Material Girls on TikTok are Showing Off What They Can and Can't Afford

It's so easy to compare yourself to others on social media, and TikTok is no different. People share all kinds of lifestyles on there, from living in huge mansions to living in vans. Some live pretty simplistic and minimalistic lifestyles, whereas others are all about showing off what they can afford.

In 2021, a "material girl" trend started popping up all over TikTok — but what does the whole thing actually mean? People have been using a particular audio to talk about all kinds of topics on the app, and the original topic may be getting lost in translation. Here's what we know about it and how it started.

On TikTok, a "material girl" is exactly what you'd think. You have lots of stuff and you're using the app to let the world know exactly what you own. The trend sprung up from an audio on the app from the song called "Material Girl" by Saucy Santana. The song talks about dealing with guys who make a lot of money, going on trips, and basically buying whatever you want, just because you can.

But since not everyone can afford all that, some people are using the audio to show off new things they get regardless of how expensive they are.

According to The Sun, the "material girl" trend started on TikTok in the fall of 2021, but it's taken on a life of its own with people making remixes to the song. Different names for the audio, like "Material Gworlll," started to gain popularity, and with that came different variations of the trend.

At first, a lot of the people using this audio were doing it to show off their tax bracket. Luxury bags, big homes, designer shoes, and more were pretty common.

Of course, with a user base like TikTok's, you can't expect any trend to stay serious for too long. Nowadays, you can find people using the audio and trend to ironically show off the things in their life that are less than luxury — financially conscious cars, clothes they've been wearing since middle school, knock-off designer items, and more. Other users call themselves "material girls" while poking fun at their own poor spending habits.

The artist behind the "Material Girl" song, Saucy Santana, has been making music for years. Although the song got popular on TikTok in 2021, it was actually released in 2019. Surprisingly, this is not the only song of his to become a popular audio on the app. He's also the artist behind songs like "Here We Go" and "Walk."

Santana's real name is Justin Harris and he's originally from Connecticut. Although his music has gotten a lot of attention on TikTok, fans may have also seen him as a recurring face on Love & Hip Hop: Miami.

Santana got his foot in the door of the music door at first by being a makeup artist for the City Girls. He later went to release a song with the duo called "Shisha" that came out toward the end of 2021.