No Lackin Challenge

About

No Lackin Challenge is a video fad in which people film themselves brandishing firearms and pointing the weapons at unsuspecting victims to provoke them into displaying a firearm in return. The game is meant as a way to test the readiness of people who are living in high crime areas.

Origin

According to the HipWiki,^[5] the slang expression "no lackin" was initially popularized among Chicago gang members. On June 13th, 2012, rapper Lil Mister released a song titled "No Lackin" (shown below).

On August 15th, 2014, Urban Dictionary^[4] user Been Krill submitted an entry for "No Lackin," defining the term as "Not having a firearm on you" (shown below, left). The exact origin of the "No Lackin" challenge is unknown. The earliest known example was uploaded by YouTuber Chase BanzVIDEOS in a video titled "Never Get Caught Lacking in Chicago 'Challenge'" on September 11th, 2017 (shown below, right).

Spread

On October 4th, 2017, YouTuber Robert Michael uploaded a compilation of No Lackin Challenge videos (shown below). On October 7th, YouTuber King Bamm uploaded a parody video in which he walks in on somebody in the bathroom with a firearm (shown below, right).

Shooting

On January 25th, 2018, 21-year-old Sherman Lackland (shown below) shot a 17-year-old in the head while playing the challenge in Memphis, Tennessee.^[3] On January 27th, a thread about the challenge which mentioned the shooting was submitted to the Kiwi Farms^[2] forum, which gathered upwards of 30 replies in 24 hours. On January 28th, The Daily Mail^[1] published an article reporting that the 17-year-old boy remained in critical condition "fighting for his life."

Search Interest

External References