Galaxy Gas Whippets

About

Galaxy Gas Whippets is a slang term used to refer to nitrous oxide misuse, a trend that grew popular among young men in the United States in 2024. "Galaxy Gas" is a brand that sells "whippets," a slang term used to describe nitrous oxide canisters. News about American rapper Kanye West's supposed nitrous oxide addiction broke in 2024, the same year RapTV similar media aggregators began discussing a rise in young men misusing nitrous oxide and risking permanent brain damage in doing so. In August 2024, jokes about Galaxy Gas spread to TikTok, where people quoted a video of a man saying "My name Lil T man" or "My name Lil Tae man" in a deep voice after hitting a can of Galaxy Gas while picking up his food.

Origin

Nitrous oxide misuse can be traced as far back as 18th-century "laughing gas parties," with recreational use of the substance becoming widespread after laws limiting the packaging and sale of the gas were loosened in the late 20th century. By the 2010s, nitrous oxide could be bought in the form of whipped cream canisters and balloon-making accessories, which are easily accessible online and in grocery stores in the United States.

Nitrous Oxide misuse has been long documented in parts of the U.K. where it is now classified as a Class C drug.^[12] Nitrous oxide misuse is sometimes associated with bands like Phish or with Juggalos, as seen in a video posted by Channel 5 With Andrew Callahan on YouTube^[11] on December 29th, 2021.

The brand "Galaxy Gas" posted a tutorial for assembling their nitrous oxide tanks on YouTube^[1] March 8th, 2022, gathering over 200,000 views in two years (seen below). The company has been active since at least August 21st, 2021.^[2]

Spread

Some X users posted jokes about people using Galaxy Gas brand whippets recreationally, including X^[4] user @thatgalpebbless in a November 7th, 2023 post and X^[5] user @SKUNCC in a January 18th, 2023 post (seen below).

On February 22nd, 2024, X^[3] user @willystaley noted that Galaxy Gas had begun advertising on X, using the tagline, "Anytime is Party time!" The post gathered over 19,000 likes in six months (seen below).

Discussions about nitrous oxide misuse gained traction online the summer of 2024, with X^[6] user @FearedBuck writing, "they really out here hitting whippets like vapes now smh," and gathering over 43,000 likes in a month. The video featured a young man taking a hit from a large Galaxy Gas tank while picking up his food, saying, "My name Lil T / Lil Tay man," when asked "What's your name, where you from?" (seen below).

they really out here hitting whippets like vapes now smh pic.twitter.com/TpuVNTdn3a

— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) July 17, 2024

On August 18th, 2024, X^[7] user @scubaryan_ wrote, "they really using whippets like it’s vapes out here… this generation is cooked 🤦‍♂️," gathering over 35,000 likes in a day (seen below).

they really using whippets like it’s vapes out here… this generation is cooked 🤦‍♂️pic.twitter.com/CA7IzKwfoC

— ryan 🤿 (@scubaryan_) August 19, 2024

X^[8] user @fentanyl posted a video of a young man hitting a Galaxy Gas tank at a fast food restaurant on August 17th, 2024, gathering over 2,000 likes in two days (seen below).

pic.twitter.com/bkA6JFchbo

— ۟ (@fentanyl) August 17, 2024

My Name Lil T Man

A video of a man saying "My name Lil T man" or "My name Lil Tae man" after taking a hit from a tank of Galaxy Gas became a TikTok audio in August 2024. The comments sections of such TikToks typically contain jokes like "My name Lil T [evil]" or "My name Lil Tay man [rage]" to joke about the man in the video's low voice after consuming nitrous oxide.

This trend is seen in an August 16th, 2024 post from TikToker^[9] @therealkyre3 that gathered over 200,000 plays and 19,000 likes in three days (seen below, left). TikToker^[10] @babyshiestylivin posted a similar video on August 14th, gathering over 200,000 plays and 23,000 likes in five days (seen below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References