'What's Your Favorite Song?': Internet Loves Videos Asking NYC About Music

What's your favorite song? It's a simple question nearly everyone has an answer to.

TikTokker Shan Rizwan has made a series of videos where he asks the denizens of New York City that exact question, and some of his clips have millions of views.

His most-viewed video so far, posted March 18, has over 20 million views. In that one, Rizwan asks a couple the question. Though he's initially rebuffed by the wife, the husband wants her to answer.

"Come here. Come here," he says.

"No, we need to go right here," she replies.

"No! Come here! Wife! What did we dance to at our wedding?" He asks, and she replies with the answer: James Taylor's "How Sweet It Is," which starts to play after she answers.

Rizwan told Newsweek the series was a spinoff of another series where he asked people wearing headphones what they were listening to.

"I've gotten a lot of interesting responses, but I think the biggest takeaway was that this question is really hard to answer on the spot. There is just so much good music out there. To narrow it down to one song is too difficult," he said.

Sometimes, he's even recognized. In another video, posted last week with over 6 million views, the person Rizwan asks has an answer ready to go: "Going to California" by Led Zeppelin. Right after he answers, he asks if the song is about to play.

"Yeah, I do 'What are you listening to?' videos," Rizwan says.

"Yes!" the man exclaims.

"That's me!" Rizwan replies.

"Is it playing right now?!" he asks as the song, indeed, plays in the background.

The twist? The man in question is Rizwan's fellow TikTokker Axel Webber. Webber previously went viral for a TikTok showing off the "smallest apartment in New York."

In Rizwan's latest video in the series, he asks a group of people their favorite songs, and gets a diverse set of answers. One man answers with two songs: "Night Fever" by the Bee Gees is his first pick.

"What's that Dua Lipa one that always comes up? 'Don't Start Now," he says. "I'm gonna keep it at that, those two are iconic."

The other two people in the group offer "She's So Lovely" by Scouting For Girls and "Devil in a New Dress" by Kanye West.

But he cites this video, featuring Lil Yachty as his favorite.

"Completely serendipitous interaction with one of my favorite artists asking the question. Coupled with the fact that Frank Ocean is one of MY favorite artists made it one of the best moments so far interviewing people. It's crazy the people you run into in New York City," Rizwan said.

Rizwan doesn't just ask questions about music. He also went viral for a YouTube video where he guessed how much different New Yorkers paid in rent after asking them what they do for a living, and other questions like their most expensive piece of furniture and their favorite and least favorite things about living in New York City.

As for Rizwan's favorite song?

"My go-to answer is Anyone by Justin Bieber, but the REAL answer changes every day. I might say Solo by Frank Ocean or Monster by Kanye West as well," he told Newsweek.

Update (3/31/2020, 1 a.m.): This article has been updated to include a photo of Rizwan and further quotes from him.