Merry Christmas / I Want Drugs

About

Merry Christmas / I Want Drugs refers to lyrics from the song "Drugs" by Ayesha Erotica, which became a viral TikTok sound and meme in 2024 via speech bubble videos in which two characters sang each verse back and forth. The song continues, "Happy birthday (I want drugs) / Happy Kwanzaa (I want drugs)." The animation meme trend started in May 2024 and continued into June 2024.

Origin

On May 8th, 2023, Ayesha Erotica uploaded her song "Drugs" to YouTube,^[1] gaining over 11,700 views in a year (seen below). In April 2024, Roblox TikTokers^[2] began using the song as a TikTok sound, helping to popularize it online.

On May 7th, 2024, TikToker^[3] @wwmei_x3 posted the first discovered animation meme using the "Merry Christmas / I Want Drugs" verse. The video showed characters from the manga Bungo Stray Dogs, gaining over 31,000 plays and 800 likes in a month (shown below).

Spread

In late May and early June 2024, the trend resurfaced en masse and received more viral iterations. For instance, on May 31st, 2024, TikToker^[4] @nicolestrap posted a version using Papa Louie renders to show characters from the dating sim game Class of '09, receiving over 135,700 plays and 22,200 likes in four days (shown below, left).

On June 1st, TikToker^[5] @luv._aricc posted an iteration with Shopkins toys, receiving over 239,700 plays and 49,000 likes in three days (shown below, right).

The latter video inspired a viral TikTok sound^[6] that was used en masse by other creators. For instance, on June 2nd, 2024, TikToker^[7] @quietpsyche278 used the sound, showing plushies of Puella Magi Madoka Magica characters, earning over 922,000 plays and 174,300 likes in two days (shown below).

By June 4th, 2024, the trend's primary TikTok sound^[6] had amassed over 13,700 posts. Also, non-viral iterations began to spread on YouTube Shorts.^[8]

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References