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Earlier this year, somewhere between Trump’s inauguration and the AI reggae song “I Forgive That Man” reaching the viral charts in multiple European countries, a zoo of cursed creatures escaped and overran the internet. These included Tralalero Tralala, a three-legged shark with blue Nikes; Tung Tung Tung Sahur, an anthropomorphic wood plank; and Ballerina Cappuccina, a cup of golden-brown coffee in a pink bodice. An endless stream of shortform clips depict the characters eating burgers on the beach, cutting each other’s necks off, getting robbed on the L train in Chicago.
People call these deviants “Italian brainrot,” and it’s basically the Avengers multiverse of sloptainment. The Italian component comes from the text-to-speech voice that narrates the videos. One of the most popular clips features Tung Tung Tung Sahur moaning “nooo, oh oh,” as he’s held at gunpoint by police. It’s difficult to overstate just how popular this craze is with kids; a YouTube Short from last month in which Italian brainrot beasts are reprimanded for getting bad grades has 112 million views. Whenever I mention Brr Brr Patapim (imagine Groot if he were designed by Salvador Dali, not Stan Lee) to a fellow adult, they look baffled; meanwhile, all my younger brother’s college friends are tapped in.
Italian brainrot has the all-consuming virality of a “GANGNAM STYLE,” the type of cultural entity so powerful that anything vaguely themed after it amasses colossal engagement. Except unlike “GANGNAM STYLE,” barely anyone above the age of 20 knows what this is. In that way, it’s very 2020s: everywhere and nowhere, siloed by the algorithm but also monocultural for kids. Eleotan Táparo, the mastermind of a meme channel with 3.7 million subscribers, told me that Italian brainrot is like a stupid but satisfying TV show for the new generation. “I grew up watching Woody Woodpecker, Tom and Jerry—they were funny but also violent cartoons. And we turned out just great,” Táparo said. “I don’t know if brainrot videos are really brainrotting children or if it’s just a meme word right now.” I told him it’s more like SpongeBob—but it’s not really like either. There is no writer’s room orchestrating the narrative; it’s a democratized free-for-all where anyone can add new elements, storylines, and mutant mischief, which is both terrifying and thrilling.
Táparo, a 31-year-old from the Santa Catarina region of Brazil, is an early pioneer of Italian brainrot music, a burgeoning macro-genre that folds the cast of characters into songs for every possible vibe. Athletes can pump iron to “TRALALERO TRALALA FUNK,” a song with over 26 million Spotify streams that rewires the Italian text-to-speech voice into metallic phonk percussion. Beachgoers can lie in the sun while “HAVANA TRALALA” struts out of speakers. There’s “Brainrot Hogwarts Edition,” a parody of the Harry Potter theme with an enchanted voice chirruping “Cocofanto Elefanto!” (jubilant baby elephant encased in a coconut shell) like Hermione casting “Leviosaaaa.” The newest convolution is Italian Brainrot anime themes, popularized by creators like Smirzky, which turn the gibberish critters into cast members of a fictional TV show. It’s like the One Piece intro except Luffy is a butterfly-cat named Bicicletta del Gatto Santo.
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