If you’ve been on TikTok in the past couple of weeks, you’ve probably noticed people posting about belonging to “Group 7.”
The trend is actually an experiment by indie singer Sophia James, who released a series of videos set to her song “So Unfair” in an effort to manipulate TikTok’s algorithm and get more people listening to her music. After trying a few different tactics, following typical TikTok formats, James started placing people into exclusive groups. And it has worked—Group 7, the final video in James’ TikTok “science experiment,” has garnered over 76 million views and spawned legions of comments and reaction videos, with even Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai repping her elite status as a member.
James kicked off the videos on October 17, posting a video that followed the same TikTok formula we’ve seen since the dawn of the platform: herself mouthing and dancing along to a song—her song—and holding a parking ticket. In her second video, she says “it has always been and will always be me versus the algorithm. And today I have decided that I’m winning” while “So Unfair” plays softly in the background.
It’s not until the fourth video that she introduces the categories, telling TikTokers: “If you’re seeing this you are in Group 4.”
“I am posting a bunch of videos and seeing which ones reach the most viewers,” the text reads as her song blares. “This is the fourth post of the batch, so you are Group 4.“
This declaration didn’t do much to shake the algorithm, and neither did her Group 5 and 6 videos. But sometimes the best is left for last. After her Group 7 video went massively viral, James says, “‘So Unfair’ has definitely seen an uptick in listeners all across the board, and it’s kind of spread through a lot of my other music, too, which is really fantastic.”
Still, even James seems confused that she managed to hack the algorithm. WIRED asked James about why she decided on this experiment and the double-edged sword of using social media as an indie artist.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
WIRED: How did you get started in the industry?
Sophia James: I have been making music ever since I had the ability to. My late mother was a professional singer. And my father is a touring drummer, and so it was kind of, I mean, audibly passed down to me and also, I guess, encoded in my DNA in a way. I kind of won the lottery by being their daughter and just sort of being able to absorb the world of live music and the musician hustle. From the get-go.
