About

The Cough Dance, also known as the Coughing Dance, refers to a viral video from TikToker Merrick Hanna (@merrickhanna), in which he performs a dance to a coughing remix of the French drill rap song "Reggae & Calypso RMX." He's wearing a white shirt, blue checkered shirt and pink pants in the video. Two other people are also in the video (seemingly his brother and mom), who act confused by his coughing and dance. The original video was posted to TikTok and Instagram Reels in 2022. It became a viral meme in May 2025, following multiple videos following Brainrot and JuggTok formats. Popular catchphrases that were added as captions include, "TS is not tuff."

Origin

On June 21st, 2022, TikToker^[1] Merrick Hanna (@merrickhanna) posted a video of himself doing a dance to a coughing remix, featuring his mom and younger brother. Hanna is shown coughing along to the song, then he breaks out in dance, humorously frustrating the others. The video received over 7.4 million likes in three years.

On TikTok, the video's sound was removed, but the audio is a remix of the song "Reggae & Calypso RMX" performed by multiple French rappers, including Russ Millions and Buni, in March 2022.^[9] The song uses a cough sample as one of the ad-libs. The creator of the remix used by Merrick Hanna is currently unknown, as they were likely the creator of the since-deleted TikTok sound.

Merrick Hanna also shared the video on Instagram^[2] on June 22nd, gaining over 3.1 million likes over the same timeframe (shown below).

Spread

In 2022 and 2023, the dance video went viral and inspired others to replicate it. For instance, on June 11th, 2023, TikToker^[3] @officialnickkosir performed the dance with Merrick Hanna, gaining over 51,500 likes in two years (shown below).

The Cough Dance resurfaced en masse in May 2025, notably following a video shared by TikToker^[4] @guy03791 on May 7th, who captioned it, "TS was tuff in 2019," adding the Dead Rose Emoji. Over three weeks, the video received roughly 67,000 likes (shown below).

On May 20th, 2025, TikToker^[5] @frigginpacketjoe posted an Accuracy Reenactment of the Cough Dance video, receiving over 127,800 likes in a week (shown below).

On May 22nd, Instagram^[6] user Cookie King (@cookiekinggg) shared an iteration of the meme, captioning it, "Is this tuff in Nebraska?" referencing his Bro Tried To Sneak in Nebraska meme. Over five days, the Reel gained over 169,100 likes (shown below).

Also on May 22nd, 2025, TikToker^[7] @colethehammer_ posted an IdkSterling ViggleAI Video, which showed the TikToker as Hanna in the original video with extra CapCut effects added. Over five days, the video gained over 107,700 likes (shown below).

On May 26th, 2025, TikToker^[8] Merrick Hanna posted a new Cough Dance video to join the meme's resurgence. In the video, Hanna gets hit by a car using special effects. In a day, the video received over 420,600 likes (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References