About

"End of Beginning" by Djo, known by the lyrics "And When I'm Back In Chicago I Feel It" and "You Take the Man Out of the City, Not the City out the Man," refers to a 2022 song performed by Stranger Things actor Joe Kerry (aka Djo), which became a notable TikTok sound in early 2024. Specifically in March 2024, usage of "End of Beginning" became highly common on TikTok to the point of oversaturation, portrayed by creators who parodied the song or criticized TikTok's algorithm for seeming broken due to the frequency of the song's appearance on people's "For You" pages (FYPs). The pervasiveness also coincided with people looking up how to block specific sounds on the app. Discourse about the song's prevalence mirrored similar memes about 'Love You So' by The King Khan & BBQ Show in 2022.

Origin

On September 16th, 2022, Joe Kerry as Djo released the song "End of Beginning" on YouTube,^[1] gaining over 3.6 million views and 81,000 likes in two years (shown below).

After the song's release, it earned a TikTok sound^[2] that gained usage in late 2022. For instance, the earliest known usage of the sound was a video posted by TikToker^[3] @dreamjournalnextdoor on October 23rd, 2022, who contrasted Joe Kerry's career with the song's emotional power, receiving over 901,700 plays and 83,000 likes in two years (shown below).

Spread

In late 2022, others on TikTok^[4] used the sound.^[2] In early 2023, TikTokers^[5][6] made edits with the sound among anime and sports fandoms.

Predominant usage of the sound (which later caused viral discourse) surfaced in early 2024, due to the creation of another TikTok sound^[7] on January 19th, 2024, via a viral The Bear edit posted by TikToker^[8] @anniedagranny that gained over 3.2 million plays and 403,400 likes in two months (shown below).

TikToker @anniedagranny's sound^[7] amassed more usage than the song's original sound^[2] in early 2024. For instance, on February 8th, 2024, TikToker^[9] @userimzihblo15 posted a video about Djo songs going viral and people realizing that it's Joe Kerry, gaining over 9.7 million plays and 1.9 million likes in a month (shown below, left).

On February 9th, Joe Kerry posted a TikTok^[10] that proclaimed, "Ive been tokked," receiving over 23.5 million plays and 2.7 million likes in a month (shown below, right).

Going into March 2024, the song's usage on TikTok became oversaturated, evident in videos posted by creators who pointed out the phenomenon. For instance, on March 11th, 2024, TikToker^[11] @breesemaroc posted a video that dared someone to "try and go three scrolls" without hearing "End of Beginning," receiving over 6.3 million plays and 729,900 likes in a day (shown below, left).

On March 12th, 2024, TikToker^[12] @doggypgy6x2 posted a Kurt Angle 1,000-Yard Stare meme about hearing "End of Beginning," gaining over 163,300 plays and 23,600 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

By March 12th, 2024, the song's primary TikTok sound^[2] had amassed over 41,500 posts and the song's most notable variant sound^[7] had amassed over 151,900 posts.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References