If your TikTok feed has been overtaken by ominous saxophone music and captions about things going wrong, you’re not alone. The “saxophones are getting louder” trend has swept the platform, turning a dramatic movie score into a viral signal that something bad is about to happen.
It all traces back to a single scene in Boyz n the Hood — and to one TikTok that racked up 800,000 views in about a week.
Where does the ‘saxophones are getting louder’ trend come from?
The trend is rooted in a scene from Boyz n the Hood. In the film, the character Ricky, a high school running back, is chased by rival gang members. A dramatic musical score featuring prominent saxophones accompanies the scene.
The moment is widely associated with Ricky being shot. Over time, that music has become shorthand among viewers for signaling that something bad is about to happen.
How did the TikTok meme start?
The trend gained traction after a TikTok user posted a video referencing the scene. The caption read:
“POV: You in a 90s hood movie about to move out the trenches but you hear them saxophones going crazy so you know you finna get slimed.”
The meme is set to the song and gained 800,000 views in about a week, sparking the trend.
The post by @foreverhumblemarc96 inspired a wave of similar memes that use the Boyz n the Hood theme song under video edits featuring captions about saxophones in the hood — meaning you’re about to get “slimed out.” In the context of the memes, getting “slimed out” is a slang term that means getting shot, directly referencing Boyz n the Hood.
What does ‘the saxophones are getting louder’ mean?
In the context of the trend, “the saxophones are getting louder” indicates that a negative or inevitable outcome is approaching.
Videos using the format typically present a normal or relatable situation, followed by the implication that something will go wrong, mirroring the foreshadowing associated with the film scene.
Some memes directly reference ’90s movies, suggesting that if you’re in a ’90s movie and hear the sax, you should probably run for the hills. Others apply the format to everyday scenarios.
For example: “When you forgot to send that one email and the saxophones get louder.”
The captions recontextualize the Boyz n the Hood scene to describe situations where things seem normal at first but go wrong when the saxophones start playing.
