It seems as though Epic Games are embracing the memes of the mid-2000s by expanding into songs and dances of old and putting them in their popular battle royale title. In leaked footage late last week, the ‘Tunak Tunak Tun’ dance with the song are making their way into Fortnite.
‘Tunak Tunak Tun’ is a song by the Punjabi musician Daler Mehndi in 1998. The Indian pop song at the time was a hit in the artist’s country, eventually becoming an international success thanks to meme culture in the mid-2000s. Other viral meme song hits at the time included such names as ‘Dragostea Din Tei’ (more known as the Numa Numa song), ‘Chocolate Rain’, and the ‘Gummy Bear’ song – just to name a few.
As mentioned earlier, the viral Punjabi pop song with its dance are soon to be added into Fortnite. While leaks are already out there of characters actually doing the dance, the pricing is to be determined. We can assume that given the song actually being used and some of the key moments in the dancing, it’ll cost about 800 V-Bucks. This addition definitely has the qualities of being an Epic Rarity emote.
The release of this emote does seem like a good time to do so. There are internet culture references turned into emotes in Fortnite like the very popular ‘Gangnam Style’ by Psy and Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Savage’. Throwbacks to simpler internet times are always nice and do reel in more people to return to the game or give it a go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTIIMJ9tUc8
There are naysayers who have the mindset that this gem of the past is now going to be referred to as “that song from Fortnite” from younger audiences. There have been instances before where popular songs and dances that made their way into the battle royale game were referred to as such which can be disheartening. We should just revel in the fact that Fortnite is actually going to have Tunak Tunak Tun in it, which will be even more hilarious when someone performs it upon scoring a Victory Royale.
The origins of things we had a good time with can be a bit muddied, but the casual remarks of many who didn’t go through those times should not sour the new exposure to these relics of the past. The fact that internet culture that dates as far back as even before Rage Comics and 9Gag are being incorporated into an ongoing game in 2022 is huge.
Fortnite is out now for free on all major platforms including Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series S/X, and PC. The Battle Pass is also out now for 950 V-Bucks.
