Lakaka

Submission 25,674

Part of a series on Association Football. [View Related Entries]

About

Lakaka refers to a mispronunciation of Belgian footballer Romelu Lukaku's name, originally said in a Somali TikToker's interview in June 2021. The video went viral and earned many duets and shitposts related to football. Going into 2022, TikToker @abdoulabrute acted as Lakaka (a bootleg version of Lukaku) in various skits, using a "Lakaka" TikTok sound that used the song "Inténtalo" by 3BallMTY. Amid the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the Lakaka meme became more prominent.

Origin

On June 14th, 2021, Somali TikToker^[1] lilhancha posted a video (since deleted) in which he gave his friend or co-host two soccer players that he had to choose between. When asked to choose between Italy's Ciro Immobile and Belgium's Romelu Lukaku, the man exclaimed, "Lakaka!" The video, along with TikToker lilhancha's channel, has been removed from the platform. However, others like TikToker^[2] eljulianrkt posted duets with the video in mid-June 2021 (shown below).

Spread

Following the upload, many TikTokers started to make shitpost-style edits with the soundbite and clip. For instance, on June 30th, 2021, TikToker^[3] sadboi_5 posted a meme with the "Lakaka" soundbite, gaining roughly 2.6 million plays and 254,700 likes in a year and a half (shown below, left). On August 15th, 2021, TikToker^[4] pes.boulhoos posted a video that used footage from the mobile game eFootball PES 2021 and added the song "Inténtalo" by 3BallMTY^[5] as the video's audio. Over the course of 16 months, the TikTok received roughly 20.9 million plays and 1.4 million likes (shown below, right).

On September 16th, 2021, YouTuber^[6] TankSlapper21 posted a "Lakaka" meme video that made fun of Lukaku's low FIFA 22 defensive rating, earning roughly 3.4 million views and 62,000 likes in 15 months (shown below, left). On October 19th, 2021, YouTuber^[7] v1ceroy posted a "Lakaka" video, gaining roughly 2.7 million views and 34,000 likes in 14 months (shown below, right).

TikToker Abdoulabrute as Lakaka

On September 8th, 2021, TikToker^[8] abdoulabrute posted his first video that featured him as Lakaka, using the sound from TikToker^[4] pes.boulhoos's video. Over the course of 15 months, the video received roughly 3 million plays and 170,900 likes (shown below, left). TikToker abdoulabrute continued the gag going into 2022, earning more engagement over time. For instance, on August 20th, 2022, TikToker^[9] abdoulabrute posted his most viral "Lakaka" video in the one-year span, earning roughly 25.9 million plays and 2.5 million likes in four months (shown below, right).