Who Is Druski? The TikToker's 'Druski's Hands Up' And 'What Do You Mean By That' Memes Explained

Druski is a comedian whose career has grown by leaps and bounds since he first began posting skits to his Instagram page back in 2017. Sometimes called "hip-hop's funniest comedian," Druski's influence on internet culture and popular slang is undeniable to the point where the United States President invited him to the White House's Juneteenth celebration.

But it isn't just Druski's skits that made him one of the most influential internet creators today, it's also the memes that spun out of his largely improvised and off-the-cuff Instagram Live videos, screenshots and clips from which routinely get turned into reaction memes and GIFs for Twitter / X.

Here's a look at Druski's rapid rise to fame over the past few years, as well as his growing array of meme formats.

What Did Druski Do Before He Made Comedy For The Internet?

Druski was born Drew Dawit Desbordes back in 1994 in Maryland, after which he was raised in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. Druski's father was a United States Air Force Academy graduate, and his mother was a Public Health specialist who worked at the CDC.

But Druski ended up choosing a drastically different career path from his parents, to the point where he almost didn't graduate high school. After dropping out from Georgia Southern University, Druski began making his forays into video.

When Did Druski First Start Posting Comedy Online?

Druski posted his earliest known sketch to Instagram in October 2017, gathering over 70,000 views on a video that parodied rappers trying to flex when they don't have much to flex.

Druski didn't stop at Instagram. A year later, the videos he posted to Twitter / X began to go viral, including a sketch about moms buying Christmas gifts they swore they couldn't afford that gathered over 2 million views on the platform.

How yo mama be on Christmas🎄 when she get you the gift she said she couldn’t afford 😂😂😭 pic.twitter.com/UZLSQeQ0su

— DRUSKI (@druski) November 20, 2018

What Are Some Of Druski's Most Viral Moments?

In December 2020, Druski announced his joke record label "COULDA BEEN RECORDS," holding auditions for rappers to join this new music label that same month. Druski posted the funniest auditions on his YouTube channel, gathering over 2 million views.

One of the most viral Druski memes is the clip where he says, "What do you mean by that?" The clip was recorded back in December 2020 as well when the comedian went Live on Instagram to talk to random people.

Among the guests was the rapper Grillz who sported dreads and gold grills while talking to Druski about some sus events in his life including multiple gang-related instances of violence and theft. Druski continued to provoke him until Grillz started singing about "taking lives." Druski then stopped him and said, "Take lives … What do you mean by that?" while leaning in, smiling and stroking his beard.

Another viral Druski meme is an image of him dressed in a blue shirt and throwing his hands up. The meme comes from a sketch he posted to his Twitter early in 2023 where he jokes about how he keeps a shank on him because "You can never be too careful."

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