'Jiggle, Jiggle': How Duke & Jones remixed Louis Theroux into a TikTok novelty rap star

Louis Theroux is one of Britain’s most beloved national treasures. The self-described “socially awkward nerd” made his name as a documentary filmmaker– but unexpectedly, it is his rapping skills remixed by music producers Duke & Jones that has the internet talking (and dancing).

This viral story began 22-years ago in the year 2000 when Theroux travelled to New Orleans to learn about the gangsta rap scene as part of his Weird Weekends docuseries.

Known for his immersive approach, Theroux took part in a live rap battle on local New Orleans radio station WQUE-FM where he had help from rappers Reece and Bigelow along with local DJ Wild Wayne as referee.

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The filmmaker cautiously read from a piece of paper as he rapped the rhymes in his posh, English accent.

“My money don’t jiggle, jiggle, it folds / I like to see you wiggle, wiggle, for sure…”

Louis Theroux raps on a radio show as part of a "Weird Weekends" episode about gangsta rapYouTube/BBC Studios

Manchester-based DJ duo Duke & Jones comprised of friends Luke Conibear and Isaac McKelvey, both 26, who started out in their teens “messing around making hip hop beats,” were 4-years old when the episode originally aired.

"I remember watching it when loads of his old Weird Weekends episodes were on Netflix when we were in sixth form. I remember watching it then obviously I'd completely forgotten about it,” McKelvey told indy100.

However like most noughties nostalgia, the rap had a recent resurgence after the 52-year-old performed it in an interview on Amelia Dimoldenberg’s YouTube series “Chicken Shop Date,” back in February this year where she requested the rap-vival.

LOUIS THEROUX | CHICKEN SHOP DATEyoutu.be

Meanwhile, Duke & Jones were gaining a TikTok presence with their hilarious “adding auto-tune to random videos” series which included reworking some iconic British moments from Gemma Collins in Celebrity Big brother to Ian Beale’s famous crying scene on EastEnders.

“We realised that well, it's a concept that could never die because there are constantly new viral videos, so they'll be always something to remix,” Conibear said.

They then came across the 2022 version of Theroux’s rap thanks to a friend’s auto-tune recommendation which would turn out to be the “perfect” audio to remix.

“When we're looking for stuff to remix like the main things are like it helps if somebody's famous. It helps if there's no background noise, and if they're talking rhythmically,” McKelvey explained.

“So for that [the rap], like, obviously he's [Theroux] famous. Amelia’s style is awkward so there was no music, no background noise.

“And then he was genuinely actually rapping so it was beautiful. We couldn't have asked for something better to work with,” he added.

Soon the guys got cracking with the remix, which didn’t take long at all – just 15 minutes for one of the biggest songs on TikTok, and according to Conibear it happened all while their friend Tom cooked a spot of lunch.

“He [Tom] was cooking a pie in the oven and it took 15 minutes to cook and I said ‘I reckon in 15 minutes I could get this done.’

“So he sets the timer I go off to work on it. And then 15 minutes later, his pie is out of the oven. I was like ‘alright, this is what I made.’ And then that was what we eventually uploaded as the loop through auto-tune,” he recalled.

“[Since] then it’s obviously taken on a life of its own,” McKelvey said and he’s not wrong.

As it stands, the original TikTok video remix has a whopping 66.5m views, 7.7m likes, along with 50,000 comments from people who had the earworm stuck in their heads.

“I cannot physically stop listening to this,” one person said, while another agreed: “I want this on Spotify seriously,” and someone else added: “Na this goes hard.”

It also helped that the catchy tune was made for TikTok dance videos – with popular TikTokers Brooke and Jess (@brookieandjessie) bucking the trend.

Celebrities soon hopped on the “Jiggle, Jiggle” bandwagon with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Lizzo, Shakira, Megan Thee Stallion, and BlackPink, dancing to rap.

“I would say the word is pretty surreal to see Snoop Dogg cutting shapes to our song,” McKelvey said. While Manchester City fan, Conibear admitted it was “very exciting” to see that player Jack Grealish used the track in a video.

Theroux himself has even joined the platform as a result of the song, and of course, his first video had to include "Jiggle, Jiggle," a TikTok debut which received over 8m views.

When indy100 spoke to McKelvey and Conibear, the song was number one on the TikTok music charts in India, China and the US, as Theroux’s rap remix gained an international audience.

“I didn't think it would really translate it's such a British thing,” McKelvey admitted. “I guess people just find it funny.”

At this rate with the song being included in over 5.7m videos, the pair admitted how “it's too hard to keep up with who's used it.”

Soon enough, the two got the opportunity to meet Theroux after reaching out to him about the song’s success.

They had created an extended version of the track on YouTube which included a 2018 clip of Theroux rapping about The Queen on late-night comedy show “The Russell Howard Hour," which now has over 12m views.

But Theroux wanted to do a “proper second verse” with “Fiat-related bars,” and so was down to record a studio version of his rap.

“I think he just like he liked it and he thought it'd be a laugh to come and record,” McKelvey added.

“It's been a fun ride in the last few weeks. Obviously meeting him was very nice, and he was more than willing to do lots of rerecords and just take the time to actually get it right,” Conibear said.

They also had the opportunity to inform Theroux about the song's viral success, as the pair broke down the mind-blowing viral stats to him.

“He was kind of like ‘whoa I didn’t realise it went that far,” McKelvey said, while Conibear shared an anecdote Theroux told him where he was recognised out and about and not for his critically acclaimed documentaries, but instead from TikTok.

After Theroux laid down his verses on the studio version, there was one particular line that pushed back the release date.

The “red, red, wine” part had to get approved by none other than music legend Neil Diamond who originally wrote this lyric in his song of the same name – a fact that amused Theroux by all accounts.

“He [Theroux] literally obviously learned that in this process, Neil Diamond has had to sit down and listen to this song and say ‘Yeah, that's fine’ I think that's his favourite thing to come of it,” McKelvey said.

Luckily for them, Diamond gave it the green light and the studio version of Jiggle Jiggle was released on May 13 by Sony Music UK imprint Robots + Humans who secured a deal with Duke & Jones.

The guys also took the time to thank everyone involved in making the remix the TikTok sensation it became – from Theroux, to Reece and Bigelow who wrote the song with him over 20 years ago, as well as Dimoldenberg who had Louis on Chicken Shop Date, and Brooke and Jess’s TikTok dance and the people at Sony Music as it was a team effort.

“None of this happens without a lot of other people like memes don't happen off one person,” McKelvey said.

With 1.4m TikTok followers after gaining around 900,000 of them from the rap, McKelvey and Conibear have built a solid audience, so what can we expect from them next?

The duo has been working on “normal” house music and their latest track Lucid dropped on June 3.

Perhaps another celebrity collaboration is also on the cards?

Duke & Jones revealed to indy100 some of the big names they would like to team up with next…

“David Attenborough,” McKelvey said as Conibear then joked: “We’re working our way through British icons.”

“Judi Dench, she’s rapped with Lethal Bizzle before actually so she’s probably got bars,” McKelvey added and also shared his “obligatory choice” would be Ariana Grande.

“Mary Berry, get her on a beat,” Conibear said before he then explained:

Now that is something we would love to hear…

“Jiggle, Jiggle” and “Lucid” are out now on music streaming services, follow Duke & Jones on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

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