In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game, or other entertainment product that was unpromising on release but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have little promotion or lack a successful launch but gradually develops a fandom following media attention, which in turn increases its public exposure and public interest in the product. As Variety puts it, "A 'sleeper hit' can be defined as the kind of show that catches us by surprise—programs whose popularity grows over time and can ultimately outshine the preordained hits." A sleeper hit often lacks star performers or high production values, but prevails, at times against its own makers' expectations, on the strength of such qualities as narrative, approach, or novelty, as well as market accidents. Sleeper hit films benefit theater owners because the owners keep a larger percentage of money from ticket sales.
"Tik Tok" is the debut single by American singer Kesha, who co-wrote the song with its producers Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco. It was released on August 7, 2009, as the lead and debut single from her debut studio album, Animal (2010).
Five Nights at Freddy's (FNaF) is a 2014 point-and-click survival horror game developed and published by Scott Cawthon. The player controls Mike Schmidt, a night security guard at a family pizzeria. Schmidt must complete his shifts while avoiding the homicidal animatronic characters that wander the restaurant at night. The player has access to security cameras to monitor the animatronics throughout the shift, and a set of steel doors that can lock out the characters. Using the cameras and doors consumes the player's limited electricity, and draining all of the power causes these tools to become inoperable. If the player fails to keep the animatronics out of the office, they will be jumpscared and experience a game over.
Five Nights at Freddy's (FNaF) is a video game series and media franchise created by indie game developer Scott Cawthon. The franchise features ten main video games, several spin-off games, novels, and a film adaptation.
"Tokyo Drift " is a single by Japanese hip hop group Teriyaki Boyz. It features on the 2006 film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift as the main theme and also features at the end credits. The song also appears in the band's second album Serious Japanese.
Surf Curse is an American indie surf rock band formed in 2012 in Reno, Nevada, and now based in Los Angeles. The band was formed by Nick Rattigan and Jacob Rubeck (guitars), and now also includes Henry Dillon and Noah Kholl. The band achieved mainstream success after their song "Freaks", written in 2011 and released in 2013, became popular on the short-form video platform TikTok in 2020. In 2024, their 2019 song "Disco" would also go viral on TikTok, topping the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart in September 2024.
TikTok, whose mainland Chinese and Hong Kong counterpart is Douyin, is a short-form video hosting service owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from three seconds to 60 minutes. It can be accessed with a smart phone app.
Ashton Nicole Casey, known professionally as Ashnikko, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Her 2019 single "Stupid" featuring Yung Baby Tate gained viral popularity on the video-sharing platform TikTok and was certified platinum in the United States and Canada. Ashnikko's debut mixtape, Demidevil, was released in January 2021, and spawned the singles "Daisy" and "Slumber Party". Her studio album, Weedkiller, came in 2023.
Addison Rae Easterling is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Rae rose to fame on TikTok and amassed over 88 million followers, making her the fifth most-followed individual on the platform. She then found success in her music and acting career by starring in major film studio productions and collaborating with significant music producers.
Denarie Bautista Taylor (born February 8, 1997), known professionally as Bella Poarch, is an American social media personality and singer. On August 17, 2020, she created the most liked video on TikTok, in which she lip syncs to the song "M to the B" by British rapper Millie B. She is the most followed TikTok contributor from the Philippines.
The Longest Johns are an English folk musical group from Bristol, England, consisting of Andy Yates, Jonathan "JD" Darley, and Robbie Sattin. They are known for performing folk music and sea shanties in the English tradition, and they also compose and record their own music. They gained popularity from their rendition of the folk song "Wellerman", which went viral on TikTok in early 2021.
Nathan Alexander Evans is a Scottish singer and songwriter. Evans first gained fame in 2020 by posting videos of himself singing sea shanties on social media service TikTok. In 2021, he released a cover of the folk song "Wellerman", which peaked at the top of the UK Singles Chart and also charted in several other countries.
Hitesh Sharma, known professionally as Tesher, is a Canadian rapper, singer-songwriter and producer. He is best known for his singles "Young Shahrukh" and "Jalebi Baby", both released in 2020. A remix version of "Jalebi Baby" was released in 2021 with Jason Derulo.
"Million to One" is a song by Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello from the 2021 soundtrack Cinderella. The song was written by Cabello, Scott Harris and produced by the latter. It was released on July 21, 2021, through Epic Records, as the first promotional single from the soundtrack.
Victoria Beverley Walker, known professionally as PinkPantheress, is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her songs, which are frequently short in length and include samples of music from the 1990s and 2000s, span a number of genres, including alt-pop, bedroom pop, drum and bass, and 2-step garage. She has been nominated for three Brit Awards and was named Producer of the Year by Billboard Women in Music in 2024.
"Good Ones" is a song by English singer Charli XCX, released as the lead single from her fifth studio album, Crash (2022). The song was released on 2 September 2021. It is a synthwave, electropop, dance, and synth-pop song that discusses the singer's incapacity to maintain healthy relationships, instead being drawn inexorably back to the dysfunctional and destructive. It received critical acclaim from critics who praised its production and Charli's vocal performance, while also lamenting its short run-time.
"Spooky, Scary Skeletons" is a Halloween song by American musician Andrew Gold, first released on his 1996 album Halloween Howls: Fun & Scary Music.
Five Nights at Freddy's (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2023 film Five Nights at Freddy's based on the video game franchise of the same name created by Scott Cawthon. The soundtrack consisted of the score written, composed and produced by the Newton Brothers, and was released alongside the film on October 27, 2023, through Back Lot Music.
"It Girl" is the debut single by American social media personality Aliyah's Interlude. It was produced by Lxnely Beats and released on September 30, 2023 through Interlude Records. The house-pop song with hip hop influences garnered success on TikTok upon its release and soundtracked more than 990,000 videos on the platform as of November 2023.
"Five Nights at Freddy's" is an electronic song by electronic rock band The Living Tombstone, based on the 2014 video game of the same name. The song was produced and sung by Yoav Landau, and was released as a single in 2014. The song was popular on YouTube, reaching over 300 million views by 2024, along with over 500 million plays. It was featured in the end credits of the video game's film adaptation released in 2023, and has been credited with creating a musical subgenre oriented around the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise.
