[5] In late 2019, the song went viral online, due to a dance challenge on TikTok, becoming the first sound on the platform to reach 20 million videos.

Producer Reazy Renegade said when he made the 808, he knew it was going to be impactful, calling the song a "perfect jungle".

[3] In early 2020, the song gained major popularity after being used in viral videos on video-sharing app TikTok, thanks to a dance craze known as the "Renegade" challenge, created by 14 year-old choreographer, Jalaiah Harmon.

[3] This generated controversy, with The New York Times running an article criticizing the lack of credit due to Harmon.

[7] Shortly after the NY Times article was published, Harmon uploaded a video to Instagram performing the dance alongside D'Amelio and another fellow TikTok user Addison Easterling.

[3] Harmon and her friend Kaliyah Davis later joined Camp in a studio on Valentine's Day where they filmed a new video for the dance.

[9] In an article for Highsnobiety, Kieran Press-Reynolds described "Renegade" as a landmark song of TikTok rap, a subgenre that uses a lack of melody to create "a potentially dance-craze igniting 15 seconds," which is conducive with algorithmic success on the app.

Press-Reynolds credited how it is "immensely satisfying to watch someone synchronize with thundering low-end", combined with the "slapstick absurdism of blown-out bass," that makes the song so successful.