In honor of April Fools’ day, SCAD Radio has compiled the greatest music-oriented internet jokes ever. Ever since the meme wars of a decade ago changed life as we know it, society’s been gifted by silly and often random viral memes, many of which tap into the music realm. In no particular order (because we couldn’t pick a favorite), here are some of the most successful music memes of all time. For another interesting article from SCAD Radio, click here.
Hit Or Miss
Rising away from the scum of the other 99% of Tik Tok’s content is the marvelously unforgettable 15-second “Hit or Miss” bit that nearly redeems the entire platform. In 2018, up-and-coming Tik Tok star nyannyancosplay took an obsolete diss track aimed at ex-porn star Mia Khalifa from hip-hop duo iLOVEFRiDAY. She threw on another one of her anime cosplays and lip-synced the beginning of Smoke Hijabi’s verse with a cute little accompanying dance. So that’s probably what your 13-year-old cousin kept singing at Thanksgiving dinner.
For all the muck and grime spread out across the treacherous Tik Tok medium (save for our social media director’s 37K-follower channel that you should definitely check out at hunterbenjamin3), this one truly is a gem packed with stories behind it: the song stemming from a misunderstood fake tweet to the conspiracy theory that nyannyancosplay was actually a man.
Only on the internet.
For those of you who haven’t sunk low enough in life to download the Tik Tok app, you can view a YouTube video of the monumental clip here.
Mom’s Spaghetti
The Detroit rapper’s Oscar-winning classic “Lose Yourself” takes a peculiar turn in the middle of its opening verse. Eminem sets the scene for a nervous performer desperate not to bomb his gig, already beset by his mother’s pasta upchucked on his sweater. This line wasn’t as intentionally hysterical as some of Em’s other lyrics from his early-2000’s prime. Nevertheless, the internet took it and ran, spinning a simple two words into a meme still beloved to this day. The joke gained steam when a random YouTuber took the original music video and conjured an Italian spin, which can be viewed here.
Numa Numa Guy
In the dawn age of YouTube, the meme landscape hadn’t fully formed. The site soared early thanks to viral hits like Dork Daily’s iconic “Numa Numa” video. Like many other standouts uploaded around the time, it was simplistic and nonsensical. A guy who looks like he spends more time playing World of Warcraft than dancing jiggled around to the admittedly catchy tune from Eurodance one-hit-wonder trio O-Zone. Y’know, “Miya-he, miya-hoo, miya-ha, miya-HA-HA”.
Sandstorm by Darude
What’s the name of that song? A common question when it’s not your turn on the aux cord. If you typed that into a YouTube comment section for any song around 2014, you’d be bombarded with responses of “Darude – Sandstorm”. The turn-of-the-century techno tune fell victim to a familiar scenario of everyone liking the beat, but no one able to place the name. For those of you who don’t know what song I’m talking about (believe me, you know the song, maybe just not the title), you can watch its music video here.
“Anyway, here’s Wonderwall”
Spawned by a legion of amateur guitarists claiming they were acoustic gods because they could pluck this Oasis classic, “Anyway, here’s Wonderwall” didn’t really take off at a specific moment. Instead, non-guitarists over time realized the track’s extremely easy chord progression. As a result, the “I’m a rock star because I know Wonderwall” schtick soured quicker than Liam and Noel Gallagher’s relationship.
Is “Anyway, here’s Wonderwall” the best music meme of all time? I’ll say maybe.
We Are Number One
Some memes make us laugh. Very few have the ability to spawn an inspirational fight against a disease. In 2016, a music video from children’s program Lazy Town featured Stefán Karl Stefánsson’s Robbie Rotten character performing a villain song that’d make Disney baddies jealous. Creative remixes on the video spawned left and right, from an “opposite day” take to the track blended with Gotye’s megahit. The meme’s popularity exploded so much, it began to shed light on the actor’s real-life fight with cancer. Then a GoFundMe page launched to accumulate donations to pay for Stefánsson’s medical bills. Never before did a meme play such an important role outside a web browser, and the whole saga put a feel-good aspect on everyone involved, especially the grateful man behind Robbie Rotten. Unfortunately, Stefánsson passed away last August, but not after leaving his mark on an era of children’s television.
Rest in peace a legend.
“All Star” by Smash Mouth
This one needs no explanation.
