Dhinchak Pooja

Submission 661

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About

Dhinchak Pooja, born Pooja Jain, is an Indian YouTuber, singer and rapper who is often referred to in Indian media as the "queen of cringe-pop." She first went viral for her 2016 song "Swag Wali Topi," or "Hat With Swag," alongside other tracks in consecutive years. Her viral fame eventually landed her a spot on Bigg Boss, India's version of the reality show Big Brother.

Background

Career

Pooja has spoken about her upbringing in Uttar Pradesh and her Bachelor's Degree in the arts in various interviews. She was reportedly born in 1993, and her real name is Pooja Jain.^[12]

Swag Wali Topi Music Video

On June 15th, 2016, YouTuber Dhinchak Pooja^[1] uploaded a video titled "Swag Wali Topi" to her official YouTube account. The video featured her rapping about her "swag wali topi," or "hat with swag," and how everyone insists on copying her swag. The video was deleted in 2017 in response to a YouTube privacy violation notice but can be accessed via reupload to YKs Entertainment (seen below).^[2] The video went viral, gathering over 100,000 views in a month.^[3]

The first stanza of the song and its translation are shown below:

“swag wali topi meri swag wali topi x2 (my 'swag' hat)
sab karte hain copy meri swag wali topi x2 (everyone copies my 'swag' hat)
swag wali topi meri swag wali topi oye x4” (my 'swag' hat)

Developments

Reactions

"Swah Wali Topi" went viral on Facebook and Instagram, with various pages comparing Dhinchak Pooja to Taher Singh, a different cringe-pop idol from Pakistan.^[5] ^[6]

The "Swag Wali Topi" video was also used in various "reaction" style content on YouTube, with notable creator CarryMinati making a video titled, "GIRL WITH SWEG," gathering over 7 million views in six years (seen below, left).^[4] YouTuber Super Londay^[7] also made a spoof video that gathered over 500,000 views in six years (seen below, right).

2017 Singles And Reactions

Dhinchak Pooja went on to release various other songs on her YouTube which also garnered viral fame. On May 14th, 2017, she released the song "Selfie Maine Leli Aaj," which translates to "I Took a Selfie Today."^[8] The video gathered over 50 million views in five years (seen below, left). She also released her song "Dilon Ka Shooter"^[9] on June 25th, 2017, gathering over 20 million plays in five years (seen below, right).

Pooja's new releases reopened discourse about her music, with various Indian meme pages commenting on her songs and supposed fanbase. On June 1st, 2017, a post by Facebook^[10] page "Saali Dost Ko Thanks Bolta Hai" posted a meme where viewers were encouraged to tag people named "Abhishek" in the comments to find Pooja a match. The post gathered over 90,000 reactions in five years (seen below, left). On 27th June 2017, Facebook^[11] page "RVCJ" posted a meme about how more people listen to Pooja than would admit, gathering over 140,000 reactions in five years (seen below, right).

Bigg Boss Appearance

In 2017, Dhinchak Pooja entered the house of the reality show Bigg Boss as a wildcard contestant, and was voted off the house in two weeks.^[13] A video of Dhinchak Pooja and Bigg Boss host Salman Khan interacting can be accessed below on Jatt Prabhjot's YouTube channel on October 24th, 2017, where it gathered over 2.9 million views in five years.^[14]