So.... Tik Tok.
Tik Tok right now is arguably the top site for memes.
You can't search the word 'meme' on YouTube without finding a Tik Tok cringe compilation of some sorts.
It's hard to argue that there is a face more iconic to this meme movement from Tik Tok than: Nyannyancosplay.
And I don't think that anyone would argue with me when I say that Nyannyancosplay is the face of memes on Tik Tok.
"Oh, Tik Tok."
"Oh, this is Tik Tok?"
"Oh, Tik Tok."
"I saw this circulating Twitter, no clue what it is."
"The internet has declared that this is the new queen... of the Ugandan knuckles basically."
"I know the song 'cause of the meme,
but I don't even know it outside of Tik Tok..."
And as somebody who's fascinated with every aspect of meme culture, I wanted to know more about this person.
What were the reasons behind the making of the now-infamous Tik Tok? But there was something I really wanted to know.
When you go from being a nobody on the Internet,
to suddenly the queen of the internet, that must have an enormous impact on one's life.
"She gained a huge following
following her Tik Tok post. One of the popular duets with her original video questioned her gender
which in turn sent an influx of hate comments her way."
And so with those questions in mind, I got in touch with Nyannyancosplay, in the hopes that she'd be willing to have an interview with me.
And,
well,
she was.
You're now gonna become YouTube trash.
How does it feel?
I'm already Tik Tok trash.
What made you make this Tik Tok, like what was the, I suppose, inspiration behind it and what- how did it come to be?
Well, I like Tik Tok 'cause it's a, like, a new platform for cosplayers to like, use audio and like, still be able to portray the character.
So, I was just in cosplay, and I heard the song, and I didn't really know what it meant
I didn't know it was a diss-track at all,
so I'm just blindly going in. And I make this, like, Tik Tok, and I almost don't post it
so when I do post it, everyone's like
freaking out. So, I didn't really have anything. I just blindly made it.
And how long after posting the original Tik Tok did it take before...
it- it started blowing up like-
I'd say actually a few days because then some- like all of a sudden someone's like
"Yo, this new account posted you," and I was like, "what?" and they're like, "hEy gUyS loOk at tHis TrAp" and I was like
"All right..." *nervous laughter*
Oh god. Oh no.
Yeah,
And then shortly after that people start doing duets with me and
this guy makes it about holding up a sign, saying like, "That's a dude," or something and I was like, "Great..."
When did it really sink in that this had gone like, insanely, like big? Like, what was the moment that you knew it had like, really
transcended what you thought- cuz- cuz many people would like, could not fathom like, the amount
this has blown up.
Oh same. Like, I'm still like, trying to like, fathom it. Cuz I'm like, seeing like, all my followers
keep going up in random- random spikes and I'm like, "Whoa!" But um,
I think around the end of November, when like, posts were getting crazy
like, people kept posting me and like, commenting and stuff. Like, it started sinking in, like, "I'm literally a meme" like
"I'm literally, a meme."
I feel like, almost to a certain extent, like your face is like, synonymous with Tik Tok,
nearly like a poster child for tick-tock at this point. Cuz you can't- you can't go on YouTube without seeing
your face in a thumbnail.
I even was on an ad for Tik-Tok, like on Snapchat.
Someone sent a screenshot and it was like, the ad, it was like my face and I was like, "What?"
And like, seeing the thumbnails is also crazy cuz I never thought like, I would be a thumbnail.
Yeah, so I mean, yeah, cuz you've been, like, a PewDiePie thumbnail like two or three times, I swear at this point.
Yeah.
That's pretty crazy. You know when you have all these people on YouTube talking about you or talking about your Tik Tok,
you know., has there ever been a point where
you just kind of dislike that, or is it always just you've- you always just kind of rolled with it?
I did my best to roll with things. Usually I'm an over-thinker and over-worrier, so I'm like, "Aaah!"
But um,
it really pushed me out of my shell to like, keep like pushing and rolling through things cuz um...
I got a lot of negativity with the comments, like I said earlier, and, it really made me like
reflect on my- my self-image and stuff, but I realized that
you only have one life and one body.
So you should love yourself for who you are and
not care what other people think really.
So it's really helping me push through all the negative comments
I've been getting.
You know, I think a lot of YouTubers are fortunate that they
don't blow up immediately, and they get to like kind of roll with it, and they get to learn all the ropes and stuff and
online personalities etc. But like, I- I can't imagine like, how
difficult, it can be when you're just thrown into this world, because you- you've gained-
How- how many followers do you have an Instagram?
At like, this point now?
I have like, 400K? *laughing*
That is insane!
And before the meme, I was struggling back and forth from like
300- or three- 3K to 4K, so like, going from like, struggling, to like, all of a sudden spike
Like it's really crazy.
I- I think a lot of people v would be envious at your position.
But, have there been any,
you know, side effects that have come from blowing up that you have really been struggling with?
Well,
it's really hard to take in at first, since like you said earlier, like, you get like, a bunch of hate at once and
like, not everyone's good at handling hate, and I'm a very small like,
shy person, so sometimes- and so getting that and getting your- seeing your face everywhere
is like, hard to take in. Like, I would- I wanted to do YouTube for like my whole life,
so,
that's why I've always been like doing content slowly and
I never thought of myself like, blowing up like, so fast and like, trying to handle it.
But, I would say it's a good thing
but also, there's a lot of negativity in it that people don't see because people forget that you are a person.
You're not just a meme. Like, I have feelings.
Yeah, of course, of course.
Yeah.
So you mentioned earlier that, you know,
a lot of people were referring to you- you know, or saying that you're a 'trap' in the original post.
How did you deal with that and was that the most negative
things that you were getting sent your way, or was there like, people being even worse than that?
I've gotten worse
but the 'trap' thing really did get to me cuz I'm like,
"Do I really look like a guy?" Like, "What features of mine-" like, I started like, nit-picking at myself. Like, my shoulders are broad
Like, um, I do look muscular because I did sports my whole life.
So like, I was- I did track and stuff,
so I was always in the like, the weight room trying to like, get strong for track. I'm like, I do look muscular
but that doesn't make me a guy. So I was like, struggling a lot with like, self-image and like, stuff like that.
But... like, some worse things I've gotten are like, hate threats and like, people wanting to like,
do things and um...
That was also kind of scary getting that.
From the way you're talking about it,
you sound really confident about a lot of this stuff. Like, how have you found dealing with it?
And how would you- how would you recommend to others who are in the same situation deal with it?
Well, I
created a really good group of friends that I talked to like, literally every day, and they support me and like, they let me rant
and stuff and vent. Um,
just having a really close group of friends and like, being able to talk to people really helps because
then you have like, support from
them, so you're not dealing it with it on your own. And I also got to talk to you a little bit about
my problems. So I talked to you.
Yeah, I mean I- I kind of saw, like,
how quickly you were blowing up and I remember, you know, even though my growth was nothing, like, in comparison to yours,
but I remember feeling kind of lost like no one was- no one-
no one on YouTube
spoke to me or told me how I should be doing things or how I should be dealing new things and I really, like, whenever
I see people who I mean, you know, you're obviously a viewer of mine at some point or like, anyone you're, like,
I feel like I could maybe just help by just giving them a few words of advice to take like, 20 seconds out of my
day. Like, I was like, "Okay. I'll just shoot you a message and tell you if you ever need any advice, like,
It's fine,"
You mentioned how you have close friends supporting you and you really value that. You know,
have you found that any people in your personal life,
maybe, people who didn't talk to you before this Tik Tok, kinda crept back into the, you know,
the picture after you blew up?
Well, there's always gonna be those people in life that. Like, you're starting to like, get somewhere and they're like,
"Oh, how can I ruin their day?"
So, I mean. those people did pop up,
but I've also got in touch with some old friends.
So that's like, a good part of it. Like, some old friends were like, "Yo, is this you?" and I'm like, "Yeah!"
And then they'll start talking, like, about you know,
random stuff and like, I've made- I made new friends through it and then I've made, like, good old friends through it. So,
that's also a good positive side of it.
If you could go back and talk to yourself before you made the Tik Tok,
like, let's say a day before you decided to make it, what would your tell past self?
Um, get a new wig.
"Get a new wig," Hahaha!
I don't think it's that bad! It looked pretty good to me!
That wig was- that wig was ratchet!
Knowing what was gonna happen, due to you making that Tik Tok, would you still have made the Tik Tok?
See, that's a question
I ask myself a lot, and I would say 'yes' because,
although there is like a lot of negativity that's happened, I've also-
again, like, I've made good new friends,
and if I didn't make the Tik Tok I wouldn't have them, and I can also
talk to people who like my content. Like, that's awesome. Like, you call- you do fan calls, and I understand why you like it
so much. Like, it's so fun to let be able to talk to
people like that and stuff.
So do you're like, family make 'Hit or miss' jokes? I just I kind of want to know if they do.
Well, I actually kept it for my family for a month.
Oh, wow. Really? Why is that?
Um, I didn't know how they would reply or like, react to it, cuz they're not like, big on the internet.
So I didn't- they probably wouldn't have fully understood. Which they didn't, so it was a wild ride trying to
explain it to them, and then when they finally found out they're like, "okay as long as you're being safe, I guess..."
But no, they don't make 'Hit or miss' jokes.
Okay. Okay good.
For your- your safety.
So do your parents like, fully understand like, the scale of like, how big you are on the internet right now?
Or they just trying to wrap their head around the fact that like, it's even anything at all?
They're trying to wrap their head around it and I'm trying to like. help them understand like, um...
It's not like I'm doing anything too crazy. They generally like me for like, my content, and not
anything else. Like, they thought I was doing really bad stuff and I was like "no",
I feel like parents always assume the worst though
Yeah.
I think either you told me or I saw this, that you disabled your comments on the original Tik Tok. Was that because of all the,
I suppose, the people calling you traps and stuff?
Yeah,
most of my comments on my tik-tok were on that video and they were mainly all negative comments and I was like
"I just don't want to see this," so I just disabled it and if I see a negative comment
I straight up block people
like, I just don't want negativity on my page because I really want to spread like, the message of self-love and like,
loving each other, because I feel like the world nowadays with like, how the memes are blowing up, that we aren't taking time to like,
be kind to other people. It's as simple as like, smiling at someone or like, opening a door for somebody else. Like, just be kind
to others. Like, it's not that hard guys.
You know, out of all the tik-tok memes, are there any ones that you hate, and there's ones that you love?
I like trends,
so I'll see a trend and,
like it, but it takes a lot for me to actually do the trend because of the 'Hit or miss' thing that
became since I started it. Like, that's crazy.
So, I mean, I might do more trends in the future, but I do like watching other memes and trends and stuff, like the
"I'm already tracer" thing.
Do you like that one?
I think I've already made that one.
Have you already made it? I haven't actually seen,
I've already made one!
It's with Diva. I made it way before the trend happened too, so I'm very happy that mine wasn't in the trend thing.
But I, again, I turned off duets on my thing. So, people can't-
Do you have any advice for people on Tik Tok who are maybe trying to blow up? And
if so, if they did blow up, what would you recommend, you know, they do?
Mmm, I would say probably definitely follow trends cuz people
watch the trends often. Um, be yourself and if you do blow up,
Hold on! Find a good group of friends and I would talk with them.
Just be safe!
No, I'm glad! I was really worried that when I was going to talk to you that you're going to have a lot of negative
experiences to talk about or...
I mean I've had a lot of negativity but
I'm pushing through. Like, I refuse to let the negativity get to me anymore.
I can tell that it's not, you know,
getting to you that much, and I really you know,
I gotta give you props, because I think it's one thing that a lot of online personalities struggle with, is
having the thick skin and being able to just ignore it.
So, I mean, massive props to you.
I can only imagine like, how tough it's been.
I'm sure- I'm sure if you talked to me like, earlier,
I'd probably a way bigger mess. But like, now I'm more like, stable and like, working on getting good.
What- what would you say
has like, caused that change in the meantime? Like-
a lot of the negativity and like, again
self-reflection and
um, I do like this group called BTS, which is a k-pop group,
You've probably know of it.
Of course.
I've been following them since 2013 when they started, and like, seeing them grow up, like, they're not afraid of
how people judge them or all that, and right now with their preaching self-love and
their newest album was about that,
so it's- that's been helping me and
if they can help me with that and I can help spread that I would love to do that.
So, I mean, songs, music is like, a really big inspiration in my life,
so, I always listened to songs to help, and I always go to friends and talk with them.
Who's your BTS bias then?
Taehyung.
Okay, I don't know if that's a good taste or not. I'm sure the comments will let me know.
What's the craziest thing that's happened to you as a result of blowing up in your- in your opinion?
Well, I've had, like, an experience where I was just ordering pizza hut,
one day, and I got my bread sticks box and I opened it and like, inside was written "Hit or miss"
in like, sloppy font. Just "Hit or miss."
My final question is:
What's next? What are you- what are you hoping and doing in the future now that you've got this- these platforms?
Uh, some stuff is happening
right now and I'm trying to like, get a hold of it. So once I get that
settled I will do Twitch. I'm going to stream on Twitch.
I want to do YouTube and
I'm probably going to still stay on Tik Tok and I'll keep trying to push cosplay content, but on Twitch
I'm probably gonna start doing, like, gaming videos and stuff.
I'm super excited to see where you go from this.
I think this is gonna be a fun journey that you're gonna
embark on. Um...
Yeah, so, do you want to tell everyone it's just NyanNyanCosplay right, everywhere?
Basically everything.
Just, NyanNyanCosplay.
*Fricking adorable laugh*