NEWS
Zara Larsson has shared her excitement over topping this week’s TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart with Clean Bandit song ‘Symphony’ – which was first released in 2017 – due to a viral dolphin meme on the social media platform.
What’s now called the ‘Symphony’ dolphin meme has caught traction as of late for its simple execution – juxtaposing vibrant illustrations of dolphins with negative or mundane statements by users, all while the uplifting EDM-pop of ‘Symphony’ gives the joke a final kicker.
Larsson happily joined the trend by sharing her own ‘Symphony’ dolphin meme that reads “What the fuck is happening”, along with posting a collection of her favourites from the trend.
“Do you wanna be a part of my SYMPHONY,” she writes, along with an outpour of dolphin, unicorn, and rainbow emojis.
Clean Bandit themselves joined in the trend on the platform, calling the dolphins “inspiring” and asking fans through the meme: “Do you want another song with Zara?”.
‘Symphony’, first released as a Clean Bandit single in 2017, became the lead single for their second album ‘What Is Love?’ in 2018.
Clean Bandit, known for their fusion of EDM and pop with classical music instrumentation, revealed earlier this month that they were pushed by their record label to remove strings from their songs and “told to stop making pop music”.
“There was a push for us to stop having strings in our music,” Chatto told BBC, while Patterson added: “We were told to stop making pop music, as well. We were sent dance music playlists on Spotify and told ‘Your music has to sit on here – only Harry Styles can make pop music’.”
Part of the push they recalled was due to their presence as “shy and unassuming people” rather than as immediately distinctive pop stars. “We were told ‘you don’t have a face, you need to make club music’,” Patterson added, going on to recall how they began to doubt their instincts and later erased the violins for a more house sound.
“We allowed it to happen because we were like, ‘We’d rather release something than nothing’,” Chatto explained. “But the music didn’t feel like our music…In the end, we were like, what’s the point in doing anything?’”
Larsson released her fourth studio album ‘Venus’ in February this year. In an interview with NME promoting the album, she lamented the pressure placed on female pop stars to “reinvent”.
“[Ed Sheeran] has been on his ‘Maths’ journey through his whole career. For pop girls, specifically, it’s like you expect them to reinvent and reinvent and reinvent,” she stressed to NME.
“I don’t think it necessarily means you have to come up with a new side of yourself every time. The right way to do that is to, actually, not find another side, but maybe dig deeper into what you’re doing.”
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso honored Shyne with a key to the city during a ceremony held at the East Flatbush Young Men’s Mentorship Expo on Saturday. The recognition highlighted both his influence in hip hop and his contributions as a public figure and advocate. Reynoso also declared April 25, 2026 as “Shyne Day” in Brooklyn.
“Shyne embodies what is possible when a community believes in its young people, and the magic that can happen when young people are given the resources they need to thrive. East Flatbush raised Shyne, and it only made sense to present him with the Key to Brooklyn as we team up to deliver hope and opportunity to dozens of young men today,” Reynoso said at the event, as caught by BK Reader.
Shyne also addressed the crowd. “This is the community that raised me, and it’s important for me to pass that love forward,” he said. “There couldn’t be a better way to celebrate this milestone than coming back home and pouring into the next generation.” He also revealed that everyone in attendance would receive complimentary tickets to his 25th anniversary concert on May 2 at the Kings Theatre.
The show will mark 25 years since the release of his self titled debut studio album, which arrived on September 26, 2000. Even while Shyne was incarcerated at the time, the project debuted and reached number five on the Billboard 200 chart. It moved close to 160,000 units in its opening week.
Earlier this week, Shyne posted a video of himself standing outside the Kings Theatre on Instagram while promoting the upcoming performance. "Can’t wait to see you this Saturday, May 2 @kingsbklyn as we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Shyne Album…..the celebration will continue @crownhilltheatre where I will meet, take pictures and party with you, my loyal supporters, who’ve made Shyne a Rap Legend," he captioned the post. Fans filled the comments with fire emojis in response.
