all the gadgets and gizmos laid out in front of her, then watching her tweak a knob or tap a button and hearing exactly how it layers into the track, makes you pause and really appreciate the craft. She takes it a step further with videos breaking down how she uses her micro-samplers, building beats and full songs in real time, sometimes with nothing more than a school-grade recorder.

@baileyrpmusic po33 tutorial hope this helps 😊 lmk if you want more tuts! (this video is not sponsored i just really love my pocket operators) #teenageengineering #electronicmusic #howto #indie #fyp ♬ original sound - bailey

Add in clips of her unboxing pedalboards, and following baileyrp becomes equal parts great music and an ongoing crash course in Glitch Pop 101.

@baileyrpmusic unbox my pedal board with me!!!! i am actually so hyped about this yall don’t even know #pedals #teenageengineering #electronicmusic #musicgear #fyp ♬ Storytelling - Adriel

Hope you enjoyed this installment of This Week in TikTok Music. Go check out some baileyrp clips for yourself. Just a fair warning: once you do, they will live in your feed forever. The algorithm is relentless. Enjoy!