It’s been a whirlwind year for Jagwar Twin so far!
The buzzworthy singer/songwriter has become a viral sensation thanks to his catchy hit “Bad Feeling (Oompa Loompa)” that’s been taking TikTok, YouTube Shorts and the music charts by storm.
Blending his German, Polish, Russian, Slavic roots with his love for the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Jagwar Twin — whose real name is Roy English — sampled the iconic “Oompa Loompa” on his upbeat pop song that dares listeners to trust their own intuition.
Since its release last year, “Bad Feeling (Oompa Loompa)” has over 135 million streams and 6.5 billion views on YouTube Shorts as it climbs viral charts around the world, including TikTok’s Viral 50 Chart, Global Spotify Viral 50 Charts and American Top 40, proving that Jagwar Twin is truly an artist to watch in 2024.
“Seeing ‘Bad Feeling (Oompa Loompa)’ hit the Top 40 chart feels like a confirmation that I’m not crazy,” shares Jagwar Twin in a press statement. “It’s proof that you need to trust yourself and your own internal compass, which is exactly what the song is about. I love how much the song is resonating with people.”
And while artists always dream of streaming numbers like “Bad Feeling (Oompa Loompa)” on their songs, English knew he had a hit on his hands right after it was cut.
“I think within the first couple of days, I knew that the song was going to be massive,” Roy tells Celeb Secrets exclusively. “We dropped it and people just started picking it up and running with it. I think even within the first week it started getting like 700,000 streams a day on Spotify. I was like ‘alright, this is gonna be a big one.’ I’ve never experienced anything on that level… especially that quickly. And this week we hit #39 on the Top 40 chart!”
Keeping the momentum, Jagwar Twin released a live, stripped down, acoustic version of the viral hit earlier this month. Hoping to have his listeners “connect with the lyrics more,” the chart-topper teamed up with Lauren Powell Projects to create the ultimate visual.
“My desire was to create an intimate candlelight performance. So, with the help of my favorite art gallery in Los Angeles, Lauren Powell Projects, I brought in a real grass floor, painted moths along the walls, and built a huge glowing moon cocoon to create a cave we could sing in. Lauren was amazing with helping to bring my vision to life and it was incredible to sing along with all my Jagwars,” he said.
The alter-ego of singer, songwriter, producer, and storyteller Roy English, Jagwar Twin boldly holds up a mirror to reflect humanity to the listener with his unique style of garage-rock guitars, grimy breakbeats, and vivid poetry combined with an electro-pop flourish and soulful R&B. In his search for equilibrium, Jagwar Twin exists to find spirit in our shared humanity, venturing forward with encouragement to others to do the same work, while emphasizing what unites us.
Roy first established himself as a one to watch with his debut album Subject to Flooding, and a hitmaker with breakout single “Happy Face” which rocketed past 375 million streams and is from his genre-bending and ambitious sophomore album 33. Earlier this year, Jagwar Twin presented the immersive art exhibit “Everything’s Perfect Here” which explored the intricacies of human consciousness, hinting at the core of who Jagwar Twin is as an artist.
Celeb Secrets sits down with Roy (virtually) to learn more about his musical beginnings and how it led to his success with “Bad Feeling (Oompa Loompa).” Keep scrolling for our full Q&A with Roy and don’t forget to let us know what you think of the track by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sliding into our DMs on Instagram at @celebsecrets.
You can connect with Roy by giving Jagwar Twin a follow on Instagram at @jagwartwin.
Celeb Secrets: For those who are unfamiliar with you and your music, who is Jagwar Twin?
Jagwar Twin: “Jagwar Twin explores polarities, explores the twin aspects of reality, explores light and dark, and the light and dark that exists within all of us and that all light is birthed out of darkness. Jagwar Twin is an exploration of the human condition.”
CS: Can you tell us more about your musical beginnings/inspirations and how it shaped you into the artist you are today?
JT: “I became an artist because I wasn’t really good at anything else. I felt incensed by so much around me and I found that writing, especially lyrics and words and putting those things to music, helped me get out what was inside. I think it’s been and continues to be such a valuable tool to know myself and to know the world around me.”
CS: Your song “Bad Feeling (Oompa Loompa)” is an absolute smash. Can you tell us more about the track and the creative process behind it? What sparked the interest to sample the iconic Oompa Loompa?
JT: “‘Bad Feeling’ came with part of my exploration of my heritage: my German, Polish, Russian, Slavic roots. I kept saying in the studio ‘I want oompah music. Give me some oompah s**t’ to the producers I was working with. I wanted tubas and accordions, which I had started exploring with ‘Happy Face,’ but I wanted to do more. So, I got in the studio with Ryan Daly and Sean Van Fleet and we were joking, like ‘oompah oompah’ but I was like ‘what if we just did Oompa Loompa?’ We kind of had a laugh about it but usually when something feels like a dumb idea, it’s probably a good idea. So, we ran with it.
The movie has been one of my favorites since I was a kid. The OG Gene Wilder version. It was one of my grandma’s favorite movies and we would watch it together when I was a kid. Part of clearing the sample was that we got told no, three different times from different lawyers and people. After about a year of trying to clear the sample, I ended up reaching out to a friend of a friend of a friend because I was like, ‘I’m gonna clear this s**t… And if the universe wants it in the world, it’ll get cleared.’ Long story short, I ended up clearing the sample myself with the estate of the writers of the original ‘Oompa Loompa’ song. For me, it was just a testament of, like, if you know something is supposed to happen, sometimes you got to make it happen yourself and trust that the universe will open the doors.”
CS: With over 140M streams and counting, the song has reached so many. When did you start to realize that the track was going viral and what have been some of your most memorable moments from its success?
JT: “I think within the first couple of days, I knew that the song was going to be massive. We dropped it and people just started picking it up and running with it. I think even within the first week it started getting like 700,000 streams a day on Spotify. I was like ‘alright, this is gonna be a big one.’ I’ve never experienced anything on that level… especially that quickly. And this week we hit #39 on the Top 40 chart!”
CS: The acoustic version is out now — can you tell us more as to why you wanted to strip down the song?
JT: “I often do stripped-down versions for songs because I think it allows the audience to connect with the lyrics more. Sometimes the production is really glossy and cool and slick, but with an acoustic version you’re just paying attention to the words.”
CS: What’s the overall message that you want people to take away from your music?
JT: “That you are beautiful and powerful and strong and there is a reason for you to be here and you just got to trust yourself and trust that.”
CS: What’s next for Jagwar Twin this year? Can you tease any upcoming announcements?
JT: “There’s lots more music to come and I did a headline show on April 10 at The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery!”
CS: Since we’re Celeb Secrets, what are some behind-the-scenes secrets from filming the music video for “Bad Feeling” that we wouldn’t know just by watching it?
JT: “At one point in the video, I was strapped onto a spinning wheel. It had these old cuffs, like from the 1920s. They strapped me in but as I was spinning around, I got these gnarly blister burns from being spun around on it. That was cool.”
