About

Artists Who Can Sing Vs. Artists Who Can't Sing, also known as Rappers That Can Sing Vs. Rappers Can't Sing refers to a series of ironic and brainrot edits using videos comparing singer's vocal abilities, most specifically using Filipino-British singer-songwriter Beabadoobee as the "can't sing" musician and clips of American rapper NBA Youngboy as the "can sing," showing him singing opera music while lasers are shooting from his eye. The meme started in mid-July 2024 but only gained viral attention in late February 2025 after Beabadoobee crashed out about the trend, fueling netizens to create more content on TikTok.

Origin

The earliest known video about the "Rappers That Can Sing Vs. Rappers Can't Sing" meme was posted on January 26th, 2023, by TikTok^[6] user @natecaller, who added a clip of rapper 6ix9ine singing Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire" as the "can't sing" example and a video of Fetty Wap singing "Trap Queen" as the "can sing" example. The post amassed more than 14 million plays and 2.4 million likes in three years.

On July 16th, 2024, Insagram^[5] user @w0w_ma0 posted the earliest known ironic video of the meme mocking rapper NBA Youngboy, using a clip of him singing, originated from a Complex mini-documentary (seen below), amassing more than 176,000 likes in eight months.

Spread

Variants of this meme template grew larger in late 2024 on Instagram and TikTok, using pop culture artists in the "Artists Who Can Sing Vs. Artists Who Can't Sing" format, often adding whimsical and opera music over NBA Youngboy's clips. For instance, on January 13th, 2025, TikTok^[1] user @maxxvillan posted a video captioned "NBA Youngboy is a very talented artist," which shows the American rapper edited as if he's singing opera, labeled as "can sing," while Filipino-British singer-songwriter Beabadoobee is shown first as an ironic example of a musician who "can't sing." The video received more than 4 million plays and 657,000 likes in a month.

On February 20th, 2025, TikTok^[2] user @damian.s_5 uploaded one of the most viral videos of the trend (seen below), which amassed over 5 million plays and 1 million likes in three days.

Beabadoobee Crashing Out

On February 21st, 2025, as the meme grew popular on TikTok, Beabadoobee posted a video expressing her dissatisfaction with the comments about her in the meme's comment sections, stating, "like just tell me you don’t get no girls. Just tell me your mother didn’t love you.” The stories format video was later deleted but user @iryokiri^[3] recorded a clip and shared it on the platform on the same day (seen below), receiving roughly 182,000 likes in two days.

The singer's response spawned a series of other edits and mockery, as netizens claimed she didn't understand the meme's intention. For instance, on February 22nd, 2025, TikTok^[4] posted an AI video of the singer dancing in a hallway with a series of phrases mocking her (seen below), amassing more than 496,000 plays and 64,000 likes in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References