From Meme To Megastar: The People Behind The Internet’s Biggest Viral Sensations
Becoming a meme can be a blessing or a curse. The internet lets users spread gossip and jokes in a visual format, but for the large part, they're just the funny things we see over and over on Instagram and Twitter until our mom shares it on Facebook and the meme officially dies.
Most of us have a hard enough time keeping track of memes because they come and go so quickly. Famous evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins considered memes as important to human culture as genes are to our genetic makeup. Only the fittest memes survive. But those that do survive have the potential to skyrocket the person behind the meme to stardom. From recording contracts to dating billionaire heiresses, the people behind the memes have come a long way. What's "cash me ousside" girl up to today? We're glad you asked!
Hank Williams Kid
The internet's latest obsession is the kid who covered Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues" in the middle of a Walmart, better known now as Walmart Yodelling Kid.
Within a few days of being uploaded, his yodel-version of the classic song has been watched millions of times with endless parodies and even an EDM remix (that is actually pretty good). But who's the kid behind the meme?
Mason Ramsey
The kid behind the yodel is 12-year-old Mason Ramsey. Ramsey has been singing since he was three years old but it's still unknown why he decided to start belting it out in a Harrisburg, Illinois Walmart.
Whatever the reason, it's got him almost 700,000 followers and he's set to play his first concert at his local Walmart store now that he's famous.
Salt Bae
Salt Bae took off in early 2017 with the video of a Turkish chef sprinkling salt over a slab of meat in the most extra way possible.
2017 was the year of people deciding that they were going to be super extra and salt bae's extravagant acts led the charge. Keep reading to see if Salt Bae is just as extra in real life as he is in the meme.
Nusret Gökçe
The man behind the meme is actually a world-renowned chef, Nusret Gökçe. It wasn't just his salt bae video that was outrageous. If you look back on his Instagram he's always been dramatically slicing meat.
Gökçe now runs with celebrities and has cooked for some pretty notable names. He also owns and operates a steakhouse in New York City.
'Cash Me Ousside' Girl
The 13-year-old girl behind the controversial catchphrase, "cash me ousside, howbow dah" will live in infamy for being one of the most loved, yet hated memes.
The girl, Danielle Bregoli, decided to yell the phrase at a Dr. Phil audience after they continued to laugh at her for being disrespectful to her mom and Dr. Phil.
Danielle Bregoli
Love her or hate her, Bregoli has made the best of the situation and embodied the meme and has really started to profit off it.
Bregoli has almost 13 million followers, has signed a contract with MTV for an upcoming reality show, and has released numerous rap singles under the name Bhad Bhabie.
Hot Felon
"Hot Felon" was one of the memes that even your mom was excited about. A mugshot of convict Jeremy Meeks was posted on the Stockton Police Department's Facebook and middle-aged women were in love.
Maybe it was the bad-boy 50 Shades of Grey phenomenon going on at the time, but no one seemed to care about his assault and gun felony charges. What's Hot Felon up to today? We're glad you asked...
Jeremy Meeks
Meeks' life truly made a 180. He landed his first agent while still in prison, and upon his release landed some major modeling gigs, debuting in New York Fashion Week.
Meeks basically did the most successful glo-up here and has most recently left his first wife — who stayed by his side during the hard days — for Topshop heiress Chloe Green.
Roll Safe Guy
The roll safe meme is actually a screenshot taken of the main character from web series mockumentary, Hood Documentary.
The character's smug look is usually used to mock avoiding an outcome by making a purposely bad decision and is basically an anthem for any millennial stumbling through life.
Kayoed Ewumi
The man behind the meme is actually a well-known British actor, Kayoed Ewumi. Ewumi actually co-created Hood Documentary with a friend and had a large Vine following leading up to the viral meme. It was this Vine following that allowed the meme to blow up after he posted a short clip.
Ewumi is now focussing on writing and directing but loves and appreciates the support people have given him because of the meme.
Side Eye Chloe
Side-eye Chloe, the original shade meme, came from a viral video of a mom telling her kids they were going to Disneyland, and Chole was thoroughly unimpressed that her sister immediately freaked out and started crying.
Side-eye Chloe was labeled the Queen of Everything for embodying the eternal "can you not" mood.
Chloe Clem
Chloe isn't even a teen yet and she's working all the angles of that iconic side-eye. Her look was recently picked up to be an ad for Google and she's landed a few modeling gigs under a contract with 7 Managment.
Chloe is definitely the cutest meme out there and side-eye or not, we'd accept any shade she throws at us.
The next meme-to-megastar is so relatable because its basically all of us if we had our everyday reactions recorded.
Blinking Guy
The blinking guy gif has been 2017's way to express shock and confusion and basically be Jim staring at the camera in The Office.
The clip was taken from a video game live stream where one person commented about the game Starbound, "I've been doing some farming...with my hoe" and his colleague reacted in the way that anyone else would in the situation.
Drew Scanlon
The man behind the meme is as ordinary as you'd expect for someone who was co-hosting a video game live stream. Drew Scanlon has been working as a video producer since 2009 and runs a website all about video games.
Scanlon kept his day job because he doesn't have any ownership in the original video so he can't make any money from the gif.
Damn, Daniel
You know you've peaked when you land a spot on Ellen. The Damn Daniel meme was spawned from a viral video of one friend commenting that his friend Daniel was "back at it again with the white Vans."
The phrase was picked up by anyone and everyone who wanted to simultaneously support and make fun of their friends.
Daniel Lara
Damn Daniel is Riverside, California teen Daniel Lara and the recognizable voice behind the video is his best friend, Josh Holz.
Despite having more than 700,000 Instagram followers and being invited to the 2016 MTV Movie Awards, Lara has remained pretty laid back and his parents make sure he isn't exploiting any of the fame.
Overly Attached Girlfriend
It's hard to believe one of the original internet memes is more than five years old. Back when YouTube was at its height in viral content, one girl parodied Justin Bieber's Boyfriend and the rest is history.
The creepy, yet hilarious, meme emerged to joke about the crazy and clingy relationships we've all experienced at one point.
Laina Morris
The woman behind the meme is Laina Morris. Morris made the video to respond to a contest for Bieber, but after the meme made it big, she moved into YouTube comedy.
Morris uploads videos about once a week and even though she knows the meme made her big, tries to stray away from being known only as Overly Attached Girlfriend.
Backpack Kid
Backpack Kid is one of those strange instances where his big break is a legitimate big break. Backpack Kid shot up in popularity after being featured in Katy Perry's Saturday Night Live performance in 2017.
After the performance, everyone took to the internet to ask who on earth is the kid wearing a backpack and swinging his arms back and forth and why was Katy Perry letting him on stage.
Russell Horning
The kid behind Backpack Kid is 16-year-old Russell Horning. He had been uploading his trademark "floss dance" for a few months before he became big after Rihanna used one of his dance clips to react to her Grammy nominations.
Backpack Kid has had some major cash flow since, grown his social media following to nearly 2 million, and even won a Kids Choice Award.
