News and Music Discovery
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Infectious Kids' Song, 'Baby Shark,' Hits The 'Billboard' Hot 100

(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN WILLIAMS' "MAIN TITLE (THEME FROM 'JAWS')")

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

You know what that music means - sharks - but now so does this.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BABY SHARK")

PINKFONG: (Singing) Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo, baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo, baby...

MARTIN: That's right. "Baby Shark," the viral kids' song, is making its debut on the Billboard Top 40.

MARTIN: Sorry, all you parents with little ones. You cannot escape this song.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

No, you cannot. "Baby Shark" has been around for years as a children's song that you would hear at camp or other places. And then in 2016, Pinkfong, a South Korea-based educational brand, recorded a version of it. And it went viral.

MARTIN: It's gotten 2.1 billion views globally on YouTube and inspired a legion of imitators in other genres, like R&B.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BABY SHARK")

DESMOND DENNIS: (Singing) Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo. Baby shark...

GREENE: And techno...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BABY SHARK")

PINKFONG: (Singing) Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo, baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo, baby...

MARTIN: And a little something for the headbangers.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BABY SHARK (TECHNO)")

PINKFONG: (Screaming) Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo, baby shark, doo doo doo...

GREENE: Well, now that that is stuck in everyone's head, I think we've done our job here.

SLAY DUGGEE: (Singing) It's the end, doo doo doo doo doo doo. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.