About

"Actual Checks, Paper Checks" Freestyle Rap or the "You Say I Play Checkers, You Say You Play Chess" Rap is a viral video of a boy, named Austin Anderson, having a rap battle with another boy and rapping a bar that is booed by the crowd, saying, "You say I play checkers, you say you play chess, I don't do none of that bullshit, I get money and get actual checks … paper checks." The freestyle went viral in early March 2026 and was compared to the Nathaniel B. rap, which similarly went viral for its perceived lack of skill.

Origin

On March 4th, 2026, Instagram^[1] meme page babykeem.memes posted a video of a freestyle rap battle between an unknown party and a boy named Austin Anderson. The video is captioned "ts might be worse than 'ain't you nathaniel b.'"

In the video, Anderson raps, "You say I play checkers, you say you play chess, I don't do none of that bullshit, I get money and get actual checks… paper checks," followed by mockery from the crowd. The video gained over 63,000 views in a week. This is the earliest known upload.

The video was reposted by Instagram^[2] user h00pervalley on March 5th, gaining over 103,000 likes in five days.

Spread

The viral rap battle video continued to spread in early March 2026, inspiring reactions and memes, including Accuracy Reenactment memes.

On March 6th, 2026, TikToker^[3] @headhammerhead posted a meme referencing the video captioned, "when I'm in a rap battle and I realize my opponent doesn't get actual checks (paper checks) so I include that as part of my line," gaining over 1.1 million views in four days.

That day, TikToker^[4] @crewtils posted a video attempting to recreate the video as accurately as possible, garnering over 170,000 views in four days.

On March 9th, 2026, TikToker^[5] @hoopervalley8 posted several videos interviewing Anderson, including one clip where Anderson talks about the video that gained over 870,000 views in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References