In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Saturday our Video Producer Kyle Calise explores the origins and history of the most iconic memes online in his “Meme History” column. If you want to read columns like this a day before everyone else, subscribe to web_crawlr to get your daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
Cheilinus undulatus. Napoleon wrasse. Humphead wrasse. Whatever name you know it by, if you know it at all, it’s probably because of this guy.
In late 2019 and early 2020, redditors in hip-hop, rap, and Travis Scott-specific subreddits began posting images of fish, stylized to look like Travis Scott.
Some of them called it Trafish Scott, while others made SpongeBob Squarepants references, or photoshops and drawings of this coral reef-dweller—the Humphead Wrasse.
The most famous image of the fish was one which photoshopped it adding human hair and a chain necklace.
As you can see, the wrasse really does have human-like lips and teeth, but does it look like Travis Scott specifically? It’s too funny for that to really matter.
In July of 2020, Facebook page SKRT posted a fake tweet in which Scott himself says “Stop sending me This s***.” It resulted in tens of thousands of reactions and shares over the next few years.
Ultimately, TikTokers took notice of the meme. Posted in the spring of 2022, one user’s video received 2.2 million views, and another over 200,000 views.
This wasn’t the first time the internet had made Travis Scott into a meme.
In 2017, a photo taken during a show was posted to Instagram in which the rapper was shown yelling, with a mic and stand held over his head.
It’s now emblematic of utter chaos all over the internet, with at least one user comparing it to DoodleBob.
And after the release of Scott’s 2018 record “Astroworld,” a slough of incidents prompted just as many discrete meme moments.
Following the album’s release, Scott, and mother-of-his-child Kylie Jenner, threw their daughter Stormi a birthday party featuring a giant inflatable version of her head, which was an obvious riff on the “Astroworld’s” album cover.
Internet goers pretty much immediately began posting a myriad of spoof images—mostly riffing on the idea of a conspicuous giant head somewhere.
Scott soon followed the release of “Astroworld” with an annual music festival held in Houston, Texas. On November 5th, 2021, during the festival’s third run (they skipped it in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), 10 concertgoers were crushed in the audience, and died from suffocation.
Darkly, this prompted its own set of memes, which said, “I survived.”
In response, Scott posted a video to his Instagram, not apologizing for what happened, but expressing empathy and remorse, which was itself memed.
And in 2023, what seemed to be a flash-bang was set off at one of his shows, prompting even more criticism, and snark.
No matter which unprompted, unprovoked, and debased Travis Scott moment most tickles your funny bone, it’s hard to deny that Travis Scott has a talent for getting himself into trouble.
The humphead wrasse are endangered due to overfishing and habitat loss. And for worse or for worse, it seems like attendees of Travis Scott’s shows have felt just as in trouble.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
