About

Fuck It, We Ball is a catchphrase used to express willingness to ignore detrimental circumstances or a poor state of mind and to carry on. Derived from the slang expression "to ball," the phrase was popularized by rapper Young Thug in the late 2010s and gained virality in memes in 2022, with the memes usually being ironically critical of the "we ball" mentality.

Origin

The slang catchphrase "fuck it, we ball" has derived from the expression "we ball," which itself has derived from the slang verb "to ball." The slang phrase "we ball" has appeared in multiple songs by various rappers since the early 2010s.^[1]

The phrase was then popularized by rapper Young Thug during the mid-to-late 2010s. On November 10th, 2015, Young Thug tweeted,^[2] "But fuck it we ball!!!" with the post gaining over 4,200 retweets and 3,600 likes in seven years (shown below).

On July 21st, 2017, rapper Meek Mill released his song "We Ball" featuring Young Thug. In the outro of the song, Young Thug raps, "Fuck it, we ball, yeah." The song accumulated over 59 million views on YouTube^[3] in five years (shown below).

Fuck it, we ball, yeah
All the soldiers we lost, yeah
Fuck it, we ball-ooh-all
For all the soldiers we lost

Spread

The phrase first gained meme recognition in 2018, when on July 31st, 2018, Twitter^[4] user @mineifwildout made the earliest found viral joke based on it (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 5,800 retweets and 31,200 likes in four years. On August 16th, 2018, @mineifwildout tweeted^[5] the catchphrase from a bargain store (shown below, right).

Between 2018 and mid-2021, the phrase was occasionally used online, often in an ironic way. For example, on September 19th, 2019, Twitter^[6] user @BigTusconDad made a tweet that gained over 15,600 retweets and 78,500 likes in three years (shown below, left). On January 31st, 2020, Twitter^[7] user @farringt0n made the earliest discovered viral joke in which saying "fuck it we ball" was referenced as an alternative to going to therapy. The tweet gained over 6,200 retweets and 31,400 likes in two years (shown below, right).

Starting in mid-2021, the slang phrase achieved further spread online as it was actively used in jokes about ignoring one's mental problems. For example, on August 12th, 2021, Twitter user @__knf posted a tweet that gained over 14,000 retweets and 43,400 likes in one year (shown below, left). On December 5th, 2021, Twitter user @yxzgz wrote, "therapy is expensive but saying 'fuck it we ball' is free," with the tweet gaining over 7,200 retweets and 38,100 likes in 10 months (shown below, right).

In 2022, the phase achieved further popularization, often being combined with other topical memes such as It Is What It Is and IDK How Many X I Got Left In Me.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References