Where Did The Dab Me Up Emoji Come From? The 'Mafia City' Meme Explained

The Dab Me Up Emoji is typical of the kind of cursed emojis that make repeat appearances in meme culture. A custom-drawn round face with a gold tooth embedded in became a strange reaction meme in 2021, but it has its origins in a mobile video game from years prior.

Years after the popularity of memes showing Blue Emojis spreading misinformation and Nerd Emojis mocking online dorks, here's how a bootleg emoji became an often-used reaction meme online, from iFunny to Reddit to Twitter.

Where Did The Dab Me Up Emoji First Show Up Online?

The Dab Me Up Emoji didn't start as such; it first appeared minus the hand in the 2019 mobile game Mafia City where it was known as the "Stronger Than You" emote, used to taunt other players via the in-game chat.

The distinct emoji was used in a few memes before that hand was added, including a joke about Mafia City chat being "woke," and a post on /r/comedyheaven about anti-vaxxers.

The emote eventually turned into a reaction meme on Discord, with Twitter user @DoubleJTheG posting a grainy copy of the image in January 2021. However, it is still unknown who specifically added the hand to the image.

How Did The Dab Emoji Spread Online?

The Dab Emoji appeared in a meme posted by DoubleJTheG's YouTube account in January 2021 as well, showing him spamming the emoji in an Instagram group chat until he's kicked out.

The Dab Me Up emoji continued to appear online in subsequent weeks, showing up on Twitter user @ItsAxel_meme's page in a cable news edit, and on @goodkiddropout's page with the work "Aight" added across the top.

How Did The Dab Me Up Emoji Change Over Time?

In March 2021, people began editing the dab me up emoji to actually dab each other up. X users @SweatyGamer9 and @reactjpg posted two such memes that month.

Around that time, X user @SMcducc made a post that read, "I wanted an HD Dab me up so I made one," posting two HD versions of the meme, although missing a golden tooth. The next day she added the golden tooth and shared it in a comment under the original tweet.

What Are Some More Dab Me Up Emoji Memes?

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For the full history of the Dab Me Up Emoji, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.