In TikTok's self-described "niche meme community," absurdist escalation is the norm. It's where increasingly incomprehensible references pass for comedy, and where, in July 2025, a "misheard lyric": from a 2020 Arabic pop song got spliced with an ancient mobile game about former U.S. President Barack Obama to produce the viral phrase: "Obama Have Dih 🥀."

The meme took cues from multiple 2025 trends, brainrot edits, Wilted Rose emojis and an obsession with the slang word "dih," combining them into a meme trend in which Barack Obama and French soccer player Kylian Mbappé became the main characters.

Here's a quick recap of the "Obama Have Dih 🥀" meme's convoluted history.

Where Did The Animation of Dancing Obama Come From?

The groovy, dancing, purple-suited animation of former President Barack Obama was pulled from Talking Obama: Terrorist Hunter, an ancient 2014 iOS game made by Anuloid Games. The app, later rebranded as Obama 2022, features the former President in a series of minigames, including one where he dances next to an American flag.

The game resurfaced in meme culture several years after its release. Around 2019 and 2020, clips of animated Obama dancing to incongruous music began circulating online, like this video by Lancer Gives Cancer that shows him dancing to the Despicable Me theme song.

What's The Original 'Obama Have Dih' Song?

The song at the core of the meme is "Hadal Ahbek," a viral TikTok hit released by Jordanian musician Issam Alnajjar on September 27th, 2020.

The track exploded across TikTok that year, marking a rare crossover moment for Arabic-language pop and ultimately becoming the first Arabic-language song to top charts globally. Its success extended to YouTube, where it has accumulated over 170 million views in five years.

The slowed-down version used in the meme clips turns the vocals into mush-mouthed ambiguity, which may explain how English-speaking listeners started hearing "Obama have dih" instead of the actual Arabic lyrics.

One of the earliest examples of this mishearing appears in a January 29th, 2021, iFunny post showing an iMessage screenshot reading, "Hey bro help me find this song sth like: Obama have di--…"

What's The Origin Of The 'Obama Have Dih' Meme?

The misheard lyric reemerged in meme form on March 21st, 2025, when TikToker @lost_thethird posted an edit featuring the slowed-down "Hadal Ahbek" audio paired with the low-res Dancing Obama animation and a caption that read, "Obama Have Dih." The video racked up over 400,000 plays and 30,000 likes in three months.

@lost_thethird #fyp #juggtok #giftok #viral #humor #obama #viralvideo #slimetok ♬ Hadal Ahbek Slowed – Anton Giriel

The phrase picked up speed in July, when TikToker @scuploads.4 posted a sped-up clip on July 10th, 2025, using the same Obama animation, along with the wilted flower emoji 🥀. That version reached over 800,000 plays and 120,000 likes in just two weeks.

By mid-July, "Obama Have Dih" was a trending in-joke across "niche community" meme pages.

@scuploads.4 obama have di 🥀#obama ♬ original sound – scuploads.4

What's With Kylian Mbappé Getting Roped Into The 'Obama Have Dih' Meme?

As the meme evolved, TikTokers began pairing Obama with French soccer player Kylian Mbappé using misheard lyric rewrites like "kindly put it in Mbappé" or "kinda gooned to Mbappé."

On July 19, 2025, TikToker @lamppa99 edited clips of Mbappé and Obama together under the caption, "I kinda put in Mbappé, Obama have dih." The post earned over 2 million plays and 300,000 likes in two days.

@lamppa99 Obama have dih😔 #obama #dih #slimetok #trending #fyp #foryoupage ♬ Hadal Ahbek Slowed – Anton Giriel

But perhaps the most high effort contribution to the trend came on July 20th, when TikToker @secretasian__6 uploaded a full brainrot-style guitar cover of the "Obama Have Dih" meme, creating a whole new extended audio in which he clearly enunciates all the awful misheard lyrics.

@secretasian__6 The Obama have dih meme is still MASSIVE🌹🥹#brainrot #cover #obamahavedih #obama #fyp #secretasian6 #skibidi ♬ original sound – SecretAsian6

The niche community over on TikTok is currently mourning the "mainstreaming" of the "Obama Have Dih" meme.

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