If “Nothing Beats a Jet2 Holiday†reigned as last summer's most viral sound, this year's crown belongs to Grammy-winning bassist/composer Stanley Clarke and Grammy-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum, the two principals behind the foreboding saxophone riff that's completely taken over social media in 2026.
From clips of babies trying matcha for the first time to tricky ferry disembarkation and family members wiping out while walking down a flight of stairs, Whalum's saxophone riff has been remarkably omnipresent this year. One TikTok audio containing the riff boasts over 2.4 million posts on TikTok, with a sped-up version of the sound playing in an additional 5.1 million clips. Over on Instagram, just one version of the “Saxophones Getting Louder†sound can be heard in over 111,000 reels. The riff, which comes from a pivotal scene (when Ricky, Morris Chestnut's character, is shot and killed) in 1991's Boyz n the Hood, has sparked a cultural revival for the seminal film, with Chestnut himself sharing an AI-assisted video riffing off the meme earlier this year (March 28).
“I wasn't a big Instagram watcher, but I watch it now,†Clarke tells Billboard. “I swear, during the day, I hear the thing at least four times. And weird stuff — like, stuff that don't even have to do with the hood! But it's fun; it's really nice to have it out there.â€
Long before he joined the late John Singleton's feature directorial debut, the now-75-year-old Clarke was a Grammy-winning jazz bassist and one of the founding members of Return to Forever, a pioneering jazz fusion band led by the late Chick Corea. A pivotal force in the evolution of bass guitar as a prominent jazz instrument, Clarke transitioned into composing in the mid-80s, earning a 1988 Daytime Emmy nomination for the score he crafted for an episode of Pee-wee's Playhouse. That foray into television quickly gave way to an impressive film composing career, which includes classic Black films like The Five Heartbeats (1991), What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), Poetic Justice (1993), B*A*P*S (1997), The Best Man (1999), Roll Bounce (2005) and Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016).
Though Clarke was a 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship — and also has his own electric bass on permanent display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture — this Boyz n the Hood saxophone riff has thrust him into the center of contemporary pop culture. Inspired by a recent message from Grammy-winning cross-genre savant Thundercat, Clarke, alongside a few other jazz cats like drummer Ronald Bruner Jr., recorded an original song “on top of that sax loop and put a groove under it,†he says. “It reminds me of ‘81, ‘82! That was such a great time.†Fans will have to make do with the existing riff, however, since this expanded version was “just for fun.â€
Clarke launched his composing career amid what he describes as a “resurgence†of Black film in the ‘90s, so it's sadly ironic that the Boyz n the Hood saxophone riff has become a microcosm of the entertainment industry's penchant for co-opting Black music and culture and stripping it of its original meaning to market it to a wider, whiter audience. The saxophone soundtracks Ricky getting killed; as Whalum told The New York Times about his improvised riff, “[it's] the inner sort of grieving we do on a daily basis… that all came together for me as a kind of catharsis in that moment, which I didn't know that I was looking for that day.†Whalum's riff is meant to signal impending danger or doom; it's a warning. Now, it's simply become part of the year's cacophony of trending soundbites — 35 years after Boyz n the Hood landed as one of the most pivotal Black films of the 20th century.
Case in point: another saxophone riff, taken from Raphael Ravenscroft's “Whole Lotta Something Goin' On†(which rappers Beanie Sigel and Hurricane Wisdom both later sampled), has also gone viral over the past year, with many users unable to tell the difference between the two. When things go viral, they often get flattened, but Clarke is making sure that people know the difference between the Boyz n the Hood saxophone riff and other brassy music moments.
Below, Clarke chats with Billboard about transitioning into film composing, the power of the saxophone, going viral at 75 years old and scoring the star-studded music video for Michael Jackson's 1991 smash “Remember the Time.â€
How did you transition into scoring films?
It kind of happened by accident. I was doing a show for Barry Manilow, who was a jazz lover; a lot of people don't know that he actually plays jazz piano very well. Back in my day, we had two-hour [variety show] specials. [Barry] wanted to do one, and he hired the most popular jazz musicians of the time. We went on the show, and [the director Steve Bender] came up to me and said, “Hey, I got this show that I do for kids on Saturday mornings, could you score something?â€
I didn't know what he meant by that. He asked if I liked movie music, and I might have sung the James Bond theme. His show was called Pee Wee's Playhouse, and I got a [1988 Daytime] Emmy nomination [for my score]. All of a sudden, I had film composer agents calling me!
What made you say yes to Boyz n the Hood specifically?
I had a cool meeting with John Singleton. He was working as a temp for The Arsenio Hall Show, and I was appearing there with George Duke or someone. This young guy comes up to me, points his finger and says, “You're going to do my movie.†I must have been in a good mood, and I said, “Yes, absolutely.â€
Maybe a year and a half later, I got a call to meet a “Mr. John Singleton.†I had not put two and two together. I go to Columbia Pictures, and in those days, each director would get a bungalow. I went in, and there was this young guy sitting there playing a Game Boy. He looked at me and said, “You never thought I was going to call you.†[Laughs.]
Just listening to him talk about the movie, I could obviously tell he was on a mission with those first three films: to let the broader population understand in detail what was in the hood, what these people were feeling and what they were thinking. He also said he didn't want any guitars in the movie at all [because he got tired of hearing them in Blaxploitation films he grew up on]. He really liked traditional film scoring because he wanted the movie to be timeless, which it is.
The only thing I did was blend elements of the music that was in the hood with the orchestra. I had 808 bass drums playing when Ice Cube's character [Doughboy] goes to avenge Ricky's death. I remember bringing it to the mixers, and they questioned me on it!
What kind of music did you originally write for what's now known as “the saxophones scene?†Kirk Whalum, who played the part, told The New York Times that he improvised the riff.
It was really organic. I told Kirk, “Listen, look at this shot here. The orchestra is playing in unison, and I need people to feel this energy happening because that's more important to me than the notes.†Music can be really powerful when you connect it to the dynamics of the scene, and John Singleton was really into that.
Why specifically a saxophone for that scene?
The saxophone, other than the voice, is the closest thing to emotion in a person. I also have them playing when Larry Fishburne's character [Furious] is with a young Tre, and someone is trying to rob them. John shot the suspect walking through the house like an Alfred Hitchcock movie, so I framed the scene with some instruments to give it that musical subtext of fear, action and sadness. I was on the set quite a few days, so I really could figure it out.
When did you know the saxophone riff was going viral?
I haven't really checked it out on TikTok yet, but my son and my little nephew told me I had something viral on there. I said, “What the hell are you talking about? I got a virus or something?†I'm that typical unc. So, my son sat me down, played me one of the videos, and I was like, “What the hell is that?†[Laughs.] But it had millions of views! I don't even know how that happened.
Why do you think his specific riff is resonating with people so widely and so deeply right now?
Those feelings don't go away; they don't go away until you take it out of society. You could put that riff over an underwater submarine crash, and everybody would feel it, because that doom and danger is identical. Film composing is all about having a real acute understanding of human emotions, from serenity to apathy.
Who are some directors that you'd still like to work with?
I wouldn't mind working with Oliver Stone. But the director that I'd like to work with is one who has some new s–t, sees me and feels that I can add to it and create history. I had that with John Singleton.
35 years later, what's the impact of Boyz n the Hood?
It created a palette for people to look at and follow. Musically, there were some things in there that had never been done before in scoring. We must acknowledge the fact that John was a young filmmaker [who] was able to make films and articulate cinematically exactly what was happening in the hood. And he did it multiple times!
What do you remember about working with Michael Jackson and scoring the “Remember the Time†video?
Me and John went to meet Michael in his trailer, and he says, “Stanley, I just want some movie music.†I said, “Okay, I'll give you some movie music.†And then we hung out. I think Janet was there too, but I'm not sure. I actually went on set twice, and watching Michael do that stuff… I mean, forget it, man. It's serious. There will never be anybody like Michael Jackson. I loved the video, but the only regret I had was not using a full 120-piece orchestra. But maybe that might have been a little overblown. Michael liked it, and the song went on to be really popular and [the] video killed.
What does it mean to you to have this level of success and longevity across so many different mediums in your career?
I'm a hard, hard worker, man. I'm the type of guy who feels strange if I'm not working. The bass is right down the center because that's where I started. I was really fortunate to be educated well in music, and there's a lot of places I can go with my efforts in music, and I'll continue to do that. My touring schedule isn't as healthy as it used to be because I used to do 90 shows a year, and now I'm down to 50, maybe 60. As long as my health is good, I'll be touring. And if a really interesting movie comes along, I'll be there also.
