"Congratulations" is a song by

YouTubers A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

PewDiePie Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg (born 24 October 1989), better known as PewDiePie, is a Swedish YouTuber, best known for his gaming videos. Kjellberg's popularity on YouTube and extensive media coverage have made him one of the most noted online pe ...

, Roomie and

Boyinaband David Paul Brown (born 24 August 1987), known professionally as Boyinaband, is an English musician, songwriter, rapper, and YouTuber. Brown is known for his song "Don't Stay in School" and collaborations with other YouTubers such as iDubbbz, ...

. The single was self-released on 31 March 2019 with an accompanying music video on YouTube as a response to T-Series surpassing PewDiePie as the most-subscribed YouTube channel. The music video is banned on YouTube in India. As of January 2025, the video on YouTube has over 237 million views, making it PewDiePie's second most-viewed video, his most viewed being his previous T-Series

diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (an abbreviation of ''disrespect'' or ''disparage'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feu ...

, " Bitch Lasagna".

Background

In mid-2018, the subscriber count of the Indian music video channel T-Series rapidly approached that of Swedish web comedian and Let's Player

, who at the time was the most-subscribed YouTuber. As a response, PewDiePie fans and other YouTubers had shown their support for PewDiePie, while T-Series fans and other YouTubers had shown support for T-Series, in the

PewDiePie vs T-Series PewDiePie vs. T-Series, also known as the Great Subscriber War, was an online rivalry between two YouTube channels, PewDiePie (run by Felix Kjellberg) and T-Series (run by the Indian record company of the same name), for the title of the mo ...

competition. During the competition, both channels had been gaining a large number of subscribers at a rapid rate. The two channels had surpassed each other in subscriber count on a number of occasions in February, March, and April 2019.

Composition and lyrics

"Congratulations" is an upbeat-sounding

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

whose instrumentals are based on "Buckwild" by 2Virgins. In the music video, PewDiePie criticizes T-Series for achieving their early success by selling pirated songs and chairman

Bhushan Kumar Bhushan Kumar Dua (born 27 November 1977) is an Indian film producer and music producer. He is the chairman and managing director of Super Cassettes Industries Limited, also known as T-Series (company), T-Series. He is known for his work in Bol ...

for alleged tax evasion (in reference to a ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' article). He also mocks T-Series for sending him a

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the oth ...

letter alleging that his actions and lyrics of " Bitch Lasagna" were defamatory. He also mentioned the CEO of T-Series'

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

scandal, collusions with the Mumbai mafia, and #MeToo allegations. The video also thanks his fans for sticking with him through his YouTube career, referencing past videos.

Reception

Eight days after it was released, "Congratulations" was banned in India, alongside PewDiePie's earlier diss track, "Bitch Lasagna". The

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi ( Hindustani: दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय; ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') is the high court in Delhi, India. It was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966. ...

granted an injunction against the two songs at the request of T-Series, who asserted the tracks were "defamatory, disparaging, insulting, and offensive" and that the songs contained "repeated comments ... abusive, vulgar, and also racist in nature." In their decision, the court noted that PewDiePie, in communication with T-Series after the release of "Bitch Lasagna", had apologized after posting the first video and had "assured that he asnot planning any more video on the same line." In August 2019, it was reported that T-Series and PewDiePie had settled their legal disputes outside of court.

Music video

A music video for the song was released the same day. The video was previously recorded in November 2018 in anticipation of T-Series surpassing his subscriber count. It shows PewDiePie, Roomie, and Boyinaband throwing a party inside a room adorned with party decorations, balloons, champagne, and a cake that imitates the T-Series logo. They sing and dance congratulating T-Series in a tongue-in-cheek manner. At the bridge of the song after the second verse, PewDiePie gives a "Thank You" to all his fans and subscribers for supporting his career and gives a "Brofist" to the camera, before the video cuts to the final chorus of the song with a scene showing PewDiePie, Roomie, and Boyinaband launching fireworks outside in the night. The video ends with

MrBeast James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson (born May 7, 1998), commonly known by his online alias MrBeast, is an American YouTuber, media personality, and businessman. His YouTube videos, where he often hosts elaborate challenges and philanthropic effor ...

giving a slow clap to the song. MrBeast would go onto surpass T-Series as the most-subscribed YouTube channel in 2024, "avenging" Pewdiepie. As of January 2025, the video on YouTube has over 237 million views, Pewdiepie's second-most-viewed video behind the previously-released " Bitch Lasagna".

Charts

Notes

References

{{authority control 2019 YouTube videos 2019 songs 2019 singles Anti-Indian sentiment Diss tracks English-language Swedish songs Obscenity controversies in music Online obscenity controversies PewDiePie songs Race-related controversies in music T-Series (company) Synth-pop songs Comedy hip-hop songs Satirical songs