Illustration by Daisha Sherman
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” a song from the November 2021 Disney animated film “Encanto,” differs from other popular Disney songs because it has a catchy, rhythmic tune and lyrics that are hard to forget.
The viral song has filled the number one spot on The Billboard Hot 100 music chart since Jan. 15.
The Billboard charts reflect the most popular songs of the time, genres vary from rap to EDM and even Disney songs.
The charts are ranked based on streams and song sales, according to entertainment writer Justin Curto in a Sept. 14, 2020 Vulture article, an online entertainment magazine.
The “Encanto” soundtrack has topped the Spotify music charts with 142.6 million streams according to a March 1 Bloomberg article.
The last Disney soundtrack song that reached such mass popularity was “Let It Go” from the animated film “Frozen.”
“Let It Go” spent 9 weeks on The Billboard Hot 100 peaking at number five, and became a staple song for children that year, according to The Billboard Hot 100 archives.
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” has captivated listeners with its melodic story about a character in the movie named Bruno who is feared by others because of his rumored gift of being a prophet.
The song is a duet sung by a number of characters who try to warn each other about the ‘“bad luck’” Bruno brings into people’s lives.
The song explores trust and loyalty in one’s family and community.
The lyrics are sung rapidly throughout the song, making the song fun for TikTok users to use in their videos as they lip sync and dance.
The song is reminiscent of a salsa beat with a hint of modern bass and a catchy rap hook.
The blaring trap style beat that intensifies around the hook of the song is eargasmic, with the soft salsa- influenced guitar sounds smoothly echoing in the background.
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” also holds the number two spot on The Billboard Hot 100, with over 15 million Spotify streams, according to Spotify charts.
TikTok has played a large influence in determining the songs that land on The Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Compared to last year, over 175 songs have gone viral on TikTok and have been charted on The Billboard Hot 100 music charts, according to a Dec. 13, 2021 TikTok Newsroom article.
A “TikTok song” is a term popularized by Gen Z that identifies a song that has gone viral and become a meme or dance challenge by being reposted many times on the app, according to an Apr 13, 2020 Insider News article by digital culture reporter, Palmer Haasch.
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” has been used in a variety of lip syncing and dance challenge videos on TikTok, which helped it climb to the top on the charts.
According to the TikTok platform, the minute-long song has approximately 937.6 thousand videos as of the first week of March.
“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is about to reach 10 weeks on The Billboard Hot 100.