Broke Nigga Alert

Submission 6,116

About

Broke Nigga Alert refers to a series of reaction videos used on Twitter that includes an audio snippet of a human-voiced siren repeating "broke nigga alert" and two other male voices saying, "Is it talking about me?" and "I think so my nigga." The original video was made by YouTuber KassanTV in 2013, as a part of his "SpongeBob In the Hood" series of voiceovers. The video showed Squidward Tentacles and another fish looking up at a siren in the Krusty Krab.

Origin

Sometime before November 17th, 2013, YouTuber^[1] KasaanTv uploaded "Part 2" of his ongoing voiceover series "SpongeBob In the Hood," in which, there was a scene showing Squidward giving another fish $1 in change. Then, a siren in the Krusty Krab went off, repeating, "Broke nigga alert!" The fish asked Squidward, "Is it talking about me?" to which Squidward replied, "I think so my nigga." All of KasaanTv's "SpongeBob In the Hood" videos have since been unlisted from YouTube, however, YouTuber^[2] Ka$$anTV reposted the "Part 2" video on November 17th, 2013, which includes the "Broke Nigga Alert" scene at the video's 2:16-minute mark (shown below).

Spread

Going into the 2010s, the video gained prominence on YouTube and social media. For instance, on May 10th, 2015, YouTuber^[3] Toxic Fallout uploaded a "Broke Nigga Alert" remix made by Dj MySKiD, gaining roughly 16,000 views in eight years (shown below).

In the late 2010s, the video gained increased usage as a reaction video on Twitter. For instance, on May 8th, 2019, Twitter^[4] user @BASEDSAVAGE_ tweeted about the "Broke Nigga Alert" siren, gaining roughly 3,900 likes in four years. Then, later on May 8th, Twitter^[5] user @BLKLSTED replied to @BASEDSAVAGE_ with the "Broke Nigga Alert" video, gaining over 360 likes in the same timeframe (shown below). Various Twitter^[6]^[7] accounts posted the video in late 2019.

The video gained more eminence when it became a TikTok sound in early 2022. The trend started when a since-deleted TikToker uploaded an unknown video that started a TikTok^[8] sound with many viral videos. For instance, on January 9th, 2022, TikToker^[9] @callmemirmir uploaded a video about having knock-off AirPods, gaining roughly 3.2 million plays and 532,300 likes in one year (shown below).

A few months prior, on October 19th, 2021, iFunnier ^[10] @Hot_Smelly_Garbage posted a new iteration of the "Broke Nigga Alert" meme, gaining over 35 smiles in two years (shown below).

The aforementioned version was used in viral tweets^[11] in early 2023.