But the Kid Is Not My Son

About

But the Kid Is Not My Son refers to a low-quality audio clip of Michael Jackson singing an acapella version of his song "Billie Jean," specifically the phrase, "But the kid is not my son, woo, she says I am the one." The low-quality version of the song was posted to YouTube as early as July 2022 and became a viral sound on TikTok in August of that year, inspiring animations where a spider dances with a baby spider to the song then throws it away.

Origin

On July 3rd, 2022, YouTuber^[1] xscape posted a low-quality recording of an acapella version of "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, garnering around 1,000 views in two months (shown below).

On July 28th, TikToker^[2] @kaylaloveskittys posted a video of her cat set to the portion of the song where Michael sings, "But the kid is not my son, woo," garnering over 5.3 million views in two months (shown below).

Spread

The original sound for @kaylaloveskittys' video became popular over the course of August 2022, inspiring over 20,000 videos by September 13th, 2022. The sound was mostly used as a backing track for general videos throughout the first half of August.

But The Kid Is Not My Son Spider

On August 17th, 2022, TikToker^[3] @raredoodle used the audio on an animation of a spider dancing. The spider picks up a young spider and throws it away, garnering over 44.2 million views in a month (shown below).

The video of the raredoodle spider inspired other TikTokers^[4] and animators to use the sound in original fan animations featuring the spider. On August 29h, TikToker @anima_lice posted an animation where the spider spits venom into a girl, garnering over 4.7 million views in two weeks (shown below, left). On August 30th, TikToker^[5] @h1raru posted an animation where the spider dances on a scared kid's bed, garnering over 1.2 million views in two weeks (shown below, right).

On September 12th, TikToker^[6] @haru_rynozuke_ posted an animation where someone is shocked after the spider throws the baby spider, garnering over 481,000 views in two days (shown below).

Template / Green Screen

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References