The Brief: #LeavingMyBody trend on TikTok is marked by creators expressing various emotions (sadness, confidence, anger, etc.) leaving their body with the "Purple Flame" effect." The trend is set to True Jackson VP's "Change It Up" theme song.

Bluesquiggle
DEEP DIVE

UPDATED: This article was updated to include the original creator Natalie Abatemarco on April 18, 10:29 a.m. PT.

TikTokers are using the app’s “Purple Flame” effect to illustrate emotions leaving their body while dancing joyously to “Change It Up,” Disney’s True Jackson VP theme song sung by Keke Palmer. The #LeavingMyBody trend began appearing on TikTok on April 11 when Natalie Abatemarco (@natalieeab) uploaded a video of herself  dancing with the purple flame effect. It was captioned, “My depression leaving my body bc [sic] my mom said stop being sad.” Her video received over 628,000 likes and 3.6 million views.

@natalieeabworked like a charm ##foryou ##fyp ##quarantine

♬ True Jackson VP theme – youalreadyknowbb

Five days later, the trend landed on the “discover” page on April 16. At the time of publication, #LeavingMyBody has amassed over 46.2 million views on the app while “True Jackson VP theme song” is linked to over 318,500 videos.

The “Change It Up” (True Jackson VP Theme) lyrics found in #LeavingMyBody videos are:

From my head to my toes
It’s all real, and you know
Fresh and cool, that’s just what I do
T-R-U-E – J-A-C-K-S-O-N, VP

The trend uses the happy theme song to contrast the anger, sadness, shame, or another intense emotion that leave a TikToker’s body after hearing an ineffective solution to their problem or a dismissive comment.

For example, one of the most popular videos features user @liamehrie skipping down the street with the caption, “My sadness leaving my body after my mom says ‘Just go get some fresh air.'” It has 1 million likes and 3.5 million views.

@liamehrieI’m happy now mom ##fyp♬ True Jackson VP theme – youalreadyknowbb

Another popular video by @_lava.boy_ is captioned, “The gay leaving my body because my dad said ‘no you’re not.'” His video garnered over 646,600 likes and 2.8 million views.

@_lava.boy_I like girls now 🙈 ##fyp ##foryoupage ##xyzabc ##gay ##gayboy ##gayboyproblems♬ True Jackson VP theme – youalreadyknowbb

The trend primarily takes jabs at parents.

@schoollunchtrayThanks mom! 😌😍 ##foryou ##foryoupage ##bestfandom♬ True Jackson VP theme – youalreadyknowbb
@anyfuccingways##petlife ##bestfandom ##OpenForDelivery ##workdistractions ##siblingcheck♬ True Jackson VP theme – youalreadyknowbb
@beatxz##fyp♬ True Jackson VP theme – youalreadyknowbb

Some TikTokers have also taken on the trend to poke fun of themselves.

@treyandkiI was just hungry… ##couples ##relatable ##fyp♬ True Jackson VP theme – youalreadyknowbb
@nyahlevit’s so late and I’m not even tired smh ##foryoupage ##OpenForDelivery ##bestfandom ##fyp ##4yp ##viral ##comedy ##purplesmoke ##iswearchallenge♬ True Jackson VP theme – youalreadyknowbb

The trend is slowly popping up on Twitter.