The latest musician to go wildly viral on TikTok is Georgia-born “bubblegum trap” artist Lil Yachty, whose sub-two-minute earworm “Poland” has been all over the app this week. The astonishingly hooky, F1LTHY-produced track, in which Yachty repeatedly warbles, “I took the Wock’ to Poland,” has now hit streaming services and received an official music video, directed by Lyrical Lemonade’s Cole Bennett.
Originally recorded in 2021, “Poland” sat on the shelf until a snippet leaked in late August, per Genius, inspiring a miffed Yachty to release the track on SoundCloud (“STOP LEAKING MY SHIT …. PROD.F1LTHY …. ALBUM 2023,” he teased in the track description) on Oct. 4. Fans immediately latched onto the central, lean-referencing lyric (Wockhardt, “Wock’” for short, is a pharmaceutical company that manufactures codeine/promethazine cough syrup), and have even painted pictures of Yachty’s now-mythical trip to Poland, including one the rapper swore he would make the official single art. (For now, at least on Spotify, it’s just a map of Poland, with the country shaded cough-syrup purple.)
The track took off on TikTok—videos tagged #itookthewocktopoland, for instance, have racked up more than 16 million views, as the song inspired fan covers, comedy sketches and much more—and spread elsewhere on social media, which is why you’re hearing about it now. Within 24 hours of its release, the official “Poland” video has already notched over 2 million views and hit the #2 spot on YouTube’s trending video ranks.
The video features Yachty performing the track in a New York City (hey, he had to get this thing shot quick) subway and streets, with subtly trippy touches theming it all to, you know, bringing the Wock’ to Poland. Surprisingly, a styrofoam cup of lean only makes a split-second appearance. It’s a fun visual accompaniment to Yachty’s viral moment.
Watch Lil Yachty’s “Poland” video below. You can stream the track here.
