Meet the top 3 TikTokers at the heart of Corecore those chaotic video compilations you've been s

• Corecore is the latest trend on TikTok, where its videos have gathered almost 1 billion views. 
• It involves stitching a series of seemingly random videos together to evoke an emotion or convey a message.
• At the core of the trend are TikTokers @highenquiries, @sebastianvalencia.mp4, and @masonoelle.

Corecore is the latest Gen Z anti-trend, anti-aesthetic, the final boss of all cores.

Corecore is a video-editing style that involves amateurishly stitching a series of seemingly unrelated videos together to evoke an emotion or convey a message. 

The concept of "-core" is definitely not a new one on the internet.

Generally interpreted as an aesthetic centered around the word prefixing "core", this digital culture has been growing in popularity since 2020, when the pandemic hit. It started with "Cottagecore". People used this as a way to pretend that they were living some kind of fantasy life in the woods during times of incredible uncretaintly. Posts tagged #cottagecore have since amassed over 12.6 billion views on TikTok. 

Unlike previous cores, Corecore's concept has had most people puzzled and confused. This particular "core" doesn't seem to have an obvious inspiration, and when asked to describe what it is, creators of #corecore content often claim everything is up to personal interpretation. Some creators say that Corecore is an art form for social commentary, touching on heavier topics without explicitly stating them. 

Anyhow, the trend has everyone obsessed with #corecore videos gathering over 991.3 million views on TikTok. 

Here are the three prominent TikTokers in Corecore culture. 

Believed to be one of the pioneers of the trend, John Rising (@highenquiries) creates Corecore videos to evoke a reaction from people.

The 40-year-old TikToker has been creating videos since 2021.  Making them trend as Corecore was never his intention, according to Vice. "You could say (the videos) are about the general human condition," Rising told Vice.

Going by @highenquiries on TikTok, the creator says his Corecore-style videos were actually inspired by "father-of-video-art" Nam June Paik, a celebrated pioneer in performance and technology-based art. 

His videos get millions of views, and according to Vice, many aspiring filmmakers or student artists have since approaced Rising to seek advice on how to create their own corecore videos. 

Mason Noel (@masonoelle) never tags his videos with #corecore, but fans think his videos are undeniably reminiscent of the genre.

Noel is said to be one of the first to use the style, shown in a video he posted in January 2021 with hashtags #capitalism and #decay. 

The TikTok depicts a series of out-of-context videos, all of which have some relevance to the topics of global warming and capitalism. 

Although the TikToker, who goes by @masonoelle, has never tagged his videos with #corecore,
many of his fans have noted that his editing style has hallmarks of the trend. 

"I miss when corecore didn't have a name," a TikTok user commented on one of Noel's videos. 

18-year-old Dean Erfani (@plantaniac) started making corecore videos without much thought, before realizing his videos resonated with many.

The young TikToker, going by @plantaniac on the platform, has created countless corecore videos with a variety of embedded messages. "I believe it's a form of self-expression that connects people," Erfani told Vice. 

Erfani's TikToks are often also tagged #nichetok, the sibling trend of corecore. His viewers often leave comments like "real", "I love consuming media", "true". Some viewers would occasionally comment their interpretation of the type of social commentary Erfani is getting at in his videos, though he never confirms or denies them. 

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