The Raindance AI trend is people turning a single portrait into a short AI video of themselves standing on a wooden pier at sunset, singing into the camera, set to "Raindance" by Dave featuring Tems. It copies the opening shot of the song's Lagos-filmed music video, and it is cut so the bridge where Tems repeats "I love you" lands on the close-up.
What song is the raindance pier trend using?
"Raindance" by Dave featuring Tems, released on 23 October 2025 through Neighbourhood Recordings. It is track five on Dave's album The Boy Who Played the Harp, runs 3:39, and sits in afroswing. It entered the UK chart at number 5, reached number 1 in January 2026 — Dave's fourth UK number one and Tems' first — went top ten in several other countries, and peaked at number 42 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The Wikipedia entry and Songfacts have the full chart history.
It is worth saying plainly, because the search results blur it: "Raindance" is not an AI song. It is a human collaboration between two well-known artists. The confusion comes from the flood of AI covers and AI videos built on top of it, and from the trend itself being AI-generated. Is Raindance an AI song? goes through that in more detail.
Where was the Raindance video filmed?
In Lagos, Nigeria. The official music video came out on 9 January 2026, directed by Nathan James Tettey with Gabriel Moses as director of photography. It opens on a pier at sunset with golden light breaking across the water, then moves through a formal dinner, a room washed in orange light, and a night beach party under string lights. Dork and Neon Music both covered the release.
That structure matters, because almost every scene people now generate is lifted from one of those four looks.
How did the Raindance challenge start?
The TikTok challenge was started by the creator @zoebaptistee on 14 December 2025 — before the official video existed. It was built around the bridge, the part of the track where Tems repeats "I love you", and it spread first as an editing trend: people cut their own footage or photos so that line hit on a beat.
Two things turned it into an AI trend. First, the music video landed in January 2026 and gave everyone a single, instantly recognisable image to copy — the pier, the low sun, the sea behind. Second, image-to-video models got good enough at faces that a still portrait could be turned into a believable eight-second performance for a few dollars. The editing trend and the AI trend now run side by side, and plenty of videos combine them.
Why the pier?
Because it is the first thing you see in the video, and it is almost impossible to mistake for anything else. A weathered wooden dock over calm water, the sun sitting low and directly behind the singer, a soft lens flare, hair moving in the breeze. It reads in a thumbnail, it works vertically, and it puts one face dead centre — which is exactly what a short-form feed rewards.
The canonical AI shot has settled into a fixed grammar: dock or pier, low sun, sea behind, person singing straight into the lens, slow push-in. Duet versions put two people side by side. If a clip has those elements, people recognise it as a Raindance video before they hear a note.
What are the common variants?
- Solo. One person on the pier at golden hour. The original, and still the most common.
- Duet. Two people side by side, usually a couple, each generated from their own photo. This is the version people make for anniversaries and engagements. The duet guide covers how to pick the two photos.
- Rain. The same pier at blue hour with light rain on the planks — a nod to the title, and the moodiest-looking option.
- Pets. A cat or a dog on the pier instead of a person. Reliably the funniest corner of the trend; the pet guide has the photo rules, which are stricter than you'd expect.
- Characters. Anime figures, game characters, mascots and original drawings put through the same scene. Character versions covers what works and what collapses.
- Beach and reception. The sunset beach and the string-lit evening reception, both pulled from later sections of the music video.
Is the AI video the same thing as the CapCut trend?
No, and this is the single most common mix-up. A CapCut template is a free edit: it takes your existing photos or footage and arranges them to the beat with transitions already timed. It does not generate a new performance of you. An AI generator creates footage that never existed, from one still. The two biggest CapCut templates are named "i love you" and "Raindance" — see the CapCut template guide — and a lot of people use both, generating a clip and then dropping it into a template.
How do I join the trend?
The short version: get a clip of yourself on the pier, add the official sound in TikTok, label it as AI, post.
- Open the generator and sign in with Google.
- Pick Solo, Duet or Pets, and upload a clear front-facing photo — one adult, good light, no sunglasses or heavy filters, chest-up or waist-up.
- Choose a scene. Golden-hour pier is the default and the closest to the original.
- Generate the free 5-second teaser to check the face match. Every account gets one, watermarked and viewable in the browser.
- Unlock the full 8-second HD clip for $3.99, or generate a fresh one for $4.99. Pricing lists the packs and plans.
- Download the MP4 and add the sound in TikTok. The clip is silent by design — no song, no AI vocals — and the mouth movement is a soft singing performance rather than exact lip-sync, because the model never hears the track.
- Switch on the AI-generated content label under More options before posting. TikTok requires it for realistic AI content.
If you want to try the trend without spending anything, the free options compares them honestly. And a note on names: "raindance" also refers to Hansgrohe Raindance showers, the Raindance Film Festival and an in-game rain dance, so keep "AI", "trend", "Dave" or "Tems" in your search terms. This site is a fan-made tool with no affiliation to Dave, Tems, their labels, TikTok, CapCut or the Raindance Film Festival.