As country star Morgan Wallen rests his voice, a Wilmington DJ hopes fans check out his viral TikTok remix of the singer with Drake.
The mashup features Morgan Wallen’s twangy voice, and his lyrics from “Thinking About Me” over Lil Wayne’s instrumental from his song “Right Above It,” featuring Drake.
Joe Zahn, better known on TikTok as Mr. Wired Up (@Mr.WiredUp), generated 1.3 million views from that 31-second video.
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Morgan Wallen fans lost their TikTok minds
The TikTok star’s fans were shocked by the mashup.
“plz play at my wedding i’m not even engaged but i’m so serious,” a smitten TikToker wrote.
“where is it???!! I need a full version !! THIS.SLAPS!!,” a bedazzled fan wrote.
Zahn had close to 1 million followers before dropping the Morgan Wallen song. As spring began, Mr. Wired Up reached 1 million fans.
While he had a blueprint for success, it appears he’s discovered a new formula within his own recipe.
“Morgan Wallen … you put him on anything right now and it’s almost guaranteed views,” the 37-year-old Zahn said. “The country mashups right now are doing great.”
Mashups with Notorious B.I.G. and Sublime
Zahn’s niche on TikTok involves fusing two popular artists together you’d be least likely to expect.
Examples include The Notorious B.I.G. with Sublime, Evanescence with Warren G and Nate Dogg, and Ed Sheeran with the Eagles.
His unique mashups are seemingly endless. Mr. Wired Up has uploaded more than 1,200 TikToks, according to analytics site Socialblade.com.
Zahn runs the DJ/entertainment company Wired Up Entertainment.
Just before the pandemic lockdown, he locked into a five-year lease for a warehouse he planned to convert into a showroom for weddings.
“It was terrible, terrible timing,” he said. “The landlord knew what kind of job I had … and they’re like, ‘Man, that really sucks. But rent is still due [on] the first.'”
He began creating content on social media, including educational content for kids, to stay relevant, since he and his wife were out of work, and raising two young children.
Jay-Z, Elvis helped TikTok star blow up
It took about three or four months until Mr. Wired Up’s videos began gaining TikTok traction. His first 100 videos went relatively unwatched.
Things blew up around Father’s Day 2020 when Zahn and neighbor Ed Rubio, a fellow DJ, collaborated on a mashup.
This one featured Jay-Z rapping over Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock.” It shot him up to over 50,000 followers overnight, he said.
From there, he began mining his comment section for new ideas. He’d tag those individuals in his posts whenever he’d drop songs fans had suggested.
“And I would get even more viral. And then 100,000 followers and 200,000 followers,” he explained.
ESPN shows some love
Right before Super Bowl 2021, he decided to do a big mashup featuring hip-hop performers from the half-time show — Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar.
ESPN highlighted that mashup, he recalled, and it blew up his Instagram account, while also helping him on TikTok.
Since then, Zahn’s seen steady growth across his social platforms. His Instagram account has over 250,000 fans, and TikTok has 1 million followers.
Ken Griffey Jr. follows Mr. Wired Up
On Zahn’s social media journey, he’s interacted with celebrities. Moments that stand out include the time fitness celebrity Jilian Michaels reached out asking him to DJ her wedding.
Things didn’t work out and she ended up getting married in Africa, but it was “pretty cool,” he said of the interaction.
But his greatest highlight was when his Mr. Wired Up account received a follow from Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.
“I messaged him right away. I was like, ‘Bro, I still have your shoes. I had your rookie card. You need to know that I worship you,” he explained. “He didn’t respond, but I got the follow.”
The future is TikTok
Since going viral on TikTok in 2020, Zahn said things have been looking up.
Booking engagements have since grown beyond the region, with even some virtual international jobs.
These days, Delaware’s mashup king is happy he has flexibility with events, which helps him to stay inspired for future TikTok remixes.
That means fans might get to hear more Morgan Wallen remixes.
“The country mashups right now are doing great.”
If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters.
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