Get ready to listen to this song on repeat! If you’re the parent, grandparent or teacher of a child, then you’re probably aware that this season is all about “Baby Shark.” The viral sensation was created by Pinkfong!, a South Korean children’s entertainment company that creates music, videos, stories and more for a global audience.
The Baby Shark song and dance video has had more than 1.6 billion views on YouTube, and features a succession of cute kids doing little dances while naming different sharks — baby shark, mommy shark, daddy shark and so on — before running away to safety.
But the irritatingly catchy song is nothing new — it has been around for quite a few seasons. In fact, the video for the “Baby Shark” dance challenge — the challenge is to learn and share the dance itself — dropped on Pinkfong’s YouTube channel back in 2016.
“Baby Shark” even became the UK’s first children’s song to make it to the Top 40. Prior to this, K-pop stars such as Psy of “Gangnam Style” and boy band BTS had been the only Korean musical acts to achieve that feat.
Samsung Publishing, a Korea-based company that “operates in publishing, resting place, rental and online education businesses,” according to Reuters, even saw its stock surge by more than 76 percent after “Baby Shark” cracked the top 40 charts in the UK. It’s important to note that while the company shares the Samsung name, it is not related to Samsung Group.
The song is huge and tots can’t get enough, but that’s not to say adults are ignoring the South Korean hit. Even celebrities like Kylie Jenner aren’t immune to its irresistible charms, captioning one of her Instagram photos with “maaamaa shark dooo doo doo dooo.”
If you don’t know the lyrics quite yet, then give the song a listen and sing along:
“Baby shark (doo doo doo doo doo doo) / Baby shark (doo doo doo doo doo doo) / Baby shark (doo doo doo doo doo doo) / Baby shark (doo doo doo doo doo doo) / Baby shark!”
By: Maytinee Kramer
