"Who Want Smoke?" Cellphone Gun Challenge

About

"Who Want Smoke?" Cellphone Gun Challenge refers to a trend on TikTok set to Nardo Wick's song "Who Want Smoke?" where you raise your cellphone like a gun toward the camera as if about to shoot, often using a slow-motion filter. The trend began in early November 2021 and became popularized later that month. The trend inspired backlash in schools for potentially glorifying guns in a school setting and "posing a threat," particularly after a school principal participated in the trend, allegedly resulting in the suspension of over 50 students at Chicago's Tinley Park High School.

Origin

It is unclear who first started the "Who Want Smoke?" cellphone gun challenge. The song, released by Nardo Wick in February 2021, has been prominent on TikTok with numerous trends, including one where you throw your phone in the air and catch it in slow-motion. In early November 2021, TikTokers began filming slow-motion videos to the song where people point their phones at the camera as if it's a gun. One of the earliest viral examples was uploaded by TikToker^[1] @xx.ayionnaaaa on November 2nd, gaining over 1.9 million views in three weeks (shown below).

Spread

The trend spread across TikTok over the course of the month. On November 13th, 2021, TikToker @pascalandjamesha posted a version of the video from a parking lot, gaining over 1.8 million views in just over two weeks (shown below).

The trend often takes place in school hallways. On November 15th, TikToker @yellabarbie posted a video showing students doing the trend, gaining over 7.9 million views in just over two weeks (shown below, left). On November 17th, TikToker @deeontiktok3 posted a video following the trend, gaining over 2.5 million views in a week (shown below, right).

Backlash

On November 21st, 2021, the trend garnered criticism from school administrators after a principal and numerous members of school staff were seen participating in the trend at Tinley Park High School in Chicago.^[2] This resulted in allegedly 50 students being suspended. TikToker @skylar_dior2 posted a series of videos responding to the news, showing a video of students doing the trend at Tinley High on November 20th, before the story broke (shown below, left and right). Allegedly the staff members were tricked into participating in the trend and told it was part of a "school pride video." On the same day, TikToker @0fficial.lilchriss, a student at the school, posted a series of videos talking about the suspensions, saying the students were given five-day out-of-school suspensions and were threatened with being sent to another school.^[4]

On November 22nd, Fox 32 Chicago posted their newscast about the story on their YouTube page, gaining over 17,900 views in two days (shown below). It was reported by XXL^[3] on November 23rd.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References