Chat: What the hell is a ‘bebot girl’ on TikTok, and why does everyone want to be one?

A new trend has emerged over on TikTok, and it employs clever transitions and makeup so people can transform themselves into bebot girls.

It shouldn’t be massively surprising that there’s another TikTok trend that needs explaining, because most of them are very confusing.

@_bljade

yung primera kontrabida sa cinema one #bebot #bebotmakeup #makeuptransformation #makeuptransition #transition

♬ original sound – 𝖏𝖚𝖑𝖘 – 𝖏𝖚𝖑𝖘

What is a bebot girl, and where did they come from?

To understand what a bebot girl is, we must journey back to 2005, when YouTube was in its infancy, and Donald Trump was just an orange businessman on The Apprentice. God, how times have changed.

Back then, the Black Eyed Peas dropped a banger called Bebot that was as confusing as it was catchy. We were all screaming and dancing to it at school discos, despite not grasping the meaning behind it.

“Bebot bebot/Be bebot bebot/Be bebot bebot be/Ikaw ang aking/Bebot bebot/Be bebot bebot/Be bebot bebot be/Ikaw ang aking/Bebot bebot/Be bebot bebot/Be bebot bebot be/Ikaw ay,” the lyrics read.

For the song, Will.i.am asked Allen Pineda Lindo, better known as Apl.de.ap, how “you say hot chick in Tagalog.” The answer was bebot, so that became the focus of the song.

The term itself was popularised in the Philippines back in the ’80s, but it saw a resurgence after the Black Eyed Peas’ song. Now, twenty years later, it’s back on TikTok.

Okay, how are people turning it into a trend?

Over on TikTok, bebot girls have become the hottest new trend. It’s quite simple, actually, with Filipino women simply doing a classic transition into becoming a Y2K “Filipino baddie.”

@kayylallee

Raised by a baddieee #bebot #wasian

♬ original sound – 𝖏𝖚𝖑𝖘 – 𝖏𝖚𝖑𝖘

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Though styles differ between content creators, more often than not, the transformation involves dark, sculpted eyebrows, the sharpest eyeliner you’ve ever seen, high hair, and some kind of hooped earring. Of course, the video just has to be set to the Black Eyed Peas song.

These trends have a habit of spiralling out of control, and now everyone has jumped on the bandwagon – Filipino or not.

Thank god we’ve sold that 22-year-old mystery.

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Featured image credit: TikTok