Are You Serious Right Neow Bro?

About

Are You Serious Right Neow Bro?, also written Are You Serious Right Now Bro?, refers to a common catchphrase from Twitch and YouTube streamer IShowSpeed that was ultimately copied by various clones, wannabes and copycats across streaming platforms. The most notable clone was Whiteboyem. Others were DeletedMyPlayer and SheekLive. Predominantly in mid-to-late 2022, the phrase trended on TikTok and Twitter as each wannabe became more well-known and made fun of, leading to perceptions of cringe. Eventually, creators started referencing the catchphrase ironically, following a phrasal template of, "There's Really A X Speed Now," filling in the blank with a specific ethnicity, subculture or another trait.

Origin

Predominantly in 2021, IShowSpeed started saying, "Are you serious right now?" in his Twitch and YouTube livestreams, however, when he said the phrase, he'd put emphasis on the word "now," thereby making it sound like "neow." An early example of Speed's word annunciation is a YouTube video he uploaded on August 7th, 2021, in which he's addressing his fans in regards to a then-recent strike he received on Twitch. Throughout the video, he said "serious" and "now," annunciating it in his cadence. Over the course of one year, the video received roughly 1 million views (shown below).

Spread

Going into 2022, Speed accumulated a large fan base, whereby July 2022, he surpassed the 10-million subscriber milestone on YouTube. Coinciding with his rise, he accumulated many "clones," as other streamers tried to copy his style.

This first manifested with streamer DeletedMyPlayer, currently known as Dre2lit__, who in January 2022 received backlash for his overdramatic, rage-induced reactions that were similar to how Speed reacted (example shown below, left). On January 21st, 2022, TikToker^[1] SheekLives posted a video that received roughly 17,800 likes in seven months (shown below, right). The engagement was mostly due to fans of Speed seeing the video on their "For You" pages and making fun of him for allegedly copying Speed because he recreated the Buss It Challenge.

Whiteboyem "Are You Serious Right Neow Bro?"

In July 2022, YouTuber and Twitch streamer Whiteboyem started getting cross-platform attention on TikTok for being an alleged IShowSpeed Wannabe. For instance, on July 13th, 2022, TikToker^[2] inxrss posted a video (since-deleted) of Whiteboyem on stream saying phrases like, "Are you serious right neow, Bro?" similar to Speed's lingo and cadence. Over the course of one month, the TikTok received roughly 13.5 million plays and 2.3 million likes before being deleted (repost shown below).

On July 15th, 2022, Speed was on stream reacting to videos in his Discord server with one of them being the Whiteboyem TikTok. The clip was reposted to YouTube on July 15th by the channel lmKaiCenat Live, gaining roughly 25,800 views in two months (shown below, left). Due to the backlash, Whiteboyem uploaded a diss track called "Right Now" aimed at IShowSpeed, gaining roughly 2 million views in two months (shown below, right).

On July 27th, 2022, fellow streamer and friend of Speed Adin Ross talked to Whiteboyem live on stream about his copying and his diss track. A clip was reposted to YouTube on July 27th by the channel SoMuchPlug, gaining roughly 714,500 views in two months (shown below, left). On July 29th, Speed reacted to the diss track live on his stream. The clip was reposted to YouTube by the channel IShowSpeedy on the same day, gaining roughly 47,800 views in two months (shown below, right).

Further Spread

On TikTok, the concept of IShowSpeed Wannabes saying "Are You Serious Right Neow Bro?" became more prevalent, with new ones surfacing going into September 2022. For instance, on August 22nd, 2022, the TikTok^[3] account removed.unknown reuploaded a deleted TikTok from TikToker blackguynamedissac in which he said "Are You Serious Right Neow Bro?" after getting killed in Fortnite. Over the course of one month, the repost received roughly 485,100 plays and 20,900 likes (shown below, left). On August 31st, TikToker^[4] wambosfrr reposted a different streamer saying the catchphrase with Speed's cadence, gaining roughly 500,800 plays and 61,800 likes in four weeks (shown below, right).

On September 3rd, 2022, YouTuber TokPlugg uploaded a compilation of "Are You Serious Right Now IShowSpeed Clones" which surfaced multiple TikTok videos showing Speed clones of every ethnicity, subculture and age saying the catchphrase with Speed's cadence. Over the course of three weeks, the video received roughly 71,300 views (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References