Everyone loves a good mashup, especially when it features two seemingly polar opposite songs. That’s why TikTok has been going crazy for a clip of “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes mixed with Nicki Minaj‘s “Beez in the Trap.” Users have been creating lip-sync challenges to the audio clip, reviving the ’90s alternative hit for a new generation and putting “Beez in the Trap” back on the map. It hit number two on the Billboard Rap Digital Song Sales Chart, a solid thirteen years after its release.
As disparate as the songs seem, the chorus to “Beez in the Trap” fits perfectly over the chorus for “What’s Up?” However, the TikTok trend seems to have been a happy accident. Rolling Stone caught up with Auxlord, the Ohio-based college senior who made the original remix.
“I’m so gagged,” they tell Rolling Stone. “It’s just been so crazy.”
The remixer, who has otherwise remained anonymous, posted it on their TikTok account and received 50,000 likes. They are a classically trained pianist, but the choice to put the songs together wasn’t made based on music theory.
“I think it’s really fun to mix songs that don’t have to do with each other. There was no real reason why I chose to mix these,” they told the magazine. “I don’t know if they were in the same key or similar keys, but I thought it was so funny. The beat on ‘Beez’ is so catchy that it went so well with the vocals.”
“What’s Up?” is in the key of A major and has a repeating chord progression of A, Bmin, D, A. In chord analysis, the pattern is I-ii-IV-I. “Beez in the Trap” has a less discernible harmony, though the bass notes of the original seem to center on Ab and Eb.
One of the more distinct differences is in the tempo. “Beez in the Trap” sits at 150 beats per minute, while “What’s Up?” is closer to 134. DJ Auxlord brought the tempo of the 4 Non Blondes song up to match at 150 bpm.
You can see more of how they chopped up the songs in the full version of the “Beez in the Trap x What’s Up?” posted on YouTube. They used a mixing app called djay Pro by Algoriddim.
The mashup caught on for several reasons, but the magic is built into the two songs. “What’s Up?” has an anthemic, cathartic hook and a dramatic pre-chorus that builds tension perfectly for short-form video storytelling. Pairing it with a rap track from two decades later taps into nostalgia for ’90s rock and 2010s rap at once, giving TikTok creators a cross-generational sound. It’s funny, ironic, and genuinely catchy.
4 Non Blondes singer Linda Perry approved of the remix, calling it “ridiculous in all the best ways.”
“I mean, it’s pretty awesome, I must say,” Perry said. “It’s out of control.”
The simple yet effective chord progression of “What’s Up?” makes it easy to recreate the hit. Check out the sheet music and start your own mashup:
