Budots, a popular Filipino dance and music genre, takes the world by storm on TikTok

The viral TikTok earworm “Emergency Budots” is shedding light on the lesser-known genre of electronic dance music known as “budots” from the Philippines. The remix of “Dr. Beat” by the Miami Sound Machine was created by DJ Johnrey Masbate in December but has gained new popularity on TikTok in the last month, with over 500,000 videos using the song. Budots originated in Davao City, Philippines, and involves sweeping hand movements and gyrating motions. DJ Love is considered the originator of budots music and began creating it in the early 2000s. The genre had remained largely regional until recently, when TikTok users started emulating budots dances in videos set to “Emergency Budots.” Some creators have expressed awe at the dance’s difficulty while others have posted tutorials. Masbate, the DJ behind the remix, hopes the budots trend will bring more attention to Filipino culture and believes TikTok is helping make that happen. He stated, “Budots is special for me because when you hear the budots, you can dance.” The viral success of “Emergency Budots” on TikTok is attracting global attention to this unique genre of electronic dance music and Filipino culture as a whole.

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