Cartoon is an Estonian band formed in 2015 by Hugo Martin Maasikas, Ago Teppand, and Joosep Järvesaar. Their most successful song is " On & On" featuring Daniel Levi, which has over 450 million views on YouTube as of March 2022. They also have many other songs with millions of views, including "Biology" in collaboration with nublu and Gameboy Tetris, "Why We Lose" in collaboration with Coleman Trapp, and "

I Remember U "I Remember U" is a song performed by Estonian DJ Duo Cartoon alongside producer and former member of the band Jéja, featuring vocals from Estonian singer Jüri Pootsmann Jüri Pootsmann (born 1 July 1994), is an Estonian singer. He won the ...

" in collaboration with

Jüri Pootsmann Jüri Pootsmann (born 1 July 1994), is an Estonian singer. He won the sixth season of ''Eesti otsib superstaari'', and represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Play". He is signed to Universal Music Baltics. Car ...

. In early 2024, Ago Teppand (a.k.a. Jéja) left the project to pursue his solo career.

History

Formation and breakthrough with "On & On" (2015–2016)

Ago and Joosep met in high school in Estonia in 2004, and they met Hugo at a party hosted by Ago. Cartoon was then formed in 2015 and gained attention when they released "Why We Lose" featuring Coleman Trapp on the British record label NoCopyrightSounds. On July 9, 2015, Cartoon released " On & On" featuring Estonian-Mexican-American singer Daniel Levi. The song was featured as his third song on the ''NCS: The Best of 2015'' album and was also released as his single on December 31, 2019 by Más Y Más / On & On AB. The song was a huge hit and received over 500 million views on NCS' YouTube channel. The song reached #1 on the Estonian airplay chart in its 39th week. On May 12, 2022, Cartoon released a Remixes EP of this song. The EP includes Time to Talk Remix, nuumi Remix, and Afe & Cole Phillips Remix. In 2016, Cartoon participated in the Eesti Laul 2016 song contest with Kristel Aaslaid with the song "Immortality". They lost to

in the finals and took third place. On March 11, 2016, Cartoon released the song " I Remember U" featuring vocals by Estonian singer

. The song was released as a digital download through NCS and peaked at number 1 on the Estonian airplay chart. This song is used as the theme song for the

ADVChina Winston Frederick Sterzel, also known by his YouTube pseudonym SerpentZA, is a South African vlogger and video producer. He lived in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China for fourteen years. His videos cover a variety of topics relating to Chinese politic ...

YouTube channel. The video clip for this song became Estonia's most viewed music video on YouTube in 2016. Elsewhere, Cartoon has been ranked No. 1 in the Estonian Artists Top Charts 2016.

Disbandment, subsequent reunion and further success (2017–2023)

Cartoon went on hiatus in August 2017, but the band resumed activities in spring 2020. On January 29, 2022, Cartoon released a new song, "Piranha," featuring rapper Pluuto. Along with the new song, a music video was also released. The song was released in collaboration with Discover Records and Sony Music. The music video was filmed and produced in Tallinn by Turkish audiovisual artist Bertan Can. On March 26, 2022, Cartoon released the single "Whatever", a collaboration with Belgian producer Andromedik, which also features Estonian singer

. According to Cartoon members, the song was born on the internet, as is common these days. On July 8, 2022, Cartoon released the single "I'm Not Alright" featuring Estonian band Bedwetters. The song was released by French label Dancing Dead and also came with an animated music video by Reimo Õun. On the same day, they performed at the Beach Grind Festival in

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth-largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second-largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of ...

, Estonia. Cartoon had planned to do an NCS remix of

Alan Walker Alan Olav Walker (born 24 August 1997) is a Norwegian DJ and record producer. His songs "Faded (Alan Walker song), Faded", "Sing Me to Sleep", "Alone (Alan Walker song), Alone", "All Falls Down (Alan Walker song), All Falls Down" (with Noah Cy ...

's track "

Dreamer The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal that would grant temporary #For conditional resident status, conditional residency, with the right to work, for Illegal ...

", due out in April 2023. However, it was canceled for unknown reasons. In July 2023, "On & On" was certified Silver by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI). In September, it was certified Gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). Their songs have grown in popularity mainly thanks to YouTube videos that have over 850 million views. It has also received a significant number of plays on Spotify, over 500 million times.

Departure of Teppand, Eurovision Song Contest and further releases (2024–present)

In early 2024, Cartoon announced that Ago Teppand would leave the project to pursue a solo career under the moniker 'Jéja', which led to Teppand being credited separately on all Cartoon releases. Hugo Maasikas and Joosep Järvesaar continue Cartoon as a duo. Cartoon participated alongside Ewert Sundja in '' Eesti Laul 2024'', the Estonian selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2024 The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 was the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Tattoo (Loreen song), Tattoo" by Loreen. Organised by the European Br ...

, with the song "Oblivion". They did not qualify from the semi-final. Cartoon released the song through Liquicity.

History

Formation and breakthrough with "On & On" (2015–2016)

Disbandment, subsequent reunion and further success (2017–2023)

Departure of Teppand, Eurovision Song Contest and further releases (2024–present)

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Notes

References