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Memes

What’s going on with Shadow Wizard Money Gang memes?

A Christian influencer accidentally helped kick this one off.

Photo of Kahron Spearman

Kahron Spearman

shadow wizard money gang

Shadow Wizard Money Gang memes have evolved into a viral sensation across various social media platforms. Starting off as a simple producer tag on songs, this intriguing meme highlights the internet’s fascination with quirky and unexpected content.

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What is ‘Shadow Wizard Money Gang?’

shadow wizard money gang
joeyy/YouTube

The journey of this meme began with the release of the Joeyy song, “Gout,” on Dec. 2, 2022. The song, produced by DJ Smokey, included the producer tags, “Shadow wizard money gang, we love casting spells. This song is sponsored by the shadow government.”

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The producer tag, voiced in a deep timbre, immediately captured the attention of audiences.

Spread and viral adoption of the meme

The phrase quickly gained traction on TikTok, where users began creating lip-dub videos. One of the earliest TikTok examples came from user @dudegetoffmylawn on Dec. 22, 2022, garnering significant views and increasing the Shadow Wizard Money Gang meme’s widespread popularity.

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@dudegetoffmylawn WE LOVE CASTING SPELLS #joeyy #shadowwizardmoneygang #magic #dudegetoffmylawn #fypシ ♬ original sound – Kaira

The masturbation-witchcraft controversy

In November 2022, Christian influencer Sierra Scribner (@thatjesusgeneration) uploaded a now-deleted post in which she claimed that “masturbation is a form of witchcraft.”

@dreamsnpoetry @thatjesusgeneration #christiantiktok #sexual health is responsibility and human #sex is normal #health and #healthy information is what is needed – this woman is insane ❤️ is she a #christian ? #fyp #foryourpage #bible #church #HuluChippendalesDance ♬ original sound – DreamsNPoetry
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On Jan. 1, 2023, TikToker @mike_literus690 posted a mashup video of the influencer saying “masturbation is a form of witchcraft,” followed by himself lip-dubbing to the “shadow wizard money gang, we love casting spells” tag.

This reinterpretation struck a chord with audiences and spawned a new trend where TikTok users combined the Scribner’s claim that self-love and pleasure are the practices of sorcery along with images or videos of wizards.

Shadow Wizard Money Gang art

In May 2023, the meme sparked a fan art trend on X, formerly Twitter, where artists depicted the Shadow Wizard Money Gang as wizards donning robes with hoods and jewelry.

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shadow wizard money gang meme
@RE_Thinkin/Twitter
shadow wizard money gang 2
@RE_Thinkin/Twitter
shadow wizard money gang meme
@RE_Thinkin/Twitter
In Body Image
@RE_Thinkin/Twitter
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shadow wizard money gang
BizarreToonsXD/YouTube

Whose tag is ‘shadow wizard money gang?’

Although the song that led to the meme was by Joeyy, and the tag was used by DJ Smokey, the “shadow wizard money gang” tag actually belongs to music producer Louka Tessier.

“Im a producer in montreal canada and a good friend of dj smokey, the shadow tags are mine but i let smokey use em if he wants to,” Tessier wrote on Reddit. “When gout came around joeyy didnt even know me, but now were tapped in.”

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He also addressed some concerns people had that allusions to a “shadow government” had roots in anti-semitism, responding, “idk bout any of that its just some wizard shit they wildin.”

Editor’s note: This article is regularly updated for relevance.

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