The hottest TikTok trends right now: January 2026

Another month, another absolutely wild time online. Join Epidemic Sound’s community manager, Madie Hooker, as she breaks down six of the latest TikTok trends.

Trend 1: Japanese cheesecake is not cheesecake

White chocolate isn’t really chocolate. A red panda isn’t actually a panda. Japanese cheesecake isn’t even cheesecake…so what is it?

Japanese cheesecake is basically a jar of Greek yogurt with some Biscoff cookies thrown on top. Leave it in the fridge overnight, stir it together in the morning, and it’s supposed to taste like cheesecake. A version of the trend started in Japan, before users worldwide adopted and adapted the low-calorie dessert. 

The thing is, it doesn’t really taste like cheesecake. Most people who’ve tried the trend just found that it tasted like, well, Biscoff dipped in yogurt. That’s not stopped TikTok from finding 500 new ways to spin it, though — this tiramisu version does look delicious.

@gentianasaphiira Had to try the Tiramisu version of this viral yogurt cheesecake hack. Sweet because of the ladyfingers and the texture.. oh my! A solid 10/10 ☕️🤍 #viralcheesecakehack#japaneseyogurtcheesecake#yogurttiramisu#fyp ♬ You Rock My World - Michael Jackson

Trend 2: This is what the friendship group looks like

Most friendship groups are full of polar opposites, which is what makes them so fun — imagine if the cast of Friends were all just Ross. TikTok turned this into a “bad cop, good cop, worse cop”-style meme: one friend flips the bird, the second apologizes, then the third doubles down.

Soundtracked by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts’ I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, the template’s since been tweaked and picked up by high-profile stars like the Jonas Brothers.

@joejonas

Still moms favorite

♬ I Love Rock 'N Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

Trend 3: 2026 is the new 2016

If someone says they’re nostalgic for something, you usually cast your mind back more than ten years. Not here, though — the internet’s gotten misty-eyed for 2016, and TikTok’s no different.

Stranger Things had just started, we were in the golden age of memes, and you could spend hours scrolling through Snapchat filters without getting bored. Obviously, not everythingin 2016 was great, but from a pop-culture angle, it’s easy to see why people are hung up on that year.

@neverclicked

They said 2026 is the new 2016

♬ original sound - Never Clicked

Trend 4: Red Bull, please contact

Extreme sport looks a lot different than it did a few decades ago. Cultural moments like Jackass, social media pranks, and modern action movies have made it hard to impress viewers, and even harder to shock them.

In response, TikTok’s gone the other way. Low-stakes stunts and poorly executed tricks are labeled with the text, “Red Bull, please contact”: a reference to Red Bull’s white-knuckle extreme sports sponsorships. It’s playful and self-deprecating, but it works. In some cases, Red Bull’s leaned into the meme, commenting on users’ wipe-outs with a straight face.

@kejpi09 @Red Bull ♬ sonido original - Animeofr

Trend 5: Courtney Cook’s stuffed potatoes

TikTok saw Courtney Cook assemble and eat a sweet potato stuffed with cheese, and they couldn’t stand silent. They did something about it. The content creator’s two-ingredient dish took the platform by storm, inspiring thousands of others to recreate and reimagine it.

@courtneylcook Stay until the end to see Lolly 🥹🥹 #sweetpotatoandcheese #sweetpotatotok #teachersoftiktok #teacherlunch #foodtok ♬ original sound - Courtney Cook

Trend 6: The Dr Pepper jingle

When a brand jumps on TikTok trends, people can get a little suspicious. TikTok user Romeo Bingham recorded her original Dr Pepper jingle in late December, and it sits well alongside the rest of her content. It’s fun, catchy, and sung really well, with a tongue-in-cheek caption asking Dr Pepper to get in touch. The video received tens of millions of views and likes.

Dr Pepper’s TikTok account responded, as did other brands like Subway, IKEA, and LinkedIn. Classy, sure, but Dr Pepper went even further. The soft drinks brand released a new ad for their product, soundtracked by Romeo’s song and crediting her. As Romeo herself would say, it’s good and nice.

@romeosshow @Dr Pepper please get back to me with a proposition we can make thousands together. #drpepper #soda #beverage ♬ original sound - Romeo

Need inspiration for your content? We’ve got you covered. Epidemic Sound’s catalog is packed with more than 50,000 world-class tracks and 200,000 Hollywood-grade sound effects.

If your content’s longer than one minute, it’s no problem. Just add the music with a third-party app like CapCut — TikTok won’t mute it. Get started below and find the perfect match today.

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