About

9+10=21 is an incorrect answer to a math problem, which was first spoken online in a Vine video. The video, also known as "What's Nine Plus Ten," quickly became a fad within the Vine community, leading to remixes and other parody, and later spreading to various other internet communities. In Summer 2019, the video saw a resurgence in popularity on Instagram, Twitter and iFunny.

Origin

On June 22nd, 2013, Vine^[3] user @DREHUPEMSU @WESTROSECRAN published the original video.^[14] Within eight years, the post received more than 30 million loops, 707,000 likes and 605,000 revines (mirror below).^[5] In the Vine, a man talks to a boy and claims that he is stupid. After the boy replies that he isn't, then the man asks him, "What's 9+10?" to which the boy answers "21." The man then reaffirms his statement.

- You stupid.
- No, I'm not.
- What's nine plus ten?
- Twenty one.
- You stupid.

Spread

The first known remix of the Vine^[18] was posted by user BRUH, where it received over 7.14 million loops, 185,000 likes, and 145,000 revines; another remix was posted a few days later.

Although the original Vine was deleted, the video was re-uploaded to YouTube on July 7th, 2014, by Alondra Morelos,^[1] and then again on July 9th by YouTuber Shadow Subscribe (seen below).^[2] By December 14, 2014, Morelos' upload had received over 5.7 million views and 37,000 likes, and Shadow's upload had received 3.7 million views and 28,000 likes.

Later, on August 29th, YouTube user SwiftStar352 uploaded^[4] a song featuring audio from the Vine (seen below) remixed with "Hot Nigga" by rap star Bobby Shmurda, which was one of the nation's top songs at the time. The song reached 14.6 million views and 108,000 likes by December 2014. It has since been deleted, but a re-upload by Simply Boggsy has received over 390,000 views as of April 2016.

The child in the video, whose identity remains unknown, has often been referred to as "The 21 Kid."

Runaway Hoax

On October 13th, the parody website Huzlers released a hoax article detailing how the child had run away.^[6] The article noted that the child had left a goodbye note.

The child, whose real name is Habeeb Cisse, ran away from his home Saturday night and is currently being searched for throughout the whole Baltimore area. Authorities say the child left a goodbye note in his bedroom that read:

“I tired of everyone lafing(laughing) at me, I running away forever now, if yu(you) want to find me the only clue I leaving is 21”

Posts on several message boards, including IGN, indicated that some people fell for the hoax. A complimentary YouTube video was released by the user Franklin Clinton and received over 650,000 views as of April 2016. It is proven by YouTuber WavyWebSurf^[15] that this is the 21 kid because this video was originally uploaded on DREHUPEMSU's Vine page

On October 3rd, 2020, WavyWebSurf posted a video deep-diving into the hoax, gaining over 3.7 million views in a year (shown below).

2019 Resurgence

In Summer 2019, memes based on the Vine regained popularity on Twitter, iFunny and Instagram. Before April 4th, an unknown user posted a Not Funny, Didn't Laugh video featuring a still image from the Vine. On April 4th, 2019, the video was reuploaded to YouTube where it gained over 28,100 views within four months (shown below).^[7] On June 10th, 2019, YouTube user Bleu Chicken reuploaded an Awesome, He Finally meme based on the video made by an unknown author (shown below, right).^[8]

In the following month, the Vine gained further spread on iFunny, Twitter and on Instagram. On July 1st, 2019, Twitter user @Timotainment^[9] posted a "Not Funny, Didn't Laugh" edit of the Vine featuring Donkey Kong, with the video accumulating over 413,000 views in one month, and the tweet gaining over 14,500 retweets and 46,100 likes.^[8]

pic.twitter.com/slrd0SOQlu

— Timotainment (@Timotainment) July 1, 2019

In July 2019, multiple notable edits of the Vine were posted on Twitter, iFunny and Instagram, including notable versions by @Zenkho_,^[10] @TunnelingOG,^[11] professionalretard.mp4^[12] and yupanthony.^[13]

9/10/21 | 21 Day

In January 2021, Twitter^[16] account @twentyonecount opened with the purpose of counting down the days until September 10th, 2021, the day when "9 + 10 really equals 21," according to their bio. The account's first tweet was posted on January 16th, and reads: "237 days until September 10th, 2021."

The page posted daily tweets counting down the days and grew a significant following in the eight months leading up to the date. On August 23rd, @twentyonecount posted, "When the day comes, on 9/10/21, he will decide your fate," along with a screenshot from the 9+10=21 video, gaining over 80,000 likes and 10,000 retweets in two weeks (shown below).

On September 7th, Instagram^[17] page @spoobydoo posted an image of a cityscape with the 9+10=21 child looming over it and the text "9/10/21 Judgement Day" at the bottom (shown below, left). The post gained over 46,000 likes in two days. On the same day, Instagram^[18] page @chronic.memesv2 posted an image macro of the child with text reading "3 days until 9/10/21," gaining over 30,000 likes in two days (shown below, right).

On September 9th, @twentyonecount's countdown tweet,^[19] made at 1:48 a.m. EST, gained over 51,000 likes and 7,500 retweets in eight hours. The post reads, "1 day until 9/10/21 Prepare…" By the same date, the account boasted over 98,000 followers.

At midnight on September 10th, @twentyonecount posted "TODAY IS 9/10/21" and a video edit featuring the 21 kid originally by Twitter and YouTuber^[20] @_Tax_Payer_, gaining over 110,000 likes and 32,000 retweets in under a day (shown below). TwentyOneCount also encouraged followers to spread the hashtag "#nineten21" on the day, which quickly hit Twitter's trending page.

A number of meme accounts celebrated the day by posting video edits and memes of the 21 kid video, many joking about a rapture on the day. For example, Instagram^[21] page @grandmas.butt posted a meme about the 21 kid manifesting in their room, gaining over 160,000 views in 11 hours (shown below).

Instagram^[22][23] users @salad.snake and @repostrandy also posted video tributes celebrating the day, gaining over 88,000 views and 151,000 views in under 11 hours respectively (shown below, left and right).

Many social media users changed their profile pictures to the 21 kid on the day. Twitter^[24] users also celebrated the occasion under the relevant hashtag, posting their favorite 21 kid memes (example shown below).

Twitter^[25] user @TOGSt52YT posted a meme showing the 21 kid over a map of North America with the caption "Current US timezone map #nineten21," gaining over 8,500 likes in under 10 hours (shown below, left). On the same day, Twitter^[26] user @kyssavindu posted a Neon Genesis Evangelion edit referencing the meme, gaining over 3,400 likes in a similar span of time (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References