What Is Up With Lil Yachty Walking On Stage? The AI Video-Moshing Meme, Explained

AI video technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, much like the rapper Lil Yachty as he bounded onstage in front of an adoring crowd in a 2021 viral video. But now, the skin of Lil Yachty can be swapped out for another skin as if you were simply changing your look in Fortnite. A new AI-generated meme format has taken the internet by storm, giving a hint of what's to come. And the future promised by this meme feels sinister: AI may be coming for the jobs of Yachtys everywhere, whether Big or Lil.

Where Does The Original Lil Yachty Video Come From?

The original video comes from a 2021 concert clip of Lil Yachty walking on stage and making an enthusiastic entrance. The video was posted to YouTube and from there spread to other platforms like Reddit and X. Fans of the rapper appreciated the video and others started using it as an illustration of charisma or triumph in posts through 2022 and 2023.

Why Did People Start AI Rotoscoping Lil Yachty?

In April of 2024, a poster on X created a video of the dancing Joker meme image spliced and rotoscoped onto the video footage of Lil Yachty making an entrance. The video was an "experiment" with Viggle, a new AI video generator. The account that performed the experiment, AI Warper, described each step in the process in a long thread, concluding with "The crazy thing is this is a 27s video and it legit took less than 5 mins to get this result 🤯"

What Are People Doing With This Meme?

The original post replaced Lil Yachty with the Joker, but since then a variety of meme videos have imagined other characters taking the place of Lil Yachty. One post used the meme to describe the entrance of Wifejak, that week's most popular new meme, into the "memetic consciousness."

Unfortunately, the most popular posting on X of the new AI-generated meme was one depicting Hitler. But other posts featured characters and celebrities from other parts of the web, like SBF.

For the full history of "Lil Yachty walking on stage," be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.