The Low Taper Fade meme refers to Twitch streamer and hyperpop artist ericdoa calling for fans to imagine if Twitch streamer Ninja got the cut. He did this during an extended live stream in which he freestyled this hypothetical as well as many other thoughts and emotions in a performance that lasted nearly two hours.
Fans honed in on the statement “Imagine if Ninja got a low taper fade” and turned it into a meme that Ninja then referenced for so long that mocking him over it became a kind of sub-meme. It also resulted in a myriad of fan art depicting popular characters getting the haircut.
Meme basics:
- Meme Creator: ericdoa
- Meme Type: Viral TikTok audio
- First Appearance: January 5, 2024
- Origin Source: Twitch stream
- Peak Popularity: January 21 – 27, 2024
Why did ericdoa say ‘Imagine if Ninja got a low taper fade’?
According to an interview with B/R gaming, ericdoa said the line was a way to distract himself from how emotional his livestream was becoming. As ericdoa was singing on Twitch, he reached a difficult moment in his freestyling while reminiscing.
@brgaming @ericdoa explains his process on the viral “Low Taper Fade” clip. #partychat #partychatclips #gamingmemes #ninja #ninjamemes #music #musicmemes #lowtaperfade #ericdoa ♬ original sound – B/R Gaming
Leading up to the moment in the video where he drops the line from the meme, he’s singing about his late grandfather, who got him his first guitar. He’s struggling with his emotions, then repeatedly declares that he’s not going to cry on the stream. That’s when he said the Ninja low tape fade comment—it was the funniest topic he could think of.
Origin and spread
The original ericdoa livestream appeared on January 5, 2024. The Twitch recording no longer exists, but the streamer uploaded it to YouTube on the following day. He says the line shortly after the 25-minute mark. He followed this up with a TikTok clip posted on January 11.
Once it reached TikTok, it began to go viral as an audio within the first 24 hours. User @sahhyameiii posted a slideshow showing a photo of Richard Tyler “Ninja” Blevins followed by an artistic rendering of a ninja and then a man with the lower taper fade haircut. The video gained millions of views.
Ninja Low Taper Fade meme popularity
It took until the week of January 21 for this meme to reach peak virality. By then, it had escaped Twitch and TikTok and people began to see references to the line everywhere they went.
Ninja himself seemed particularly impressed over how popular the meme was and how it lasted for several months, repeatedly remarking on this during his own streams. It got to the point that people started mocking him for bringing it up and possibly trying to drag the meme on past its lifespan. This became a meme in and of itself.
@iitiborr Bro called it the meme of 2024 😭 #iitibor #ninja #lowtaperfade #meme #dragging ♬ original sound – iiTibor
One stream in which Ninja went on about the low taper fade meme became a copypasta:
“Low taper fade. You know what’s crazy? Is that that low taper fade meme is like… Dude, it is still massive. Massive. I mean, I’ve seen new ones that I’ve never seen before that have like millions of likes and views still that are like popping off all over the place.”
@bobtheadams It’s still massive with billions of views daily #lowtaperfade #foryou #ninja ♬ original sound – Walkerz
This inspired parody videos on TikTok depicting Ninja bringing it up many years in the future.
What’s wrong with the low tape fade?
There’s nothing bad about a low taper fade cut. It might not look great on every type of person, and fade cuts tend to be more associated with Black communities (while Ninja is very white), but in most contexts, it’s perfectly fine to get one.
The low taper fade starts with longer, more textured hair and quickly transitions to a close-shaven cut that gets closer as it goes down the neck, appearing to “fade” from view. The difference between this and the high taper fade or mid taper fade is where the fade begins on the head or neck. Longer cuts require the fade to start lower, at the neck.
Meme examples
Related memes:
- The Edgar Meme: Where a haircut and a baseball hall of famer meet
- Monkey getting a haircut proves anything can be a meme
- The ‘boy it’s just alcohol’ meme is always doing too much
- How a Billie Eilish song became ‘Although Enjoyment’ on TikTok
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