About

MIKE Chess Mosh Pit or MIKE Chess Moshpit refers to a viral video showing TikToker @evaniano playing chess in the front row of a MIKE concert in Europe. The TikToker was seemingly making a reference to a prominent MIKE meme that shows a chess tournament labeled, "MIKE mosh pit," as if to imply that his genre of rap is for intellectuals. The TikTok was reposted to the MIKE subreddit and shared on Twitter / X, where it garnered criticism from people who likened it to the recording events on a 3DS trend and the Death Grips Propeller Hat controversy.

Origin

Fans of the American rapper MIKE often share a meme showing several people playing chess alongside text that reads, "MIKE mosh pit," as if to imply that the artist primarily caters to intellectual people.

On January 31st, 2025, X^[2] user @funnyname23 and Instagram^[1] user @durags posted the meme, gathering over 7,000 and 18,000 likes, respectively, in two months.

In March 2025, MIKE began his "Showbiz" tour, performing in Segrate, Italy on March 22nd.^[5]

On March 25th, Redditor^[3] /u/panos_zzzr shared a video to the subreddit /r/MIKE_ that was originally posted to TikTok by @evaniano, which showed a young man holding up a chessboard in the front row of a MIKE show and looking around as he and his friends moved pieces around the board.

On March 26th, 2025, X^[4] user @fuzzytincan shared the video as well, writing, "I hate this so much," and gathering over 13,000 likes in a day.

Spread

Several internet users weighed in on what they saw as a disrespectful and disruptive concert practice as the video garnered virality in the following days.

For instance, on March 26th, 2025, X^[6] user @Hang10Higgins wrote, "this kinda performative behaviour is at every show nowadays, almost always from young white ppl. Last few shows I've seen costumes, ppl recording w a 3ds, and ppl just holding their phones up w silly photos like minions tryna get attention. Gen Z is havin their epic bacon moment." The post gathered over 17,000 likes in a day.

Also on March 26th, X^[7] user @crackcobain__ quoted the video and wrote, "#They come in our spaces and wanna be the main character," gathering over 30,000 likes in a day.

Music review YouTuber^[8] Anthony Fantano weighed in on the controversy on March 26th, writing, "if you go to a performance, show some respect and pay attention to the artist you paid to see. that’s it. that’s all you gotta do." The post gathered over 11,000 likes in a day.

Later on March 26th, 2025, X^[9] user @odivse shared a post that read, "them ppls playin chess while bro up there rapping bout the black experience #ImNoticing," gathering over 75,000 likes in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

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External References