· Tara Price · Lifestyle
How “She Knows” Became the Internet’s Favourite Meme: Beyoncé, TikTok, and a Song That Won’t Stay Quiet
The year is 2024. You’re on TikTok. Someone just thanked Beyoncé for passing their exam, fixing their Wi-Fi, and sparing their soul.
The soundtrack? A decade-old J. Cole track looping with eerie precision: “She knows… and I know she knows.”
And just like that, a song about infidelity has been repackaged into a meme-laced rabbit hole where suspicion meets satire.
Welcome to the “She Knows” conspiracy era—where one beat powers TikTok jokes, murder theories, and a whole lot of side-eyes.
The Meme That Started With a Side Glance
@nivinsmctwisp ela sabe sim #diddy #beyonce #jayz #hollywood #sheknows #aaliyah #fy #fyp #viral #tiktok ♬ som original –
It didn’t take long for TikTok to run wild. What began as a cheeky resurgence of J. Cole’s “She Knows”—originally released in 2013—spiralled into a full-blown genre of videos where people thanked Beyoncé for brushing their teeth or surviving another Monday.
The humour was absurd by design. But what pushed it into something more surreal was a cluster of conspiracy theories tying the track to the deaths of Aaliyah, Left Eye, and Michael Jackson.
And the ringleaders of this virtual fever dream? Allegedly Jay-Z, Diddy, and Beyoncé herself—though you’d be hard-pressed to find any evidence that holds up outside a group chat.
Still, TikTok’s not exactly known for restraint.
It’s kind of wild when you think about it. A track that dives deep into the tangled mess of infidelity has blown up on TikTok as the soundtrack to today’s secrets and slip-ups.
With over 230,000 videos attached to the song, people are finding new ways to use She Knows to soundtrack their “I knew it” moments.
This isn’t the first time TikTok has breathed new life into older songs.
From Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams to tracks like She Knows, TikTok has been resurrecting old tracks and turning them into modern-day hits.
Check out this list of 15 old songsTikTok resurrected into modern-day hits to see how deep this trend goes.
When Lyrics Become “Evidence”
The key lyric that sent social media spinning? Cole’s offhand line:
“Rest in peace to Aaliyah / Rest in peace to Left Eye / Michael Jackson, I’ll see ya / Just as soon as I die.”
What Cole clearly intended as commentary on fleeting fame was taken by some as a cryptic message wrapped in clairvoyance.
Theorists began connecting dots that weren’t even on the same page—claiming J. Cole knew too much, and that “She Knows” wasn’t just about a suspicious girlfriend, but a suspicious industry.
Cue the edits: videos spliced with award show clips of pop stars nervously thanking Beyoncé, Adele crying over her Grammy, Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift “to protect her,” and even a fake tweet that, when read acrostically, spelled out “Beyoncé kidnapped me.”
Satire? Mostly. Sincere paranoia? Sometimes hard to tell.
A Conspiracy So Wild It Became Comedy
What gave the trend real staying power was its ability to go full meta. After the initial conspiracy took off, TikTok pivoted.
Users leaned into the absurdity with parody clips that exaggerated the “thank you Beyoncé” bit to ridiculous proportions.
Passed your driving test? Beyoncé. Caught a bus just in time? Beyoncé. Found your other sock? You know who to thank.
One creator jokingly implied Beyoncé caused a Nickelodeon scene malfunction. Another praised her for their baby’s first steps.
The joke evolved: from “She Knows” as a haunting confession to “She Knows” as a knowing wink at TikTok’s collective chaos.
Beyoncé, Pop Culture’s Unofficial Final Boss
There’s always been something mythic about Beyoncé in the public imagination. The internet didn’t invent her aura—it just remixed it.
The idea that celebrities bow down in fear at award shows has existed since the “Single Ladies” era. TikTok simply gave it a soundtrack and a timeline that moved at breakneck speed.
And let’s be honest—part of the humour is how seriously some users pretend to take it. It’s one thing to suggest Beyoncé has too much influence.
It’s another to imply she’s personally managing a secret hit list of rising stars from a control panel in Calabasas.
Still, the videos rack up millions of views. Not because anyone genuinely believes the theory.
But because watching someone nervously say “Thank you, Beyoncé” after finishing their homework is, frankly, hilarious.
Why “She Knows” Was the Perfect Meme Fuel
There’s a reason this particular track took off. The beat is unsettling enough to lend weight to any outlandish claim, while Cole’s delivery teeters between confession and doom.
TikTok Gave She Knows a Second Life—And It’s Thriving
It’s not so much the lyrics themselves, but the mood they conjure—one of quiet suspicion and cosmic accountability.
That ambiguity made it meme gold. You could use it to imply someone knew too much, was hiding something, or just looked a little too nervous on camera.
And the best part? No explanation required. The song handled the tone; TikTok supplied the chaos.
From Confession to Camp
Ten years ago, “She Knows” was about cheating and guilt. Now, it’s about Beyoncé being blamed for your lost AirPods.
That kind of cultural flip doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when a song taps into something bigger than its original theme—something elastic enough to carry new meaning.
In this case: internet irony, celebrity power dynamics, and the collective urge to meme everything into oblivion.
Somewhere between satire and stan culture, “She Knows” became a blank canvas. And Beyoncé, without lifting a finger, became the internet’s favourite omnipotent overlord.
So yes, thank you Beyoncé. For the memes. For the madness. And for reminding us that on TikTok, nothing stays buried for long—not even decade-old J. Cole tracks.
