In 2015, as short-form video-based content initially began to dominate the internet, few clips managed to cut through the noise the way Nicholas Fraser's six-second parody did.

Set to a warped version of Next's song "Too Close," "Why You Always Lyin’" paired Fraser's atonal voice and toothy grin with a backyard R&B performance that turned into one of the year's most quotable memes.

The jingle traveled across the internet at lightning speed, with instantly recognizable stills from the Vine branching off into their own genre of memes.

But nearly a decade later, Fraser has tried hard not to be just a relic of Vine-era nostalgia and meme rap.

Here's what the man behind the meme has been up to in the decade since his viral hit.

What's the 'Why You Always Lyin'' Vine, and How Did It Go Viral?

In 2015, when Vine was still alive and the dominant platform for short-form video content, a man in a blue unbuttoned shirt stood in his backyard, crooning "Why the f--- you lyin'? / Why you always lyin'? / Mmm oh my God… Stop f------ lyin'!"

The blurry six-second clip began with a man bragging about a bunch of designer swag he certainly did not own before the clip moved through multiple angles of him singing his accusatory song.

He placed his foot up on a broken toilet, did a wall lean and a spin move, all while swaying his hips to an R&B beat.

Originally uploaded on August 29th, 2015, by Nicholas Fraser from Queens, New York, the Vine pulled over 16 million loops by the end of September. Many quickly realized that the tune was a parody of '90s band Next's 1997 R&B hit "Too Close," with the real lyrics being "Baby, when we're grinding, I get so excited."

Screencaps of Fraser's knowing, cheeky smile were turned into reaction images and GIFs over on Twitter, and people began tagging friends who love to cap over on Instagram.

The sing-song phrase, "Why you always lyin'," soon became a shorthand for calling out fake flexes online.

By September 2015, Fraser had gone all out and posted a full-length, HD version of his "Why You Always Lyin'" video, raking in over 35 million views in nearly 10 years.

The extended video began with a sketch about Nick Fraser's friend bragging about copping designer clothes and bagging a hot girl, and upped the production value by several notches. But despite the elevated sound engineering, it still featured Fraser's signature atonal singing.

Who Is Nicholas Fraser, And What's the Backstory Behind the “Why You Always Lyin’” Video?

In a 2021 interview with Know Your Meme, Fraser recalled how he came up with the idea for his viral hit.

He was on his way to 7-Eleven for gummy bears and donuts when Next's "Too Close" came on the radio. He started singing along, "Baby, when we're grinding…," but misheard it as "crying," and found himself freestyling over the lyrics. The "Why you always lying?" song basically popped into his head fully formed.

"Once I said that," he told us back in 2021, "I stopped and said, 'I might have just did some.'"

The line reminded him of a classmate from high school who constantly bragged about cars and clothes nobody had ever seen. Fraser didn't name him in interviews but said the parody was, in part, an exaggerated tribute to people who lie just to keep a conversation going. "You were cool enough," he said in a BuzzFeed segment that same year. "You didn’t have to lie."

The next day, he got a fresh haircut, threw on his brother's best shirt, and asked his brother to film him in their Queens backyard.

The choreography of the music video was inspired by the visuals of classic R&B tracks, with Fraser's shirt blowing in the wind as he struck his poses.

In his interview with KYM, Fraser also gave context for why there was a random toilet seat in his backyard for him to rest his leg on as he danced to his song's chorus. He said that they had bought it for their mom's bathroom, but it never worked, and had ended up in his backyard ever since. "It was just in the right place at the right time," he laughed.

But the "Why You Lyin'" video wasn't Fraser's first time trying to make it as an online creator. He had been posting videos ever since Instagram began allowing video posts in 2012, and his move to Vine just made sense when he saw some of his funnier friends get hits on there.

"I’ve always been a creative person," he told Know Your Meme. "Whenever I come up with an idea, I just wanna see it physically."

How Did Fraser React To His Sudden Fame Back in 2015, and How Did It Affect His Later Content?

Fraser first noticed the video taking off the day after he posted it. He was at a barbecue, looking down at his phone as notifications flooded in from Vine and Twitter. The traffic was so intense that his phone began to overheat, eventually forcing him to buy a new one.

Still, it wasn't until someone sent him a clip of his song playing on the radio that the full weight of the moment set in. "That’s when it really hit me," he told Know Your Meme. "I did it."

His mother was skeptical at first. Fraser recalled her asking repeatedly, "Is this real?" even as family friends began reaching out to say their kids were quoting the video or dressing up like him. "It was a chain of events," he said. "It was a very surreal moment in time."

Fraser was grateful for the attention but didn't want to be boxed in by the meme. "Why You Always Lyin'" wasn’t even his favorite video. It was just one of many ideas he'd brought to life.

After a short break, he returned to posting regularly on Instagram, working through different personas and sketches. He framed the meme's success as both a blessing and a creative challenge — an opportunity to show that he had more to offer.

So What's Nick Fraser Been Up To In Recent Years?

Since his viral 2015 Vine, Nicholas Fraser has built a multifaceted creative career as a director, performer and entrepreneur. He's most active on his Instagram @downgoes.fraser, where he still regularly posts comedy sketches and musical parodies.

He also had a brief stint as a YouTube creator, where he posts videos as part of his cooking series "BNFFTS" ("But Not For Food Television Show"), which blends absurdist comedy with meal prep using simple pantry ingredients.

In 2021, Fraser made headlines again after selling an NFT of his iconic meme for approximately $96,000 on Foundation, marking one of the highest-profile meme NFT sales that year.

Fraser sees the meme as internet history, "something that, if the internet ever had a museum, it would be in," and treats it as one part of a broader portfolio.

He continues to pursue multimedia work and even worked as an executive producer for G Milano's 2020 R&B Afropop album 4 Seasons.

Fraser's most recent video shows him trying out for Twitch streamer Kai Cenat's Streamer University, complete with comments from fans telling him he had "Kai vibes before kai."

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For the full history of the Why You Always Lyin' guy, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information. To see the rest of our "Where Are They Now" series, you can find them all here. Stay tuned for next week's editorial!

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