About

I Didn't Have a Pen and Paper is a TikTok audio and lip-dub trend set to an audio clip of pop artist Beyoncé talking about recording the song "Partition," in which she says over a beat, "I didn't have a pen and paper. I got to the mic, I’m like, 'Oh, press Record.'"

The video from which the audio originates was posted to YouTube on January 13th, 2024. The trend was popularized on TikTok in late June and early July 2026. As a meme, TikTokers lip-sync to the video under a caption about something that they "freestyled" or did without a plan that ended up being greatly successful or life-altering for them.

Origin

On January 13th, 2014, a behind-the-scenes video of musical artist Beyoncé titled "Beyoncé – Self-Titled, Part 4 (Video)" was posted to her YouTube^[1] channel, gaining over 1.2 million views in 12 years. At the 01:55 timestamp, Beyoncé freestyles and says, "I didn't have a pen and paper. I got to the mic, I’m like, 'Oh, press Record.'"

TikTokers started using an original sound using the audio as early as April 2026. One of the earliest known examples was posted on April 4th, 2026, by TikToker^[2] @sheehanparsons, garnering over 950,000 views in three months.

Spread

On June 27th, 2026, TikToker^[3] @charlidamelio posted a lip dub video set to the song that uses the caption, "How it felt hearing my voice go viral," garnering over 18.8 million views in two weeks.

On July 7th, TikToker^[4] @preshieeee231 posted a video set to the trend about writing a song about her boyfriend cheating on her, garnering over 7.2 million views in a week.

On July 13th, 2026, YouTuber and influencer Trisha Paytas posted a video following the trend about writing her song "I Love You Jesus," garnering over 693,000 views in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References