In the entertainment industry, sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game, or other entertainment product that was unpromising on release but 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.
Starburst is the brand name of a box-shaped, fruit-flavoured soft taffy candy manufactured by The Wrigley Company, which is a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated. Starburst has many different varieties, such as Tropical, Sour, FaveREDs, Watermelon, Very Berry, Superfruit, Summer Blast and Original.
"Put Your Records On" is a song by the English singer Corinne Bailey Rae from her self-titled debut studio album (2006). Written by Bailey Rae, John Beck, and Steve Chrisanthou, it was released as the album's second single in February and early March 2006 throughout Europe and as the lead single in North America.
"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 single from her debut studio album, Animal (2010).
María Luisa "Malú" Trevejo is a Cuban-American social media personality and singer. She became famous for her videos on the video sharing app Musical.ly. She is also an Instagram personality with more than 10 million followers. On September 22, 2017, she released her debut single, "Luna Llena" with In-Tu Linea and Universal Music Latin. It has acquired over 130 million views on her YouTube channel as of August 2023. Shortly after she released another single "En Mi Mente" which has surpassed 10 million views.
TikTok, whose mainland Chinese 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 10 minutes. It can be accessed with a smart phone app.
Loren Gray Beech is an American singer-songwriter and media personality. Gray rose to prominence in 2015 on the video sharing app, Musical.ly. In 2018, she released her debut single "My Story" under Virgin Records, who she was signed to until February 2021, when she became an independent artist.
Maia, known professionally as mxmtoon, is an American singer-songwriter and YouTuber. Her music is characterized by emotionally transparent, confessional lyrics, and often employs the ukulele. She released her first EP, Plum Blossom, in 2018; her debut album, The Masquerade, was released in September 2019. This was followed by the twin EPs Dawn and Dusk in 2020, and second studio album Rising, which was released on May 20, 2022.
"Mia Khalifa" (originally titled "Mia Khalifa (Diss)", also known as "Hit or Miss", and sometimes stylized as "MiA KHALiFA") is a song by American hip hop group iLoveFriday (stylized as iLOVEFRiDAY). The duo of Atlanta-based rappers Aqsa Malik (also known as Smoke Hijabi) and Xeno Carr self-released the song on February 12, 2018, which was later re-released by Records Co and Columbia Records on December 14, 2018. It was included on their second EP, Mood (2019). The song was produced by Carr. The song is a diss track targeting Mia Khalifa, a Lebanese-American Internet celebrity and former pornographic actress. The decision to write a song dissing Khalifa arose over a misunderstanding. A faked screenshot, intended as a joke, seemed to show Khalifa, who once appeared in a pornographic film wearing a hijab, criticizing Malik for smoking while wearing a hijab in a music video. iLoveFriday thought the screenshot was legitimate.
Charli Grace D'Amelio is an American social media personality. She was a competitive dancer for over a decade before starting her social media career in 2019, when she began posting dance videos on the video-sharing platform TikTok. She quickly amassed a large following and subsequently became the most-followed creator on the platform in March 2020 until she was surpassed by Khaby Lame in June 2022. With over 151 million followers, she is the second-most-followed-person on TikTok, as of 2024.
Addison Rae Easterling is an American pop singer, actress and dancer. Rae rose to fame on TikTok and has amassed over 88 million followers, making her the fifth most-followed individual on the platform.
Dixie Jane D'Amelio is an American singer and social media personality known for her videos on TikTok. She is the elder sister of Charli D'Amelio. As of November 2022, she has over 57.5 million followers and 3.3 billion likes on TikTok, 24.2 million followers on Instagram, and 7.04 million subscribers and 619.12 million views on YouTube, where she also hosts a talk show called The Early Late Night Show.
Cole Chase Hudson, known professionally as Huddy, is an American singer, actor, and social media personality, known for co-founding the TikTok collective the Hype House, and popularizing the e-boy fashion style and subculture. A 2020 article in Billboard Magazine rated him as one of the top 10 music influencers on TikTok that year, with over 30 million followers, and one of the most influential people on the platform. He has also been cited by Paper as an important figure in the 2020s pop punk revival.
"You Broke Me First" is a song by Canadian singer Tate McRae. It was released on April 17, 2020, through RCA Records as the lead single from her second extended play, Too Young to Be Sad (2021). The song gained popularity on the video-sharing platform TikTok, where it has featured in over a million videos. The song is the second most streamed song released by a female artist in 2020. The song impacted mainstream US radio on August 4, 2020.
Denarie Bautista Taylor, 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. In May 2021, she released her debut single "Build a Bitch".
Samuel Wellings, known professionally as Kim Dracula, is an Australian alternative/indie music artist from Hobart, Tasmania whose songs have achieved popularity on TikTok. They are known both for original work and for metal covers of songs not typically associated with the genre. They became popular on YouTube for their authorial song "Make Me Famous" from their album A Gradual Decline In Morale. Dracula was previously the vocalist of Australian heavy metal band Jesterpose, which formed in 2017 and released the EP COVID-19 in 2020.
"Time Moves Slow" is a song by Canadian instrumental group BADBADNOTGOOD and American singer Samuel T. Herring, from the former's album IV. The track was released on May 17, 2016, as the second single from the album to critical and commercial acclaim.
YouTube Shorts is the short-form section of the American video-sharing site YouTube. Shorts focuses on vertical videos that are less than 60 seconds of duration and various features for user interaction. As of May 2024, Shorts have collectively earned over 5 trillion views since the platform was made available to the public on July 13, 2021, which include video views that pre-date the YouTube Shorts feature. Creators earn money based on the amount of views they receive, or through ad revenue. The increased popularity of YouTube Shorts has led to concerns about addiction for teenagers.
Isimeme "Naomi" Udu, better known as Hemlocke Springs, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She first gained attention in 2022, when her song "Girlfriend" achieved viral popularity on TikTok. She released her debut extended play, Going...Going...Gone!, on September 29, 2023.
