We Need Jungle, I'm Afraid

Submission 8,831

About

"I Can't Accept Drum'n'Bass. We Need Jungle, I'm Afraid" is a viral music sample based on a phrase said by the host of the British television quiz University Challenge when rejecting a contestant's answer. The sample went viral on social media in early January 2024 with multiple musicians incorporating it into in their remixes.

Origin

On January 1st, 2024, episode 23 of season 53 of the British television quiz University Challenge aired, with student teams from the University of Sheffield the University of Aberdeen competing.^[1] During a bonus round for Aberdeen the team was asked a question about jungle, the dance music emanating from the sound system culture of the 90s, to which a contestant incorrectly answered "drum and bass," which is a similar genre to jungle. The show's host Amol Rajan then rejected the answer, saying, "I can't accept drum'n'bass, we need jungle, I'm afraid" (video shown below, 20:40 mark).

I can't accept drum'n'bass, we need jungle, I'm afraid.

On January 8th, 2024, X^[2] user @nathanfiler posted a clip of Amol Rajan rejecting the answer, asking others to sample the line. The post (shown below) received over 8.3 million views, 2,100 reposts and 13,000 likes in one month.

Please, please will someone sample @amolrajan saying: "I can't accept Drum & Bass. We need Jungle, I'm afraid." 👊 pic.twitter.com/NGdRaOIPgl

— Nathan Filer (@nathanfiler) January 8, 2024

Within two hours of the post, X^[3] @JamRo posted the first remix sampling the line, gaining over 130 reposts and 940 likes (shown below).

pic.twitter.com/Du5zdffUAE

— Jamie (@JamRo) January 8, 2024

Spread

In the following days, multiple users on X / Twitter posted their jungle remixes sampling the line. For example, on January 8th, 2024, X^[4] user @megabren posted a remix that garnered over 1,000 reposts and 6,200 likes in one month (shown below).

Dillinja – Grimey (University Challenge Aberdeen Remix ft. @amolrajan) pic.twitter.com/WXXVZk9ZBl

— Bren (@megabren) January 8, 2024

Following viral spread on X / Twitter, the format spread to YouTube and TikTok, where more remixes were posted in January 2024. For example, on January 10th, 2024, YouTube^[5] user Steven Kelly uploaded a remix that received over 269,000 views in one month (shown below, left). On January 15th, electronic musician Venjent posted a remix that received^[6] over 412,000 views on YouTube and 351,000 views on TikTok in one month (shown below, right).

On January 13th, 2024, Amol Rajan wrote an article about the trend on BBC News.^[7]